Chapter 1

You’re coming back?”

 Lara Martinez let out a long heartfelt sigh, dividing looks between the boarding pass in her hand and the large digital clock in front of her. Of course, she was coming back. Her mother gave her no choice but to pack her things into a box and get on the next flight back to San Luis. Hell, the woman even sent a plane ticket. How could she refuse it? Deciding to not let the thought of Veronica Flores Martinez bother her, she squared her shoulders and smiled. It was just San Luis. The City she had grown up in. The City she, once upon a time, loved. How bad could it be?

Enthusiastically this time, she answered, “Yes, Rosa. I am coming back. As a matter of fact, I am at the airport. And. . .”

“AMERICAN AIRLINE 324 TO SAN LUIS, MEXICO. ALL PASSENGERS PROCEED TO THE BOARDING STATION NOW. I REPEAT, AMERICA AIRLINE 324 TO SAN LUIS, MEXICO. ALL PASSENGERS PLEASE PROCEED TO THE BOARDING STATION NOW.”

“And that, Rosa, is my cue to exit,” Lara continued, lifting herself from the stainless steel waiting chair. “I will see you in eight hours.”

A deafening squeal followed. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be so much fun.”

 I wish.

Seven hours later, Lara’s blissful first-class ride on American Airlines came to an end when the plane landed at San Luis International Airport. The seven hours of the exquisite moment of constant attention had her in a good mood for a second, she forgot about all the emotional trauma that came with seeing her own mother.

 As she carefully descended the silver staircase of the plane in her brown knee-length leather boots and lunette glasses that sat on the bridge of her pointed nose, the feeling of apprehension slowly began to set as realization dawned on her. She was truly back in San Luis. She was back home.

 “Welcome to San Luis. City of Tranquility. Do have a wonderful stay,” The hostess said to Lara when she reached the bay of the stairs and all she could do was muster a fake smile in response.

 As long as her mother was in San Luis, there was absolutely no way her stay could be wonderful. All Lara wanted to do was to get on the next flight to America and go back to Boston. Yes, there was nothing for her there. Veronica had made sure of that. She got her fired from work, rendered her homeless by buying the apartment she stayed in, and barely had any friends. That was how bad it was.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with the city. Simple life, quite serene often. The kind of things she liked, completely different from her rollercoaster life in Massachusetts. But it just couldn’t be all this with the presence of her villainous mother who wanted nothing more than to control the life of her twenty-seven-year-old daughter.

 “Ms. Martinez! Ms. Martinez!” Lara whipped her head in the direction of the man, looking ahead of herself to the gray middle-aged man who was waving persistently at her. When she realized who it was, her face split into a wide grin and she hurried her steps to meet him.

“Oh my goodness, Davies!” She exclaimed, flinging herself into his wide-open arms. “Look at you! How long has it been?”

Davies all but lifted her into the air to spin her around. “Nine long years. Did you grow taller?”

“Definitely not. Haven’t you heard the saying that you stop growing at 18?”

“Oh, bullshit!” Davies embraced her again. “I could barely recognize you from a distance. You’re a full-grown woman now. Look at you! Had it not been for the hair, I would never have recognized you.”

“This cranky thing? Do you know how many times I have thought of straightening it out and making it into a bob?” She patted the natural curls of her blonde hair gently before pulling back to get a good look at Davies. He was in his late forties by now. But still looked very much like an eligible bachelor in his thirties.

“Please tell me you don’t still have the women of San Luis wrapped around your fingers.”

Davies snorted. “Gone are the days. I found somebody.”

Lara wasn’t one to squeal but the sound just flew out of her mouth. Playboy Davies Hughes settling for one woman? That was definitely something to squeal about. “Oh my goodness! I have got to meet her.”

 “And you will. Right after I take you to the house. The entire family is waiting.”

 “Wait, what?” Lara couldn’t believe her ears. All members of the Martinez’ in one house, under one roof. That hadn’t happened in years. So why the hell was it happening now? Was somebody dying?

 Come to think of it, “Was somebody dying?”

“I don’t. . .”

“Oh my God! What is wrong with my father?”

 Davies almost choked out with laughter. “Mr. Martinez is fine. Your mother called for the meeting as far as I can tell. And you are the last of the Martinez to arrive. I guess we’ll find out what prompted the meeting at the family dinner tonight.”

“Family dinner?”

“Mmmhmm,” Davies shook his head, lifting her luggage into the booth of the car. “It’s huge. Your mother has the maids going to the grocery store every now and then for one thing or the other. She even got a pig for the occasion.”

“A pig?”

“And you know Mrs. Veronica, she doesn’t play with her pigs except when it’s a big occasion.”

Lara allowed her head to drop to the floor. What kind of Oscar-winning family drama was her mother planning? She didn’t know. What she knew is that she wanted no part of it.

Davies closed the booth and opened the back seat of the car. “It’s nine years, Lara. Surely a lot has changed.”

“So you’re saying my mother has become less a pain in the ass and more motherly?”

 He laughed. “Hardly. But maybe she realized you’re a woman now. She’d respect that.”

“Do you really believe that, Davies?”

 He considered it for a while before nodding his head in refutation. “Okay. Not in a million years. Definitely not. But it’ll be fun. You get to see Rosa and all of your high school boyfriends. Look at the positives of it. How bad can San Luis be?” Lara fell asleep thirty minutes into the ride to her home. There was plenty of time to catch up with Davies and learn all about the woman that had found a way to hold him down. But for now, she needed to rest her head before she met with her family, with her mother.

