In loving memory of Thomas Deventis; a father and a brother. The plain words were all I could focus on as the burial ceremony came to an end and the guests began to file out to their houses. It was almost unbelievable that he was gone- I would not have believed any of the drama unfolding before my eyes if I had not been present the very moment he was lowered into the casket. Behind me, I could feel my mother’s gaze penetrating the deepest core of my soul- almost as if she could taste my jumbled mind.
Out of all the turns I could have imagined my life to take after my father’s death, this phase that I was living was definitely not an option. Two months after his death, I could still not understand why the lawyer will insist it was not yet time for his will to be read. This, as a result of the deceased’s order. How my mother, who, for some years now had been separated from my father, believed she definitely had a price to her name in the will and had refused to grant me peace till it was the supposed time was definitely a big hassle to my sanity- at least that was what I thought …
As I descended from the plane, I caught sight of Mr Marco in his regular black uniform, leaning against the car. I was happy to be back after being away for a whole week on an assignment to discuss some proposals about my father’s company. I switched on my phone and was immediately met with a beep sound after settling in the car for the ride to the company.
“Your meeting with the Antonio Groups has been scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at the mansion” The text from my assistant simply stated. However, the fourteen words seemed technical to dissect. In my four months of working in my father’s company, I never heard of any Antonio Groups and the reason the meeting was at the mansion was beyond me.
“We should head home first” I said to Mr Marco, who from the rearview mirror appeared confused for a second but decided to not make a comment about the change of direction. As I watched him mask his confusion, I contemplated asking if he knew anything about the Antonio Groups since he had worked for my family for almost thirty years. On a second thought, what could he know, he was just a driver after all.
I was met at the door by my assistant who with a pad in one hand, held the door open for me with the other.
“We should head to your father’s study right away” he said right after the exchange of greetings. “Mr Antonio had a little delay on the way and should be here soon” Our attention was drawn to the opening and closing of the entrance door, followed by exchange of pleasantries between the person who entered and Maria, our housekeeper. My interest picked as I watched Maria relates friendly with the strange men. One of them patted her back in greeting; further confirming my assumption- the men must have been here a number of times.
“Oh! There you are, Carmen. How do you do?” The older of the two men said, moving towards me with a smile. “Meet my son, Ace.” He continued before my initial confusion could wear off. Now that they were both close to where I stood, their features were indeed similar. Just as I was about to open my mouth, my assistant beat me to it.
“You are welcome, Mr Antonio” at least now, I had a name to the face.
“It’s been a while, Shane. How have you been?” Mr Antonio replied. I let my eyes wandered past his shoulder as I watched his son check out the living room before turning and leading the way to the study.
Later that evening, I felt numb sitting on my bed replaying the day’s events. “I would leave you to it and ask Marco to let me know when we can set up another meeting with the other members” those were his last words before Mr Antonio and his son left the mansion that morning.
“If I get you correctly, there are certain files I need to go through to get the concept behind what is going on. Right?” I said to Mr Marco, who currently stood across me. “And you cannot direct me to where they are? I probed further. After the discussion with Mr Antonio yesterday, I was restless and needed answers to this madness as soon as possible.
I had summoned Mr Marco to get more insight since his name was mentioned yesterday, but seeing as the discussion went, there was no easy way out of this.
“Carmen, lunch is served” I heard Maria say from outside my father’s room. “Alright, I will be there soon” I replied absent-mindedly. It’s been six hours of me turning things over in search of some files I didn’t know of their existence. I had started with the study room, seeing as it was only logical to assume all paper works were kept there. The guest rooms had been searched one after the other, followed by the bar and gym. “What if there were no such files in this house?” I wondered aloud heading to the dining room until my eyes caught sight of the one door I grew up to find locked all year round.
The room was said to have belonged to my aunt who died from cancer while I was still very young. I’ve been told stories of how strong she was till her last day. My father had kept the room locked to preserve her belongings and memories after her death. The only time I had seen the door opened was when I returned from college one day and found my father and Maria exiting the room. As the housekeeper, Maria had been there to clean the room and my father had stayed back to watch her do it. My happiness of finally being home overpowered my curiosity and so I didn’t pay attention to it.
