I passed out a few minutes after that. I was too overwhelmed by everything that was happening. Like your whole world crashing down on a Friday. I'd rather expect that of a Monday.

Monday's a bitch. Don't argue with me on that. It's the truth.

When I woke up, I was in a bright room. I hated it so much, especially since my head was killing me. It should never be bright when you wake up.

Usually means that you did something wrong. Like leaving your curtains open.

I quickly closed my eyes and groaned. It was hard to locate myself, the only thing I knew was that I was laying on something soft.

A bed that felt like feathers. I grabbed the silk sheets and pulled them over my head. Underneath my sheets, it was dark and I could open my eyes again. I took a few deep breaths and tried to sit up. I get drowsy and nauseous. Where the hell was I and how did I get here?

"Are you playing hide and seek, tesoro?" A deep and warm voice chuckled.

I didn't want to come from under my sheets because of the brightness but the voice intrigued me. I was silent but then heard heavy footsteps approaching me. The bed that I was laying on dipped a bit on the side and a large hand grabbed the sheets before softly pulling them away. I kept my eyes closed.

"You can open your eyes, I found you!" The voice laughed.

"Too bright!" I groaned.

"That's the sun waking you up, tesoro."

The voice must belong to a very cheerful and warm person. It made me so curious to see what he looked like. It had to be a he, it was very obviously a manly voice.

"Headache." I got out.

The weight lifted off the bed and walked away. I heard swift motions and waited for him to speak again.

"I closed the curtains, you can look again."

I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. My eyes adjusted thanks to the closed curtains. I looked around and noticed that I was in an unfamiliar room. It was so big and took my breath away. The walls were painted a very soft lilac colour, almost pastel. My sheets were white and I sat on a large kingsize bed. I spotted a desk near the large window on the left side of the room. The room was empty besides that and there were two doors ahead of me.

Then my eyes fell on the man. It was Theo.

I watched how he approached me. He wore a dark grey suit. His tie was gone and he had buttoned the first two buttons open which gave him a very approachable look.

"You're finally awake. I've been waiting for you to wake up, tesoro." He sat down on my bed.

His large hand grabbed mine. I watched how my hand disappeared in his. He smiled endearingly at the sight and squeezed my hand softly. My chest filled with a warm sensation all because of the way he looked at me. No one has ever looked at me with so much love in their eyes.

Not even my mom.

Wait, my mom.

I sat up quickly and held my head. Flashbacks of what happened hit me worse than that stupid headache. Theo reached over to the side and handed me a cup with a painkiller. I eagerly took it.

"Does your head hurt?" He asked concernedly.

"Like a bitch." I muttered.

"You're going to have to learn to not curse." He told me sternly.

Like that'll ever happen. I was just so conditioned to use it a lot. It was hard to grow out of a habit.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"Our family home."

I was in the same house as Amelia and the twins? Somebody come save my ass.

Cecelia would come save me and Tracy would take the first plane here. My chaotic besties. Wait my besties-

I looked around for my phone but I didn't find it.

"Have you seen my phone?" I asked Theo.

"Hector has it."

"Why does he have it?"

Theo looked a bit uncomfortable as he scratched the back of his head.

"We'll buy you a new-"

"I want my phone. Now."

Did I sound like a whiny brat? Yes. Was it a justified reaction in this situation? Also yes.

"That's not a possibility, tesoro."

"It is! Give me my phone. I need to talk to my friends!"

He sighed and looked like he wouldn't give in. So I jumped out of bed with a mission.

Find Hector, take my phone, and beat his intimidating ass.

I opened the door that led to one long hallway. There were plenty of other doors that led to other rooms but I walked out of the hallway. Theo followed me and tried to stop me. He got a bit panicked when I stepped on the stairs that led to the next floor.

So I ran up the stairs. I usually never do that but my phone is in danger.

When I reached the next floor, I only had one option. It was one long hallway that led to one big door. I ran towards it and swung it open. Inside was a huge office with in the middle Hector.

He sat behind a mahogany desk typing something on a MacBook. I barely looked around but I noticed that the two walls on each side were covered by long rows of bookshelves. Before his desk was a little seating area arranged with a coffee table. And behind his desk was one, obnoxiously big portrait of his family.

