Chapter 5: Back to the Countryside

By Kelly

I haven’t had much luck with boyfriends either.

I’m a beautiful and quite striking woman.

I dress to stand out—it’s the only thing about me that doesn’t make me seem ordinary.

That and my car—if anyone sees my car, they realize right away that I’m not just some girl saving up her dollars to pay for college.

I’ve had a few boyfriends—not too many.

At least, not as many as you’d expect from a girl living alone in Sacramento.

Most of the times I traveled around the world, I did so with my father, so I didn’t use those trips to meet people either—or maybe I just didn’t happen to meet anyone.

My last boyfriend—the one who took my breath away the moment I saw him—was the cousin of a girl in my group; we’d gone out dancing, and there he was.

I thought it could be the love of my life.

I still don't know why, but I hid my financial situation from her—almost on purpose—and today I thank God that I did.

That day, a friend picked me up, and I didn’t take my car—it didn’t make sense for each of us to drive our own cars anyway.

When we left the club, she asked me how I’d gotten there, and I told her I’d ridden in a friend’s car.

I didn’t give her any further explanation.

She drove me home in her car, and the next time we saw each other, she picked me up.

We started a relationship.

The neighborhood where I lived was one of the most affluent areas in Sacramento, but that didn’t mean much.

Everything seemed to be going well, but he asked me uncomfortable questions; he wanted to know what my dad did for a living and even asked if we had domestic staff.

I really didn’t like that question.

My blinders were starting to come off.

The thing is, I really liked the guy, but I wasn’t sure what the future held with him.

He wanted to see my house, so I had the idea to ask Linda to pretend to be my aunt; I told her I was going over with a guy and didn’t want to tell her that I lived alone.

She had no problem covering for me—she loved my idea.

Jacob looked at my house, as if studying it.

After that day, he never came back to my house; he was a newly licensed lawyer.

I’d been dating him for three months, and I wasn’t into him as much anymore—sometimes he was pretty cold toward me—until I found out he’d started seeing a girl who was also in my group of friends.

Unlike me, she was always flaunting her financial status, and I don’t think she had even 1% of what I owned.

I broke up with him. I’m sure Jacob was only after her and started dating her because he wanted a marriage where his wife would bring in money he didn’t have.

Jacob and his new girlfriend were leaving a bar—where we used to hang out with our group of friends—when they saw me get out of my car; at the time, I had a Mercedes.

They both came over; she wanted to rub it in my face that she was dating my ex-boyfriend.

I smiled at them.

“And that car?”

Jacob asked me, without trying to hide his curiosity.

“It’s mine.”

“I didn’t know you had that. Is it new?”

“No, it’s two years old. As soon as the one I ordered arrived, I left this one at the dealership—my dad gets me a new model every two years.”

I told him that on purpose—I get annoyed by people who’re just curious.

“What car did your dad buy you?”

The girl asks me, with a hint of envy.

-“You’ll see soon enough—it’s a surprise.”

I walked away laughing.

When I ran into them in the same place 20 days later, I was getting out of my beloved red Ferrari.

Jacob’s eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets.

I just kept walking.

I wasn’t wrong to think he was interested; that same week, he called me saying he’d been wrong, that he missed me and couldn’t live without me, and that we could give it a try by going on vacation together.

“I’m sorry, I always plan my vacations with my father.”

“I can catch up with you…”

“I don’t think so—I really like the cold, so we’re going skiing in Switzerland.”

“I prefer the heat… we’ll talk when I get back.”

I hung up without saying anything else.

I got rid of a guy who was just after me, just so I wouldn’t have to flaunt my money.

After Jacob, I didn’t meet any guys I liked, and I guess I didn’t really like him that much—even though I’d fallen for him the moment I saw him—but it didn’t even hurt when I saw him with another girl.

I’m not desperate to have a boyfriend either.

Olivia tells me I’m very lonely; she might be right, but for now, I don’t need anyone else.

It’s true that I was feeling melancholy and grieving my father’s death—more than those around me could have imagined—but what was really getting to me now was that, without knowing me or what I wanted, my father had managed to rob me of my dreams.

The day came when the will was read.

I drove there in my beautiful Ferrari—it’s true it was a city car, but I had no intention of parting with it during the trip.

The lawyer offered to send me a driver.

He didn’t offer me a helicopter again.

