2 The Past

Amara Brown was born in a rich business family. Her grandfather and grandmother started a Real Estate business when they were young, they then got married and had two sons, Wyatt and Avery. Wyatt was their elder son, he and his wife gave birth to two sons, Jackson and Grayson. Avery, Amara's father is the younger son, he and his wife Emily gave birth to twin girls, Amara and Amelia. Amara was 7 minutes older than Amelia. Jackson is three years older than Grayson, Amara and Amelia, whereas Grayson is only a month older than the twins.

Grandma and Grandpa along with their two sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren lived in harmony and peace. Their sons took over their business and were earning very well. The children in the household too lived in peace and love. The only misfit in their perfect family was Amara Brown.

Amelia was the perfect daughter to their parents, always abiding by rules, following the traditions and respecting elders whereas Amara was a rebel child, she always opposed to their parents' decisions. Her parents wanted Amara and Amelia to join Piano classes, Amelia agreed but Amara opposed as she wanted to learn Martial Arts instead. Her parents didn't agree as they believed a girl should be more trained in classical arts. After a lot of rebelling and fight, Amara got what she wanted and she enrolled in Martial Arts. She became an expert in German Ju-Jutsu, a martial art related to Japanese culture developed in Germany.

In school there were extra-curricular activities, Amara actively participated in them and was good at archery, swimming, golf and other sport activities. Amelia was always into dolls and teddy bears whereas Amara always loved playing with toy guns and remote-controlled cars. Although the sisters had opposite personalities, they genuinely adored each other. If Amelia was bullied in school then even before Jackson and Grayson, Amara used to come to her rescue, she once hit a girl who made her sister cry and was detained for a week.

Avery and his wife Sophia, were always disappointed in Amara, teachers used to complain about her behaviour and her recklessness, she had beaten up a lot of her classmates at some point and had no friends and she was always a loner. She never minded that as she preferred not having friends. She hates having a social life, if she ever accompanied her parents to any social gatherings, she always used to tarnish their reputation by indulging in fight with other people at the gathering or by creating a ruckus at the party. After a point, they stopped bringing her with them to social gatherings and only Amelia used to accompany them. Amara too was more than happy as she found such social gatherings bothersome.

No matter how much Amara tried she always felt she was a misfit for this family, she even had doubts if she was really their biological daughter, if it wouldn't have been for the fact that she and Amelia were twins and had similar facial features she would have had definitely conducted a DNA test with her parents.

One day something happened which changed Amara's life forever. Amara was picked up by their driver from her Martial Arts class and on way they picked up Amelia from her Violin class, when the two sisters returned home together, they felt a chilly vibe. The living room of their home which always had a cheerful vibe and a pleasant atmosphere had a gloomy vibe when they entered.

They saw an old man sitting on the long sofa with two of his bodyguards standing to his either side behind the sofa. Their grandmother and grandfather were sitting on the sofa opposite to him, they looked tensed or rather scared. Their uncle and father were standing behind their grandparents with a worried look on their face and their cousins were not here.

Looking at the intimidating old man sitting on the sofa, Amelia was very scared and quickly rushed to her parents but Amara was not scared, she casually went to the sofa chair adjacent to where the old man was sitting and relaxingly sat there and asked, "Why do you all look so scared and worried?" saying that she casually took out an energy bar from her bag and started eating.

Avery and Sophia cursed their daughter's indifferent attitude and before they could scold her the old man raised his hand and signalled them to keep quiet.

The old man looked at Amara and asked her, "Dear, do you know who I am?"

Hearing his chilly voice, Browns got very scared, Amara's grandmother even shivered listening to that voice but Amara was the only one who was not scared and rather found his voice very soothing.

"No" she casually replied.

"Brother, I never told them about you, I am sorry, it is my mistake that she doesn't know you, so please don't punish her for that, she is a child." Grandma was scared, she knows her brother's temperament and was worried for her granddaughter who had no idea of what was going on.

"Why are you apologising grandmother, big deal I don't know him, grandpa why don't you introduce yourself." Amara looked at the intimidating old man casually waiting for his introduction.

The old man chuckled and said, "I am Michael, Michael Russo, your grandma's older brother and your grand uncle, you can even call me great uncle."

"Oh, hi great uncle it is nice to meet you, I am Amara Brown. Great Uncle can I ask you something?"

"Sure"

"If you were my grandma's older brother, why did you never come to any of our family gatherings, my grandma never even mentioned your name to us, why is that?"

"Maybe your grandma is the right person to answer this question, right Bria?" Michael Russo turned to Amara's grandmother and said with a cold look on his face.

Before grandma could respond, Amara interrupted, "Bria? My grandma's name is Bella. Are you sure she is your sister?" Amara sarcastically laughed.

"Hmm, Bella. So, you changed your name to Bella, I think Bria suits you better." Michael tried to suppress the anger in his voice.

"I agree grandma, Bria is much better, why did you change your name?" Amara's innocent question was worsening the situation and the adults didn't know how to handle it. Just then Jackson and Grayson came home and saw the tensed situation. Grayson too got scared and rushed to his parents whereas Jackson had an idea of what was happening, so he quietly went and sat next to his sister Amara as a sign of protecting her.

"Since, everyone is here let me tell you all who I am and why am I here." Michael decided to come on the topic he is here for after the grandsons returned.

Browns were worried as they had no idea why Michael was here. They were all chitchatting in the living room when suddenly unannounced Michael entered with his bodyguards and made himself comfortable at their home. They all got scared of Michael's cold demeanour they all knew who Michael was and therefore they asked him why he was here and he said he will let them know after everyone in the family is here. From then on everyone was waiting in silence for the arrival of these four kids when Amara came, she was the first one who broke the silence. Till then everyone was standing in silence.

"I am Michael Russo, your Grandma Bria or now known as Bella's elder brother. I am the Mafia leader of the Russo gang."