Dropping The Crown

Chapter 51: Acceptance

Tears of happiness.. finally, I was crying with happiness, slipped from my eyes.

"Yes. Yes, I'll marry you. I love you," I responded. Ricardo slipped the beautiful and very sparkling diamond ring on my finger.

"I cannot believe this! You're proposing to her already and it took forever for you to put a ring on my finger!?" Penelope cut in with her bitterness.

"Congratulations," Adonna said and eyed Penelope with exasperation.

"Congratulations," Derick, Mavielle, Rockett, my mom and my sperm donor complimented afterwards.

Mrs. Parriston was steaming but she didn't say a word.

"Now that that is done, I have some boundaries to establish," Ricardo said. He took me into a side hug, "Adani is now my fianceé. She's the woman I love and intend to spend the rest of my life with. Penelope, you're forbidden from ever stepping at the entrance gate to mine and Adani's home."

"Ricardo!" Mrs. Parriston started.

"Mother, you just hold on, I'm going to you!" he responded with a sharp tone.

Playtime was over!

"Penelope, you and I are over. Now, if you want to continue being friends with my mother, that's on you. But don't you dare think you'll ever be in my good graces. Hand over the ring I paid your father for."

"No. I wouldn't. You proposed to me first!" she answered.

"HAND IT OVER!" Ricardo commanded in a tone that shook the room. Like a scolded puppy, Penelope came over and handed Ricardo the engagement ring. He pocketed it and informed her to leave which she complied to without hesitation, then turned his attention to his mother.

"Now, Mother. I love you. You're my mom, but if you can't accept Adani, then you and I will forever have problems. You wouldn't be allowed through those doors until you respect her and acknowledges that I love her. All that hatred, bitterness, insults and racist attacks, it stops! Pick a side. Are you accepting or not?"

All eyes were on Mrs. Parriston.

"Fine. I'll accept her," she answered.

"Good," Ricardo said. Beth came into the room with a bottle of champagne and flutes. She congratulated me and handed me the first glass.

We toast, drank and ended the evening in a polite manner.

~

The next week, I was in the kitchen with Mavielle.

"I still can't believe we're engage," I said and looked at my ring.

"Dreams do come true," Mavielle quoted.

"What's even more surprising is Mrs. Parriston. She's coming over and is taking me to lunch. She even said she has something very important to tell me."

"You're trusting her awfully quickly, don't you think?"

"My guard is up, trust me. I know she's not going to accept me. She just doesn't want to lose her son and his respect."

"Same thing I thought. She'll act nice, treat you, butter you up then strike."

"I'm here," Mrs. Parriston said and stepped into the kitchen, "Hello, Adani."

"Ahh, so you do know her name," Mavielle said. I hit her with the please don't start expression before I took my leave with Mrs. Parriston.

Smoke drove us to a restaurant and stayed at a respectable distance as my own personal bodyguard.

~
"Adani, how are you?" Mrs. Parriston asked as we took our seats and opened the menu.

"I'm great. And you?" I asked back.

"Likewise. Look, I know I've been a pain in the ass but I wish to close that chapter and look forward to being the best mother in law I can be."

"I would like nothing more."

"I wanted to do something for you. To show you how much I'm sorry. I've located your sister."

I gasped in surprise. I watched as she reach for a folder and handed it to me. My heart raced as I open it.

I flipped through the pages and paused at a picture.

Her picture.

"Shell-shock, aren't you, you've met your sister and you didn't even know it."

__________________

A/N

Yayy! I'm back!
My Christmas holiday was amazing and I hope yours were as well.

🥰 I have so much in store for 2023. Let's get DTC to 100k reads 💯🖤