At exactly 4:30 pm, Davies skidded the car to a screeching halt, effectively pulling her out of her slumber. And in a sing-song manner, he announced, “We’re home. Welcome back to the Colita Real, Ms. Martinez.”

Ugh! Lara could feel her insides turning. She ducked her head outside the car window to survey the premise of the now unfamiliar house she grew up in.

“Did they renovate?” She asked Davies who was helping out with her luggage in the booth.

“Your mother renovates every two years.”

Typical.

“Come on out, Lara. You can’t stay there forever.”

If only wishes were horses.

Murmuring profanities to herself, she tilted her head back into the car to do one final round of convincing before stepping into the lion’s den.

‘You can do this, Lara. It’s just your family. They are your family. F-A-M-I-L-Y. You should love them. Of course, I love them. They’ll be happy to see me. And I’ll be happy to see them. It’ll be fun. Right? Right?’

Even her subconscious knew she was lying. It was going to be one hell of a trip.

As soon as the sole of her boots touched the red concrete floor of the enormous compound, the feeling of déjà vu crept in. She remembered the first time they had moved into the mansion, approximately twenty years ago.

Her father stepped Into the living room of their former house one evening and screamed at the top of his lungs. “THE CAPITAL IS COMPLETE!”

The capital, as he liked to describe the house, was a wide two-story modern Victorian building that was perhaps, 9,500 square meters. It was one of the biggest in the city. A state-of-the-art building with the inscription, ‘EL COPITA REAL’ (the capital) boldly written on the front gate. She recalled how she and her siblings had run into the house to choose their bedrooms. Anywhere was fine except for the suite-style master bedroom that belonged to their parents so, Lara went for the bedroom closest to the attic, away from all the family shenanigans that happened now and then.

A smile crept up her face as she recalled the good old days, still perusing the entire surrounding of the house until her eyes landed on the larger-than-life banner. What the. . .!

Her head snapped In the direction of Davies who was finishing a phone call. “What the hell is that banner?”

“Ohhh. That. Your mother is running for Mayor.”

“Mayor? Why? She hates politics.”

“Ummm. . .” he trailed off, not sure how to answer.

Nine years ago, Veronica did hate politics. But as he said, a lot has changed over what was nearly a decade.

*I guess you will have to ask her that at dinner. Speaking of dinner, your mother wants me to go pick up some items from the store. Will you be fine on your own?”

Truthfully, no. She wasn’t sure how to deal with her estranged siblings. “You don’t have to worry. Your mother is not home. So is your father. Can’t say the same for your siblings. Are you sure you’ll be alright? I can send someone to the store if you’d like me to stick around.”

Lara forced a smile. “Of course, Davies. I’ll be fine. It’s my family house.”

He swayed his head left and right. “You seem to have forgotten that. Anyway, I’ll let Alice know you asked after her.”

“Alice?”

“Yes. My girlfriend.”

Lara gasped, drawling dramatically, “So she does exist!”

“You haven’t changed, have you?” He said, laughing.

“Not in the least.”

“Alright, Lara. Catch you later! And you remember, they are your family.”

She watched as he drove out of the compound When he was out of sight, a feeling of emptiness and uncertainty filled her. Davies was always her go-to person. He was the family driver and as such, drove them to school every day and brought them back home when they were in middle and high school. He seemed like the only person that ever really understood her. Her father was always a busy man, her mother cared way too much, it was suffocating, and her siblings were always absorbed in their personal lives. All five of them. So she would always run to Davies to cry about her teacher who gave her a C minus in Math, how she made the cheerleading squad or how she got dumped by the captain of the school’s football team. But now things are different. Now she was older, wiser, smarter. She could handle herself as she has been doing for the past nine years.

With this reassuring thought, she proceeded to the house, counting her steps and bracing herself for the first sibling she would encounter. Just as she was about to push open the front double door, it flung open and three housemaids dressed in a horrendous-looking pink uniform that made them appear like dolls, lined in front of her to chorus together, “Welcome home, Ms. Larissa Martinez.”

Oh boy. Barely ten seconds in and the drama had already begun.

In a rehearsed manner, as though they were robots programmed to say these things, they continued.

“I’m Janice.”

“I’m Isabel. . .”

“And I am Alma.”

“Welcome to El Colita Real.”

What was this? Barney and Friends?

Lara couldn’t believe her eyes and ears. Surely it was her perfectionist mother that put them up to this. What is she supposed to say? How was she supposed to react? Before she even had a chance to process any thoughts, one of the maids stepped forward to take her bags.

“El Colita Real is one of the biggest mansions in San Luis, owned by billionaires Ricardo Martinez and Upcoming Mayor Veronica Flores Martinez. It is a 9,500 square expanse built on the ruins of the first city hall of San Luis. . .”

When they were done with their five hundred-word essay on the origin of the building, another maid stepped forward with a small notepad in her hand. “Here is your schedule for the rest of the day. Permit me to read it out, Ms. Martinez?”

“Excuse me?”

Ignoring Lara’s state of confusion, Alma continued. “By 5:30 pm, you’ll have the house tour which will be given by Janice.”

Janice flashed her thirty-two in an exaggerated smile.

House tour?

For the sweet love of Christ, she grew up here!

“When it’s 6:30, you’ll be allowed to retire back to your bedroom to prepare for the family dinner. A dress has been picked out for you already.”

A dress?

“And by 7:10 you should be seated in the dining hall. You are allowed to call it a day and go to sleep anytime from 8:30. That’ll be all, Ms. Martinez.” And Alma went back in line.

Lara was stupefied, flabbergasted, and in awe. Her mother definitely had more in store for her. Now, she just knew it. She was going to regret coming back.