𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ¹

one.

Hakeem jumped as he looked across at her, startled by the suddenness of her presence. He rolled his eyes, irritated. "I'm busy, Ro."

She took a step forward. "I see that. The music constantly has your full attention."

"This is how I make a living, so yeah. If you're gonna hate, you can walk right back out that door."

Royalty frowned as Hakeem returned his attention to his phone. He hadn't been the same since becoming an artist for Empire. Royalty recalled how she and Hakeem used to be like two peas in a pod. They were now like two peas in two different pods. It saddened her because she had never been close to Andre and Jamal. After all, they were so much older. She used to lean on Hakeem, but she couldn't anymore.

In conclusion, the fame changed Hakeem, and she hated it.

Hakeem glared at her and rushed her out the door. "Well? Are you going to leave?"

"Yeah..." Royalty turned around and took a few steps towards the door, but she stopped to ask him, "Hey, Keem? One more thing. Are you ready to see her?"

"Who?"

"Our mom."

When those words reached his ears, all hell broke loose. "Why the hell are you bringing her up?"

Royalty shrugged. "I don't know. I keep expecting her to return soon."

"She better not. No one wants to see her ass."

"I do."

Those words set Hakeem off. His lips twisted into a scowl as his sharp gaze pierced through her. "Then you're fucking stupid."

Royalty rolled her eyes and crossed her arms instead of taking offense. "Hakeem, it's been seventeen years. You can't possibly hate her anymore."

"I do hate her, and you should too, because she thought selling drugs was more important than taking care of us," Hakeem argued.

"What if there's more to it than that? What if Dad didn't tell us the entire story?" she wondered. "You know how he likes to sugarcoat the truth to make himself look good."

"That's what you think of me, Ro?" Lucious spoke from the doorway. She had her back to him, which was a good thing since Lucious couldn't see how her eyes had bulged at that question. However, he could clearly see how her body had tensed.

She spoke with her back to her father, so he wouldn't notice the redness rising to her cheeks as she lied through her teeth. "U-uh-no!"

"Well, that makes me even angrier because you know what I always tell you. If you say something, make sure you mean it."

Royalty swallowed hard.

"Can you tell her to leave, Pop?" Hakeem insisted. "She's wasting my studio time talking about bullshit."

Lucious complied and walked with anger towards his daughter. "Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't get any studio time, Ro? So the fact that you came here to make your brother leave—"

She interrupted him. "I wasn't trying to get him to leave. I was talking about Mom."

All hell broke loose once more. "Your mother? Why are you talking about her ass?"

"Do you know when she's getting out?"

"That's none of your business," Lucious retorted.

"It is my business. She's my mother."

That comment irritated Lucious. "Has she been a part of your life? No. So she doesn't deserve that title. And it doesn't matter when she gets out because she's not coming anywhere near Empire. Believe that."