R Y A N
18 | family emergencies
Bloody family emergencies
I had thought that I was in a time of my life when those shits weren't necessary anymore. But I was wrong apparently because my mother keeps ringing my phone every ten seconds.
Reece is whistling while he relaxes beside me as the driver enters the car through the gates of Pierce Estate. The family mansion looms high over the enormous garden. This mansion has been in the area for years. My father brought us here when my brother and I were only thirteen. We used to live in Florida when he shifted us to a new home. He had suddenly come into enormous wealth due to a lucky path he never revealed about.
I still wonder how he got to own an empire this huge. He used to only be a mere manager for another.
I thought I could ask him someday when I was old enough to face the truth but he was gone before I could.
And now I am left taking care of bloody family emergencies.
The driver stops the car and we both get out, my angry steps taking me up the steps of the mansion faster than my brother. Reece is having fun chuckling at my rage as he follows me in his casual stance. He doesn't know exactly how pissed I am right now.
I had been enjoying my time in the office staring at Lizzie as she worked. I had plans tonight — plans to seduce her for a quickie when Mom's call interrupted me. Now, Lizzie is alone in the office while I am here.
This is not how I imagined I would be spending my evening.
I turn the entryway and enter through the huge double doors that lead to our enormous hall.
The mansion is beautiful. There is peace here as miles of land both ahead and behind are owned by our family.
I find Mom pacing in the sitting area of the hall, while her husband, my step-father Winston Clarke reads the newspaper. His face is hidden from me but his posture of diligence lets me know that whatever the matter is is of no consequence to him. Which also means it should be of no consequence to me.
He doesn't come from a posh background like us. My Mom had a one-night stand with him at a bar a year after my father's death ten years ago. She had wanted to let go for a night but instead ended up knocked by a child — the said child being the eight-year-old currently sitting with her lips pouted and arms crossed as she spots me entering the hall.
That little devil hates the very sight of me. With her pink cheeks, pink dress, and tiny blonde pigtails, she knows well how to manipulate our family into forgiving her mischiefs. All she has to do is blink her big blue eyes and they are at her feet.
Everyone except me. I ain't falling for her innocent games.
Mom looks up when she hears my footsteps halting to a stop. She lights up when she sees me.
"Ryan!" she says, making her sugary voice extra sweet. "What took you so much time? This is an emergency!"
Her concern is funny. One wouldn't expect such cartoonish words from a woman of her reverence. She is the owner of the best-selling fashion magazine in the city. Her blonde hair is cropped short today, a bob-cut look with pink highlights. Dressed in a business suit and high heels, she looks anything but her age of fifty-three.
"We're at work, Mom. How many times do I have to tell you that the only family emergencies I consider are medical or the least..." I turn my eyes to the annoying little girl on the loveseat named after my grandma, Crystal. "...Or when the little maniac goes missing or something."
"That's your sister!" Mom chides me. "And it is regarding her. Crystal got into a fight at her school today. I need you to explain to her, as the oldest in the house, why such behavior is improper for a young lady of her status."
Behind me, Reece bursts into a chuckle. I sigh, glancing at him as my twin tries to control himself. Mom throws him a disapproving glare.
"I'm sorry, Mum..." he laughs. "Did you really call her a young lady?"
"I'm a young lady!" Crystal declares, bringing our focus to her.
The little maniac is currently standing on our expensive sofa with her shoes on and all I want to do is pretend I am a giant and throw her off it. Maybe I could hang her on the highest mountain top where she would dangle forever.
"Crystal, honey..." Mom pinches her forehead in frustration. "You shouldn't pick fights with boys. That's unladylike of you. You need to understand how embarrassing it was for Mommy today. Your principal had quite a lot to say."
"That boy called me a bastard!" Crystal protests.
My fists clench hearing that. Her father is still reading his newspaper but I can find his knuckles turning white as he clutches the paper tightly. Mom has grown white as a sheet while Reece stops laughing immediately.
"What's his name?" Reece demands, stepping towards the Crystal. "Tell me."
"It's Joshua Dally," Crystal replies immediately. "He...he told me my Mommy wasn't a good woman. That...she wasn't loyal...I...I don't know what the word means but I know it's a bad word. He called me a bad word so I punched him!"
