Magdalen (Maggie) Copella lost her parents at a young age. She only had an estranged sister she had not seen in over a decade and a bitter grandmother left in this world so she poured herself into her modeling career.
That was until she received wo...
Victoria and I had a late night after I put Greer to bed. It was great to catch up, but I'm tired with a headache today.
I've been reading Diara's journal, and I have so many puzzle pieces to put together. I have an overwhelming need to understand my sister, and why she would have taken my grandmother's life then her own. The autopsy results came back, and the medical examiner called this morning.
It seems Diara gave my grandmother a lethal dose of heroin, before overdosing herself. There was no note, no justification, and no closure for the two she left behind.
I looked up Jason Allen and Alex Carlton. Jason is some high priced attorney, and Alex is actually a mechanic and lives in Brooklyn. I'm hoping they have some answers for me today.
Victoria has her photo shoot today, Greer is in school, and I needed to escape the constant pounding of the remodeling work being done at home.
Jason's office isn't far from the office of the asshole prick I met yesterday. Matthew insisted on going in with me, but I instructed him to wait in the car.
This is a pretty high-class legal firm, so I called yesterday and set up an appointment.
"Hello, I have a 9 am appointment with Jason Allen. My name is Magdalen Copella". I told the pretty red-headed receptionist.
"Yes, you're on the books. Take the elevators up to the twelfth floor, and I'll let them know you have arrived."
"Thank you."
I squeezed into the packed elevator, and held my breath until I could finally step off.
The second reception area is nice, but small. A young man asked me to have a seat until Mr. Allen could see me.
I looked through a magazine and internally laughed when I saw my own photo.
"Miss Copella?" Damn, what is it with my sister and these handsome men?
I stood with a smile and stuck out my hand. "Yes, I'm guessing you're Jason Allen?"
"Yes, it's very nice to meet you." He shook my hand.
"Let's meet in my office, follow me."
We walked into a large corner office, and he offered me a seat before taking his behind his desk.
"How can I help you today?" He asked.
"My sister, Diara passed away a few weeks ago, and I've been trying to piece together her life. Your name was mentioned in her journal, so I was hoping you could fill in some blanks for me." There's no reason to bring up Greer. I already identified her father without a doubt.
"Diara Hawthorne?" He asked.
"Hawthorne is actually my grandparent's last name. Ours is Copella."
He pulled on his tie. "She always said Hawthorne was her last name."
"That's strange, since she was estranged from our grandmother. I understand you knew her in college?"
"Yeah, Diara was beautiful, intelligent, and had a bright future, but she got mixed up with Alex Carlton, then Asher Bianchi. Asher is a good guy, but that Alex Carlton was mixed up with a bad crew. He wasn't even enrolled in college, she brought him to the frat house for a party one night. That guy was trouble, so I wouldn't suggest paying him a visit."
"Have you seen my sister since college?"
"Actually, yes, she came to me for some legal advice, but I turned her away and suggested she allow me to help her find a suitable rehab. She was really strung out at the time, and all I managed to do was piss her off. She stormed out of my office, and that's the last time I saw her. I'm sorry to hear about her death, and you have my sympathies."
"Thank you. Do you know anything else? Why did she need legal advice?"
"I'm a corporate attorney, but she needed an attorney that specialized in family law. She said she had a daughter, and Social Services were involved. She didn't go into much detail, but I did give her the name of an attorney I knew in college. I sent her to see Tim Knasp, but I can't say for sure that she ever went to see him."
"I hope you don't mind my asking, but what type of relationship did you have with my sister?"
He blushed. "We were friends, although I can admit I asked her out several times, but she turned me away. There was nothing more to it, and she quit school sophomore year."
"Well, thank you for your time. Here's my phone number, and if you think of anything, could you please give me a call?" I asked.
"Sure, and good luck in your search. Sorry I wasn't much help." I shook his hand and said goodbye.
None of this made sense to me, but my sister pushed me away for over a decade. I have a lot of guilt for not hiring an investigator to locate her. I've had plenty of trips to New York, and should have insisted she let me into her life.
When I stepped out of the building, I walked toward Matthew, but a car came to a screeching halt.
I saw Asher Bianchi step out and approach. "We should talk, get in and I'll answer whatever questions you have, and I have some for you too."
"I'm not getting in a car with you." Matthew approached and I waved him off.
"Fine, follow me to the park, and we will have this little chat." He ordered me like he's doing me a favor.
"I'm not sure there's much else to say. You obviously didn't care about my sister or your daughter."
He glared at me like he's planning my funeral.
"You don't know a damn thing about me." He snapped.
"Fine, we will follow you, but I don't have much time," I said, and he just nodded and walked toward his car. Matthew and I did the same.
Matthew followed behind toward Central Park, while I checked my emails and went over details about the early summer photo shoot in Argentina.
Once they found spots to park, I told Matthew to watch from a distance. Something about Asher makes me feel uneasy.
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