"Please do not ruin tonight with your petty games," Cookie pleaded, sternly, attempting to appeal to his better nature for one night. "Please, Lucious, this is very important to me."
Lucious continued to smile, ignoring her soft begs of a truce. His plan had already been set into motion. "I promise you; tonight is all about you." He lied as he took her hand and brought it to his lips for a gentle kiss. Cookie nodded her head, but he could see in her eyes that she did not believe him for a single second.
After a few more moments of pretending, Cookie stepped away and feigned a smile once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, Lucious," she breathed out before she turned and sauntered away. Lucious' gaze lingered on her disappearing figure with a smug smile that screamed that he was up to something, and it seemed Cookie figured out that something was sabotaging Tiana's performance when her elbow stabbed into his back, sharply, with a daggering glare that almost, almost, made him regret his actions. But Afterall, tonight is simply a means to an end.
As the night continued, Lucious smug mood began to dwindle. He should've known his wife and son conspired. He should have foreseen the possibility that Cookie would bring Treasure on stage if Tiana was unable to perform. He had been so focused on his sabotage that he had completely forgotten about his wife's resilience and he only had himself to blame when Andre inevitably won their little bet.
In spite of his annoyance, when his wife stepped up onto the stage in all her beauty looking as radiant as ever, she had his undivided attention. He tilted his head to the side and listened to her heartfelt speech.
"Because of your belief in second chances, this centre will be able to give women and girls at risk a second opportunity in a world that so often dismisses them." The crowd roared with applause. Lucious watched as Cookie took a deep breath before continuing. "Truth is I benefited from a second chance, so I know valuable they are." When their eyes connected, Lucious was momentarily stunned by the burning resentment in Cookie's eyes as she glared at him.
It was the same burning resentment that he felt, but truthfully, he knew that hers ran so much deeper. His anger festered from one moment - just one - where she hadn't stuck by his side when he needed her most. And if Lucious was true to himself, he would have to admit that she still came through for him when he really, really needed her to. As for him, Cookie had a list of grievances as long as the Mississippi River and each one had merit.
From his abandonment of her in prison because he falsely believed that his presence would weaken her in a time when she needed to be strongest, but in actual fact, she just needed the love of her family to assure her that she had a life worth fighting for. To when he gave her false hope of a reunion after 17 years of believing he no longer loved her, only to toss her and her feelings aside to get what he needed from Anika's Father, and it's only fair to mention him continuously diminishing the key role she played in the creation of Empire. Through each trial and tribulation, she stood by his side, even in moments when he deserved her loyalty the least.
When she looked away from him, he felt tears prick in the corners of his eyes. What was he doing? He dropped his head in shame and sighed. "I sold drugs for a man I loved," a tear slid down his cheek. "And it was my 400,000 dollars in drug money that started Empire." The gasps of the audience were nothing but white noise to Lucious as a string of questions overtook his mind. "And landed my seventeen years in prison." Her cold eyes snapped to his. "The truth hurts." He tipped his head up, attempting to hide the shame he felt. "Ladies, please, don't ever follow a man into a life of bad choices and sacrifices. Thank you."
As the audience cheered and clapped, Lucious silently exited to the event, more than ready to go home and drink some whiskey before fixing his life and his marriage.
My Everything.
Start from the beginning