"My phone. Now!" I demanded.

"No." He didn't even look up.

I grabbed a large reading lamp from his desk and smashed it against his MacBook. The screen broke as the computer fell to the ground. I just destroyed an expensive computer but I didn't give a flying fuck.

"Elena, please calm down." Theo grabbed my hand.

"My name is Charlotte!" I screamed.

They kept calling me Elena. I know that a lot has changed in such little time but I can't take it all at once.

"Your name is Elena. That's why your real parents named you." Hector spoke.

He still looked dangerously calm after I destroyed his computer. Maybe it just wasn't enough.

I ran to to bookshelves and tore all the books out. I was making a mess but I didn't care. He didn't even respect me, so why would I respect him?

"Tesoro, you'll hurt yourself." Theo warned me.

I didn't stop. I couldn't stop. I felt so angry and frustrated. Not only at them but also at my mom. She's not even my real mom. I thought that she loved me. I thought that I had a dad. I just thought that my life wasn't this complicated.

"Hey, shush, it'll be alright." Theo caught me in his arms as I broke down.

What am I to do now? I felt so lost. Everything was so clear to me but now I felt like I was blind. I didn't know what was happening or what was going to happen. It scared me. I was so scared.

"I know that is very scary and overwhelming but you have a family to help you through this. You can count on us." He promised.

The Cassano's as my family? Three of them had already assaulted me. I really didn't feel safe around them, even though Theo had a very calming effect on me.

"Come, let's have some lunch. You must be hungry."

"I'm not." I muttered.

I was starving.

"You're going to eat. That's final." Hector stood up from behind his desk and fixed his tie.

"I'm not!"

I was really hungry but if he told me to eat then I wasn't going to.

"It's the least you can do after breaking my computer and making a mess in my office." He commented.

"And I'll do it again. Watch your back, old man."

He didn't look old, but he was older than me. The nickname irritated him slightly which made me grin.

"Let's just go downstairs, then someone can clean this mess." Theo patted my back.

I looked around at the mess that I created. I felt guilty only for the poor books that I'd thrown down. But then my eyes met Hector's and I did a very mature thing.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

////////////////////////////

The dining room was attached to the kitchen. It was very nice and open. The entire house had very minimalistic and open style with themes of a lot of white. It was absolutely gorgeous and put me in a better mood.

But then I spotted Amelia and the twins. They sat at the dining table eating some good looking pasta. My stomach grumbled and Theo gave me one of his endearing smiles again. He seems to have a lot saved up for me.

"What they fuck is she doing here?", Nicolas the demanded heart spitting out his pasta.

"Language." Will scolded him.

Hector went to sit down at the head of the table. An middle aged woman stepped out from the kitchen with a plate for him. She placed it down in front of him and then her eyes fell on me. A gigantic smile crossed her warm and lined face before she hurried over to me.

She grabbed me by the face and pressed a hundred kisses to my forehead and cheeks. By the end I was probably as red as a tomato.

"Thank you, my lord, for bringing us our bambina!" She cried out of joy.

I gave Theo a side glance and he chuckled.

"This is Greta, she's being our head housekeeper for many years. If you have any question about the house, you can go to her." He explained.

They have their own housekeeper?

"You're like a mini Hector!", Greta clapped her hands excitedly.

That turned my mood sour for obvious reasons.

"I don't look anything like him." I pouted.

That was a lie. Long before I even knew he was my brother, I was taken aback by how similar we looked. Out of all of the Cassano siblings, I had to look the most like him. At least it wasn't the twins.

But still. Fuck you, genetics.

"What a beautiful girl you are!" She complimented me.

She was warming my heart but then Leonardo came to ruin it.

"She's ugly."

I don't let guys call me ugly. They literally have to stand up to pee. Don't trust their judgment about anything.

"You literally have an eyebrow piercing. There is no room for you to even judge."

He glared at me and I glared right back at him. I still haven't forgotten how he choked me.

"Greta, please get Elena a plate." Theo asked her.

I wanted to protest but I couldn't say no to her excited face. She was too cute with her brown curls and warm eyes. I felt like she'll be my bestie in this house filled with idiots.

Theo is perhaps the only exception.

