BAM!

A hand slammed down on the desk in front of me. I jolted awake, wiping off the drool from my face.

I slowly looked up, hoping it wasn't who I thought it was. Of course, with my luck, it was exactly who I didn't want to see.

My teacher, Mrs.Williams.

"Nice to see that you have joined us, Ms.Lopez. Now tell me, what was I just talking about?"

I stared at her, contemplating my words, before going,

"I have no idea. It's not like I'll ever need to prove why a Dorito is triangle shaped in the real world."

She gasped at me in horror before yelling, "DETENTION MS.LOPEZ."

Oh shit. The amount of crap I was going to be in when I got home.

*Time Skip to after detention*

It was around 5:00 now, which meant that I was already an hour late to getting home. Not that I minded because I lived in a small 2 bedroom apartment that was literally falling apart.

"Yippee," I thought sarcastically. "I can't wait to see what Gabriel does to me today."

Just as I walked inside my house, I was slammed against the wall.

"Now, where were you, Emma?"

I looked into Gabriel's shit colored eyes and slowly said,

"I was helping my teachers after school."

I carefully picked out my words, hoping that he wouldn't see the lie that they were hiding.

"BULLSHIT," he yelled, sending his spit that reeked of alcohol and old food onto my face. I cringed in disgust.

That turned out to be a mistake.

He slowly let me off of the wall, all while chuckling to himself, "Oooh, I'm gonna have fun today. First, lying, then saying I'm disgusting. Wrong move bitch."

"I-" that was all that I got out before I was cut off with a kick to the stomach.

After a good 30 minutes of just kicking and punching, Gabriel decided that he had enough and left to go to the bar, leaving me curled up on the ground.

Knowing that he usually stays at the bar for anywhere from 2-3 hours. I slowly got up and limped over to our first aid kit. I had barely convinced him to get one, so I only use it when he really messes me up, like today.

I fixed myself up and went to my bed, hoping that he would just pass out when he got back, so no further harm could be caused.

*Next Morning*

I got up and groaned in pain. Every part of my body hurt, more specifically, my stomach and ribs. I went to my mirror to assess the damage and hissed in surprise.

It may have only been a couple of hours, but they were already turning into a rainbow of colors, ranging from dark black to sickly green patches on my ribs.

I popped a handful of painkillers and continued on with my day, trying to ignore the everlasting pain in my ribs.

*At School Now*

I walked into my first-period class, ready for my favorite subject, science.

Instead of the familiar grin, I was used to, my science teacher, Mrs.Stevens, greeted me with a tight-lipped smile.

"Hi Emma, may I speak to you outside?"

"Of course, what about?" I replied back

She just nodded her head and led me out into the hall.

"This usually would be coming from the principal, but the staff decided it was best coming from me."

I just stared at her in confusion, not having the slightest clue what she was talking about.

She said, "You remember those DNA tests that we took in class about 2 weeks ago?"

I nodded, still confused.

"Well," she continued, "Yours came back with some exciting results. It turns out that you have 5 biological brothers that live across the country in Chicago."

"And?" I questioned, wondering why this was such a big deal. If they really cared about me, they would have found me 13 years ago.

Mrs.Stevens looked taken aback for a minute before finally replying, "Well, if you wanted to, you could get them to adopt you. Another thing I should mention is that they are THE Ramirez Brothers."

My mind was reeling with this information. The Ramirez brothers, the CEOs of the Ramirez banks, amongst other giant companies?

There had to be a mistake, right?

I snapped out of my shock, my brain slowly registering what she was saying. The gears turned in my mind as I thought this out very carefully before I finally spoke.

"That's not legal... right?" I finally said.

"Well, hun, you did check the box that allowed us to look for possible family members." Mrs. Stevens patiently explained

I thought back to two weeks ago and realized that we had taken those DNA tests on the same day that Gabriel had beat me two inches from death. I had checked that box because I was furious at him, and I secretly hoped someone would be out there to save me from hell.

But now, oh now, instead of being grateful, I was FURIOUS. How DARE my brothers abandon me for the past 13 years? How could they do this?

Another thought soon dawned on me.

Did they even know that I existed?

Realizing Mrs.Stevens was still waiting for me to say something, I just said

"Oh, okay, thanks for telling me."

She looked taken aback then said

"That's all? You don't want to meet them or contact them?"

I just shook my head and went to walk back into class when Mrs.Stevens grabbed my arm,

"Honey, I know that you don't want us to contact them, but I think that they already know who you are."

I just blankly stared at her. Was this information supposed to startle me or something? I just shrugged my shoulders and walked into class, hoping that they wouldn't come to find me.

*Alessandro POV*

I stared down at the piece of paper; my hands trembled ever so slightly.

"This can't be, right? We've been looking for her for 13 years", I thought to myself.

But DNA doesn't lie, right? After all, that's why we bought this company, just for our little hermanita (little sister). If she ever took a DNA test, we would find out.

I sat in silence, staring at the paper for a couple more minutes before I finally snapped out of my shock. I had to alert my brothers to go find her, to see if it was actually her.

But I couldn't honestly tell them, could I?

For me, to get their hopes up only to crush them would break them.

I pressed a button on my desk and said

"Fernando, Dante, and Marco, please come to my office. I have a mission for you."

The boys came running in, one after another.

"Yes, Ali?" Dante mockingly said.

I let it slide this time, seeing as I had just received the most joyous news of my life.

Well.. maybe the most joyful news.

Shaking my head, I simply said, "I need you to go to Texas. There is an interesting person down there that I need you to bring back to me."

"Oooh, what are we allowed to do to them before coming back? A couple of bruises, some cuts?" Marco said with an evil glint in his eye.

"No. You will not touch this target, do you understand?" I laced authority in my voice to make sure that they knew how serious I was.

The three of them looked a little taken back before nodding their heads.

Fernando finally spoke said

"What's the target's name?"

I took a deep breath before saying.

"Emma Lopez"