Agent with a History

"Do you believe in coincidence Lisa?"

"I… I'm not sure, why do you ask?"

He didn't directly answer my question but continued on with his own thought.

"I used to believe in coincidence, but not anymore, instead I think a lot of what transpires in life that is termed coincidence, is in fact the hand of God at work.

Seven years ago I reached a critical point in my life. I was lost, for lack of a better way of putting it. I had my work, which has always been meaningful, but my life just felt empty somehow. I decided I needed to make some changes, because in some ways I'd given up on wanting to continue living. I was jaded by the pointless quality of it so to speak. I decided to make my life less pointless.

I went back to church and discovered a lot of what I had been missing out on. I cultivated a few friendships that didn't relate to my work. I'd always given generously, but I'd never given generously of my time.

It was an eye opening experience and the biggest thing it helped me to do was stop feeling sorry for myself, because of what I had suffered through as a child. Around that time it occurred to me that I needed some place to call home. I had my hotels, but they were never really home. I started looking around and it took about a year before I found what I was looking for, this place.

It was pretty run down at the time, but even then I could see the charm and former glory of the place. What I liked most was the privacy of it and it was relatively cheap for its location and acreage.

It was a foreclosure and I snatched it up. It wasn't till after I bought it that I learned from the bank that with my purchase I would be evicting the old woman and her two daughters that lived with her on the property. That didn't set right with me, especially as they weren't seeing a dime of the purchase price of their estate that had been within their family since Roman times.

I met with them and offered to let them stay and in return I asked for them to help care take it while I was gone on business and to help me restore it to its former glory as well."

"That was very sweet of you." I interjected softly.

He shrugged as if it was no big deal, but I could well imagine what a big deal it had been to those three women. He continued on with his story, "It took a while, but with their very helpful advice the place became what you see it as today. It is very much the home that I never really had before and I cherish my time here. As time went on I learned more of the story of why such a once proud and prominent family had become so indebted, from the three women, who in their own way have all become like doting mothers to me. Theirs is a sad story full of heartbreak. The Contessa was born here, but she had no brother to inherit so a marriage to another prominent family was arranged. Arranged marriages were fast going out of style, but both families were still locked in the old of traditions of the past and the Contessa was married to a man she did not love out of duty to her family. On the surface everything appeared to be fine, but the Contessa knew her husband was no good. In twenty years he spent and gambled his way through the bulk of the family's wealth. He kept the depleted wealth a secret, until his creditors threatened to expose him if they didn't get the money that was owed them. To one of his noble birth and standing the social disgrace that would result from such an exposure meant everything. So he went about finding a way out of his dilemma before he was socially disgraced. The Contessa had blessed him with three beautiful daughters, which he had largely ignored up to that point. An idea occurred to him and he acted on it. He had his oldest daughter kidnapped and sold her in a black market sex slave ring auction. She brought a very high price. No one suspected what he had done. Instead the family received the well wishes and prayers of the entire worldwide high society for their loss. Five years passed and the count was back in the same hole as before and in desperate need of money to keep his charade of wealth and prominence going. His plan had worked so well the first time, why not try again. This time he kidnapped both of his remaining daughters and sold them in the same manner he had his oldest daughter. The outcry over the kidnappings was epic even more so than the first one. An intensive investigation was enacted, but the count had covered his tracks well. He even put up a reward for the return of the girls. This time however he was caught. Strangely enough it was his creditors that helped lead to his arrest. Apparently selling one's own children into sexual bondage was something even lower then there low standards could tolerate. They had thought it strange the first time he had become suddenly flush with money, the second time they knew something was wrong and they came forward with what they knew about the count. The count was tried, convicted and sent off to rot in jail, where he didn't last long. The black market ring was broken up, but there was no sign of the girls. The Contessa took the blood money and spent it in search of all three daughters. When it was gone she sold the rest of the families holdings. When that was gone she sold everything of value within the villa and mortgaged the estate to the hilt. Four years after the last kidnapping the second oldest daughter managed to escape from a Middle Eastern sheiks harem. Later that same year the youngest daughter was rescued from a Brazilian oil tycoon's residence. The Contessa continued to search for her oldest daughter, but the trail had gone cold and she could never find her. All the family's wealth gone and essentially existing on the charity of others, she was forced to give up the search for her."