He pulled out a chair for me and I sat down. Amelia was stabbing her plate probably imagining that it was my face. She was quite aggressive like that.

Says the one that destroyed a office for a phone.

But it was justified!

Greta came in quickly with a plate of that delicious looking pasta. She stayed by my side and curiously watched me as I took my first bite. I had to hold back a moan, because damn.

I gazed up at this woman and was about to ask her if she was married, when I heard people enter the dining room.

Silas had his arm wrapped around the last Cassano' brother. I've seen him around school and he was literally the only one Cecelia couldn't say one bad thing about. Victor Cassano was a cool loner. Everybody wanted to be his friend, probably for the wrong reasons, but he chose to be on his own.

He didn't even sit with his siblings during lunch, I never saw him in the cafeteria.

His blond curls were a mess but he pulled it off. He had that boyish charm to him. As I've said before, he's just very pretty. His blue eyes gazed up at me and he looked away with red cheeks.

Did I do something wrong?

Well, I was basically devouring this pasta but that couldn't be it.

Right?

"So the brat woke up?" Silas grinned.

I was very tempted to slam my fork in his eye but I settled for an eye roll. He sat down over me next to Amelia and Victor came to sit next to him. Greta squeezed my cheek a last time before she went to give them plates.

"Don't provoke each other." Hector spoke up.

They all looked at him as I just continued to eat. But then he irritated me.

"Elena is now part of this family-"

"I would really appreciate it, if you call me by my name. Thank you very much." I dropped my fork in annoyance.

Greta placed a plate drown in front of Silas when he decided to snarl at me and make her jump back in shock.

"Why would you want to keep the name some fucking psycho gave you?!"

"Watch your mouth, young man!" Greta scolded him.

I bit back a grin when I saw his expression. The old housekeeper obviously had some power over him because he obeyed.

"Sorry that I want to be addressed by a name I've been using my entire life!"

I could understand where they were coming from. My real parents named me Elena and they want to call me by that name. But I literally just found out my mom was a fucking psycho. I need time to progress things!

"You'll get used to it." Hector dismissed me.

This asshole.

Thankfully, I didn't say it out loud this time.

"To come back to what I was saying. Elena is family and I expect you to treat her as such. I know there have been troubles in the past, but I want you to put that behind you and at least tolerate each other."

I scoffed loudly and glared at him. Who was he? Jesus?

"They haven't even apologised to me. How do you expect me to put it behind me?"

"Elena is right. What you did was unacceptable and you should've apologised already." Theo agreed with me.

It felt nice to have someone on my side.

The three culprits just stared at me. Silas reached over to slap Leonardo against the back of his head.

"Say sorry to her, you fucker." He threatened him.

I frowned at Silas.

"I don't like your little ass but that doesn't mean that I tolerate the shit they did." He snapped.

At least he had one good thing about him. It didn't make me like him more, though.

"Okay, we went too far in threatening you. I'm sorry." Nicolas spoke up as first.

He looked at me. His long hair was up in a ponytail and he had pasta sauce on his lips. I couldn't really take him seriously so I just nodded. At least he apologised. I'll see how genuine he is.

Leonardo just shrugged in his seat. Silas slapped him again and he finally opened his dumb mouth.

"I still think that you're fucking annoying, but choking you was too extreme. Sorry for that."

He didn't sound very genuine but I just shrugged my shoulders and turned to Amelia.

"I'm not apologising!" She whined.

And they call me a brat?

"Lia." Theo warned her.

"I didn't even do anything wrong!" She protested.

"You touched my boobs, you creep." I reminded her.

"There'a barely anything to touch." She snapped.

I gasped loudly. She just had the audacity to insult my boobies.

She had nice rounded once, while mine were still growing. I was fifteen for fuck's sake, they had time to grow!

"Amelia." Hector spoke.

She sighed deeply and turned to me with an annoyed glare.

"I'm sorry, I guess." She replied smugly.

This bitch really brought out an ugly side in me.

"I don't even study for school and I scored higher than you."

Her ears went red while I smiled brightly. I watched how she stormed out of the dinning room. The twins were glaring at me but I didn't care.

We might be 'family' now, but I wasn't going to let them treat me like shit.