Chapter 19: Another Problem
{Author's POV}
An awkward silence filled in the living hall, Gianna clenched the hem of her dress and stiffened after Derek told Mr. and Mrs. Moretti about her blindness. Noticing the awkward mood, Grace spoke up,
"Oh, Xavier and Adam will return soon after finishing their work, so until then, sweetheart you can entertain your guests however you want Brinley." To which Brinley smiled excitedly and rushed both Gianna and Amelia to her room.
Lorenzo was still thinking when he muttered,
"It must be hard for her…should I give her sister scholarship permission for studies and support both of them financially?"
"Darling... I know this is surprising for us, and you want to help her, but I think she's trying her best to support herself and her sister. You'll hurt her feelings if you don't acknowledge her hard work." Grace explained her thoughts to Lorenzo.
"Yup Mom is right Dad. Just chill, if she faces any problem in the future, brother is there to help her, why're you worrying?" Derek said in a rush but soon realized what he blurted out, "Oops" he whispered, scratched his hair and smiled wryly.
"What do you mean by 'brother'? Is it Adam? Or Xavier? Tell me!" Grace widened her eyes in surprise and interrogated Derek.
"Tell us, don't keep us in the dark for long, we've been convincing those two brats to marry since a long time." Lorenzo said in a stern voice, to which Derek gulped his saliva.
"Sorry brother..." Derek whispered and sighed.
"Xavier." Derek said.
"Huh?" Grace didn't understand what he meant.
"Xavier has become somewhat interested in Gianna, I've heard him making some investigations about her background, and I've seen him staring at her for a few times once in a while." Derek explained.
"But isn't she blind?" Lorenzo said.
"Is there anything brother doesn't have? Yes, of course it's love. What if she's blind? She's kind and has good nature. What else does brother need?" Derek huffed and frowned.
'Why am I taking her side suddenly? That day I insulted her...when I met her for the first time. I guess it's because of Amelia. She cares a lot about her sister...maybe I didn't want her to be sad about Gianna.' Derek thought.
Lorenzo sighed and Grace was just blankly staring at the floor.
"It doesn't matter...if Xavier likes her, we'll support him. It's his choice, whoever he wants in his life, we need to just bless him and his future wife." Grace said in a determined voice. [A/N: Hehehe we've a good mother-in-law here, yay!]
"Thank you." Suddenly Xavier's voice alerted Grace, Lorenzo and Derek.
"Oh you're back?" Derek asked Xavier, to which he nodded in response.
"Mother…" Xavier went towards Grace and kneeled in front of her, Grace smiled and caressed his cheek.
Adam took his seat on the couch after greeting Lorenzo, he respects him a lot.
"My child...is it true? Are you interested in Gianna? I mean, do you like her?" Grace asked him, hesitatingly.
"Yes mother...it's true. I think I started thinking about her from the first day I met her." Xavier said and sighed.
"Xavier, we'll support you." Lorenzo said, and Grace nodded as if she agrees with him.
Xavier smiled slightly and took his seat on the couch and started discussing current affairs in business with Lorenzo and Adam. Derek went to his gym to work out and Grace was busy preparing for dinner with maids.
~In Brinley's room~
A sudden ringing phone interrupted Brinley, Gianna and Amelia from chatting. Amelia looked down at her phone and noticed an unknown number calling her. She picked up the call right away and answered,
Amelia: "Hello? Who's this?"
Unknown caller: "Good evening Madam, Am I speaking with Ms. Gianna Allen?"
Amelia: "Ah no, I'm her sister, Amelia Allen."
Unknown caller: "If possible, can you put us on-line with Ms. Gianna Allen? I've something important to inform her."
Amelia: "Okay...sure, wait a second." Amelia gave her phone to Gianna, making her confused.
"Someone wants to talk with you." Amelia said, and Gianna nodded, bringing the phone near her ear.
Gianna: "Hello?"
Unknown caller: "Ah, Ms. Gianna, I'm James Harrison, speaking from Department of Taxation and Finance."
Gianna: "Oh okay…" Gianna became confused why this person was calling her for.
James: "Ms. Gianna, we've come to know that you've missed paying your house tax, and your shop's tax this year. Would you like to come to our office this week, or should we send our staff to discuss this matter with you?"
Gianna went silent for a moment,
Gianna: "I-I'll come there when I get time." Gianna answered vaguely so that Amelia and Brinley don't notice anything strange.
James: "Oh that's alright for us, have a nice day ahead Madam." The call got cancelled with that, but the worry inside Gianna's heart started building up from then.
"Who was it?" Amelia asked as she took her phone back from Gianna.
"Nothing! Just there were some new changes in tax payment procedures, so the employee wants to meet up with me and discuss the modifications." Gianna smiled and made up a lie on the spot to prevent Amelia to get worried any further.
All three ladies started chatting this and that small chat again.
~At Dinner~
"Wow! All the dishes look so delicious!" Amelia exclaimed excitedly to which Grace chuckled whereas Gianna stomped on her leg lightly from beside silently telling her to behave.
Lorenzo cleared his throat, gaining attention from everyone, "Let's begin." He commanded and everyone started eating from their portions.
After dinner was over, Brinley pulled Gianna and Amelia towards her room for sleeping.
Derek, Adam and Xavier looked at each other not knowing what to do, so they went to their respective rooms to sleep.
~Two Days Later~
Amelia went to her University, Gianna got ready to leave for Department of Taxation and Finance office. She decided to keep the shop closed for the day.
She hailed a taxi and went to the office alone, she left Charlie at home because dogs might not be allowed to enter the premises of the office.
"Hello, Ms. Gianna, nice to meet you." James greeted Gianna as soon as she entered his office and stretched his hand for a handshake, but then he noticed a cane on her left hand, making him retract his hand.
"Yes, nice to meet you too Mr. James, I would like to discuss my tax payment." Gianna said.
"Yes, please wait for a while, I'll call for a staff to explain the situation to you." James said and went out of his office room to the lobby to call for one staff.
After the staff came, she explained to Gianna the total amount she'll have to pay, including details about the interest rates and other information related.
"May I ask why're the interests higher than last year?" Gianna asked which the staff employee explained, "The rate of interest increases every year, but the increase was very less to be noticed till last year, the interest jumped higher this year."
Gianna was silent for a some while, thinking about her savings and earnings. "I'll try to pay the tax by this month." Gianna said after sighing.
After coming out of the office building, she hailed a taxi again and went to the bank.
~After some while~
Gianna sighed as she unlocked her front door and came inside the house. She was tired as well as stressed about her savings. The money she earned from the coffee shop was not enough and the savings which her mom and dad left for them was about to get over. She couldn't take a loan from bank too because she'll have to keep her shop or apartment as collateral in bank, the earnings from shop won't be enough to pay back all the loan money.
She felt miserable and ruffled her hair anxiously while thinking for a way to arrange money.
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[A/N: It has been a very long time since I uploaded, please read previous chapters before moving further. I might upload two more chapters next week.]
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
StellaCrystal23
StellaCrystal23 Oh no another problem for Gianna *sigh* can anyone guess what she'll do? do comment if anyone can make out what she might do! Thanks for reading!
I know it has been a while... I went on a hiatus. It was workload issue. Please read previous chapters before continuing new chapters.
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