Opposites Do Most Certainly Attract!

And Why Am I Hearing About This Now?

"That's impossible! Grandpa George couldn't hate anyone even if he tried! Plus, he never mentioned anything like this to me when he was alive! And we were close!" a 5'10ft tall Scarlett Kane raged as she paced back and forth in her grandparents grande library at their country home in east Cheshire. Yes, grande. Her maternal grandparents had a thing for class, a lavish lifestyle and lived and breathed 'old money'.

"Yes, you were close my dear, actually, you were his favourite granddaughter and he wasn't afraid to tell the others," she smiled at that, "but love, he couldn't tell you. He never wanted you to be apart of that terrible terrible feud. And the way it'd upset him..." here, her grandmother Jane Whickham, paused and shook her head with a little frown marring her pretty face, "he never wanted you to see him that way..."

"But grandma, this was and is still a very serious issue! How could I have spent all these years not knowing that the house I spent the biggest part of my life, the place where I met the two most wonderful people in the world - the place mom calls home- may not be yours?!" Scarlett paced even more agitatedly, wondering what would happen if her grandma lost the property, what would happen to the workers, the friends they'd made all these years, the memories... It would break her heart!
And, "Who did you say was behind these claims again?" she asked with an even bigger frown than her grandma's, wondering who could be so bold as to claim that a property that had been in her family for at least three generations, didn't belong to them. And, why now when grandpa George was dead?

"A very powerful Italian family - royal family actually- the Valentis..." her grandmother answered softly, twisting the ring around her finger and looking pensive - Scarlett hated seeing her like that. It broke her heart. Her none existent heart according to most people. Especially men. "They are a very old and powerful family, and they have their overwhelmingly powerful son spearheading the whole thing..." Jane added with a shudder, rubbing her hands along her arms as if feeling cold.

This was very interesting, Scarlett had always thought of her grandparents as invincible and absolutely nothing could scare them. Now, her grandma was alone and this?! "What claim are they making on the house?" she asked, walking to the window to get some much needed air - suddenly, she couldn't breath.

"Well, the son claims it's his inheritance from his grandfather who passed away recently. From what your grandpa used to say, and it wasn't a lot about the matter, the house has been in his family for generations and the Italians have been trying to take it away from him for ages, they just didn't have proof. And now that he's not with us anymore, they've come calling again..."

"That's it? That's all they've got?" Scarlett was pleasantly surprised, this wouldn't take long, the matter would be resolved quickly enough and her grandma would stop worrying, "If this house has been in our family for generations, then that's proof enough for us. This whole inheritance claim I'm sure, can be settled amicably because clearly, they have the wrong house." Scarlett rolled her eyes, betraying the American side of her birth and getting her grandma to laugh because she always found her American habits hilarious. "If the claims were accurate, they would have had the house a long time ago."

"Scarlett, it's not going to be that easy, I forgot to mention they hate us. And we hate them, at least your grandpa did, I didn't know much about it. Until now of course." Jane said with a little shake of her head and a smile. Why was she smiling at a time like this?

"Hate us? Seriously? Over a house that's not even in Italy? Which is definitely not theirs'?! Really?" another eye roll from Scarlett whose beautiful warm green eyes always sparkled when she was irritated. Something she got from her mother.

"Yes my dear, you could be surprised about the reasons people have for hating others... "

"I think I have all I need to fix this, but, what's the story behind their claim? Apart from the inheritance thing. Did grandpa ever talk about something in his parents' past or past generations that had any connection to the Valentis?" Scarlett wondered, because it was a big claim the Italians were making, surely they had something to back that claim. Something from the past and not just an inheritance.

"Well, he always talked about how his great grandmother had an affair with an Italian Duke and was disowned by her family because they wanted her to marry an Englishman." her grandma replied with a smile, probably thinking about grandpa George and how excited he'd get when telling that particular story.

"Did she marry the Italian?" This gave Scarlett a not so good feeling because it would be the first thing she'd hear from the Italians when she went to settle things with them.

"No, she apparently didn't. The Italian Duke was already married and couldn't take her back to Italy with him. He still came to see her though, even after he learned she had gotten married. I think that's where the feud began - with their obsession with each other."

Scarlett slowly nodded her head in understanding, but, "How does the house come into it?"

"That's the part I don't know, my dear. I wish I could understand it all so that I don't worry you... " Jane sighed with a shake of her beautiful white head, she was still so gorgeous at 80 and looked like an older Scarlett - something that made the two so happy.

Scarlett rushed to her grandma and gave her a tight hug, "Grandma, I've got it all under control, please don't worry about anything. I'll fix this, I promise!" Now more than ever, she was determined to make sure these claims remained just that, claims.

"What are you going to do, love? Please don't go hunting these people down the way I know you to do! Talk to them, make them understand..." Jane pleaded, holding her granddaughter's hand tightly, waiting for the promise,

"Grandma, please! I'm a very civilized person and I know how to 'talk to people'. Just don't talk to them anymore, forward all their calls to me, they are dealing with me now, OK?." she asked as she kissed her grandma's cheek and forehead.

"I'll do that, dear. You were always so fierce and formidable - please don't 'take them down' or anything, I know you and your lawyer ways!" her grandma smiled and shook her head,

"God, grandma, I've promised - I'll take it easy on them." Scarlett said with a saccharine sweet smile that she knew her grandma didn't believe but that was the beauty of it.

"If you say so, dear! Say hello to your mother, tell her she couldn't have given me a more beautiful granddaughter!" her grandma shouted as Scarlett smiling, walked down the hall, to the front doors and out onto the lawn and into her jeep - yes, she loved powerful cars.

Driving away from her grandparents' home, Scarlett run a hand through her long thick dark-red wavy hair in thought. What did the Valentis have to back their claim? Why hadn't grandpa told her about this? And most importantly, who was the eldest son of the Valentis? She needed to know, fast. Her grandma's happiness depended on it and she wasn't about to let her down. Jane had already lost so much by grandpa George dying, and Scarlett living a million miles away in Manhattan, the last thing she needed was to be out of home as well! Scarlett needed to talk to her mom about this, maybe she'd come down to Cheshire and stay a while with her grandma. Scarlett didn't like her grandma living alone in such a big house.
First though, she needed to make arrangements for a flight - to Italy to be precise. She'd go to them. She was prepared to do that. This mess would be over by the weekend! And it was just Wednesday!

The picture is of Scarlett's grandma's home in Cheshire.