My legs moved towards the door and as expected, it was locked. Now that my father was dead and had the chance to reconnect with his sister, he had no need to hold on to mere possessions in her memory anymore. So, I ran out and got some tools to get the door open. It appeared to be a distraction from my initial quest but that could definitely wait. After several pushes and pulls, the door flung open, only it wasn’t a lady’s room but a room with shelves full of files. I sank to the floor the same time the hammer in my hand made a thud sound.
It’s been four days I discovered the room and went through different sections of files. Finding out about the room was one issue, realizing that every single person in this mansion was engaged in a business with my father was another. I remembered once when I asked my father how the domestic staff could dedicate so many years of their lives to working for us and why he felt we needed that large number of people to keep this house running, he had said it was for the best and they were not complaining. This could be the reason I was never around for long. If I was not in a boarding school, I was on vacation.
The Deventis Incorporation had only been a front for him. The real channel was not known to the world- not even me, Carmen Deventis. Like my father, his partners had a company to their names; the same way there was Antonio Groups. Right now, I could not care about showing up at the company. What I needed was a chat with Mr Marco.
“Good morning, Mr Marco, or should I say Mr Marco Jones?” I greeted sassily. If he was any surprised by the use of his full name, he didn’t show it. “So, can we talk now?” I quickly added and headed into the house before he could give his response. I try not to look back, as I hear footsteps follow me to the door, knowing fully well I didn’t give him any other option.
“I would suggest we wait for a while as others are heading here for a meeting” came his response. “Really?” I raised an eyebrow at him. “I am beyond shock at how much of an outcast I have been in my father’s house for the past years and even after his death” I said as I massaged my forehead in anticipation of the headache building up. “I would be in my room till then”.
The chatter and greetings downstairs was enough to drag me out of my thoughts. A quick glance at the clock indicated it had not been more than forty-six minutes I came up here to wait for the next puzzle to be unraveled. Deciding to get this behind me, I made for the stairs and soon discovered the “guests” were now in the study. Walking in like a deer caught in headlights, I muttered my greeting and made my way to the available seat.
As they all took turn to express their condolences over my father’s death, then welcoming me back home, and giving a brief summary of what they were in the house for, the only thing that stuck to my head was the word ‘drug’- the part I wanted the discussion to get to. Thirty minutes later, one of the men who I believed was addressed as Mr Rivera finally went into details of how the business had been on hold for two months in honour of my late father. And now that they were here, they would like to get things back in motion.
“Marco, I believe you’ve confirmed the available stuff yesterday, right?” Mr Blackwood directed to Mr Marco who nodded his head. My confusion must have been evident on my face because the next thing I heard was me being addressed by Mr Blackwood himself. “You should come with us, Carmen. You will understand better that way”.
I remained seated and allowed everyone to file out in hopes of getting a change of outfit before joining them. However, they were headed to the same room I had been in days ago when I exited the study. I had just closed the door behind me when one of the men punched in some numbers and a part of the floor opened up and made a pathway beneath the room. All these years, I had believed this was just another random room in my father’s house.
I followed them down the stairs as they chattered like they were walking into a regular bar. Unexpectedly, the underground was well lit, and adequately furnished. I soon found out this was not just a room underneath the ground; it was a labyrinth. As I passively followed whoever was in sight around the different rooms, I started to see some of the ‘supposed’ domestic staff at different stations. They were there in production, packaging, logistics and others. This was not just a storehouse; the whole process took place there.
I soon saw a closed door with the tag DEVENTIS T.O. on it. Despite my shaky hands, I continued to rummage through the different files in the office until a paper slipped out of a particular one with my name on it. Maybe this could provide an answer.
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Dearest Carmen,
If you are here, I could only imagine what the past days had been for you.
You should know that all I wanted for you was the best. You will find most of the answers here.
Love,
Your father.
…and at that point, it dawned on me that this was a lion’s den, not my father’s house.