Did they really think I didn’t know how to get there?

That night I stayed at the same hotel where I’d stayed the last time.

I dressed carefully, putting on a red suit—a skirt and a sleeveless jacket—buttoned up to the top of my chest; it didn’t show too much, but it looked really sexy.

I’d bought it in France on my last trip with my father.

I finished off my outfit with a pair of black high-heeled sandals and a matching handbag.

In the trunk of my car, I had a suitcase full of clothes; I didn’t know if I’d be staying there for a few days or if that very day they were going to take away what I loved most in my life—those lands that had seen me grow up, where I spent my early childhood and was truly happy with my parents by my side.

I arrived at the country house; the entrance looked different. It opened as soon as I approached—it seemed as if a sensor had read my license plate.

The road leading to the house was different, too—it was a wide street where four cars could fit side by side.

I rolled down the window.

The scent of the trees filled my senses.

Thousands of memories flooded my mind.

I slowed down to savor the moment; I didn’t know if I’d ever have the chance to drive down that road again.

I assumed not.

I tried to pull myself together; I didn’t want to arrive and be seen in such a vulnerable state, nor did I want those strangers—and especially Rodolfo—to know how excited I was to be there.

For him, it was nothing out of the ordinary—he lived there.

Hatred for that man overwhelmed me.

He was going to take what was mine—what belonged to me.

I parked the car next to several pickup trucks and other cars.

Were there really that many people, or did they have that many vehicles available out in the countryside?

Once again, I felt left out.

I was happy with my Ferrari, and it turns out Rodolfo has countless vehicles at his disposal.

I felt cheated, deceived.

He was given thousands of things more than I was, and as far as I knew, my father and Ethan Orellana Coutol were equal partners.

With my emotions running high—which I was determined to hide at all costs—I walked into the house.

I went in through the front door.

The house had four entrances: the main one and one on each side, corresponding to different wings of the house.

There was also an entrance at the back.

I walked into a large hall; it wasn’t as I remembered it—they had clearly made some renovations.

I stood there for a few seconds taking it all in; at least the arches leading to each wing were still there.

The floor was different.

“Welcome, Miss Kelly.”

A maid suddenly said to me—I didn’t even notice when she’d come in; I must have been too distracted looking around.

I need to pay more attention.

“Please follow me,”

She said it as if I were a stranger, and I think that, at least up until that moment, it was still my home.

I was wearing my glasses; they helped me hide my emotions, even though they were sunglasses and it was ridiculous to be wearing them inside the house.

She headed toward the wing where Ethan lived—or, in this case, Rodolfo, his son.

We entered a living room and then, turning down the hallway, we came to an office; it was spacious and looked like the one on the side where I lived.

I realize that they’re like two houses, joined together and mirror images of each other—they’re sort of like those modern duplexes.

As a little girl, I’d never paid attention to that detail.

I felt four pairs of eyes on me.

I assumed the three men I didn’t know were the lawyers; the other was Rodolfo Orellana Coutol.

All four of them stood up.

Rodolfo seems like a gentleman.

“Good morning,”

I said as I entered.

“Good morning, Miss Kelly,”

A voice I recognized as that of the lawyer who always speaks with me on the phone said.

The other two men introduced themselves; one was a notary, and the other, the younger man, was the accountant.

-“Good morning, Kelly.”

Rodolfo says to me, looking me over but without offering his hand.

The three gentlemen from the law firm did greet me by shaking my hand.

Okay, their politeness has its limits.

I didn’t offer my hand to him either.

They spread out, sitting around a medium-sized, oval table—I did remember that table—and arranged themselves so that Rodolfo and I ended up sitting next to each other.

I took off my glasses, because there was no longer any point in wearing them, and I had already recovered from the shock I felt upon entering that house.

At least I thought I’d recovered.

We began to listen as the will was read.

They were discussing the clauses that Miss Kelly Miller and Mr. Rodolfo Orellana Coutol must fulfill in order to receive 100% of the inheritance.

We looked at each other, bewildered and full of doubts.

I felt his gray-green eyes fixed on mine.

She no longer had the confidence she’d displayed when I walked in, but I felt her eyes searching inside me—that made me nervous; I didn’t understand why she was looking at me that way.

His gaze was deep and piercing.

I felt so uncomfortable that I looked away.