"Oh, honey..." Mom sighs. "That's...that was wrong for him to say. But you still shouldn't have hit him, baby."
"Heck, she shouldn't have!" I curse, looking at Mom. "She's a Pierce too, Mom. We don't tolerate such things. If anything, the principal should have let her hit him some more."
"Ryan!"
"What, Mom?" I speak in irritation. "Is this the stupid family emergency you called us in for? This is something that couldn't wait?"
"Ryan..." Mom reaches to lay a hand on my elbow.
"I don't have time for taking care of her shit, Mom," I tell her, pointing a finger at the devil's spawn. "She's not my problem."
It sounds harsh but I know that she needs to hear it. Mom is too dependent on me to raise Crystal because she doesn't trust herself with parenting with her busy job. I can feel her anxiety. I don't have a family of my own at the age of thirty-one and so she tries everything she can to make me feel the loss of not having one.
It's not like I hate my sister. I just don't love her either. She is an unwarranted responsibility that landed on Mom's lap and along with her, came Winston who I feel has been trying his best to replace Dad in Mom's heart. I don't want that to happen. Dad loved Mom like anything and this man just stormed into her life and changed everything. Paying attention to his daughter is like acknowledging that it didn't take time for Mom to move on from the man who truly loved her.
Not to mention, Winston is controlling. Mom listens to him like a robot.
"You're so annoying, Ryan!" Crystal huffs, crossing tiny arms over her chest.
Okay, she kind of looks cute when she does that but there is no way I will let her know that.
Mom's jaw opens wide as she turns to her daughter while I clench my own. Tolerating that villain has been the greatest sacrifice of my life.
"How dare you speak to me like that!"
I take a quick step towards her but before I can reach her, Reece sweeps her off the sofa and into his arms.
"Now now...let's not anger Ryan, okay, Crissie?" he says to her, giving her the attention she doesn't deserve. "He's just pissed he didn't get to spend time with this pretty lady at the office."
I can feel him trying hard not to smirk as Crystal blinks.
"Ryan has a pretty lady in his office?" the child asks.
"He does and he had to leave her alone," Reece answers. "How about I tell you all about her while we have ice cream? She's a very pretty young lady."
Mom smiles as she watches the two of them like she is the proudest of them and not me — the son she forced her responsibilities upon because she couldn't sacrifice her career. I envy my brother sometimes for the hold he has on our family. He acts nothing but sweet around them and is Crystal's favorite brother. I am the grumpy asshole who is the only one who seems to remember Dad.
"Thank you, Reece. You're the best!" Crystal gushes, wrapping her small arms around Reece's neck as he turns to head with her along the direction of the kitchen.
I watch them go, already estimating the wrath that Mom's about to bore down on me
"You're such an inexplicable idiot, Ryan!"
I turn to face Mom's anger as she puts her hands on her hips just. Her husband finally finishes reading his paper. He folds it as neatly as his OCD guides him to and then stands up to his six-foot height. He is a tall and muscular man, always dressed to the best with Mom's money. I don't remember the last time I have seen him without a suit. He is wearing a crisp black one too, giving me a small nod when he sees me.
He is sharp-looking for his age.
I think he knows me better than my own family does. He knows I hate him and doesn't force me to like him. That is the only good quality about him.
I have known him for years and yet today, when I meet his brown eyes after a gap of months, I see the illusion of another in him. I shake my head, mentally hitting myself for making that useless connection.
"Gloria...let's not trouble Ryan anymore," Winston says, moving toward Mom.
She, as always, tilts her neck to look at him with her smaller height.
"But...he's—"
"Gloria..." He holds her by her arms. "He's not a child. He's turning thirty-two soon. Let him be. Come, I'll make you your favorite brandy tea."
Mom sighs but doesn't protest. She gives me one last look as she lets Winston guide her away.
Left alone in the hall, I feel both angry and frustrated. I hate this home like anything. This place has brought me nothing but pain. First Dad's death, then Mom getting pregnant with Winston's kid, and then her marrying him. It feels like those events occurred like a domino effect just yesterday. They have made me hate my own family, my home. I loathe every moment I get to be here.
It is like our entire family was cursed the moment we stepped foot in it.
***
Not having the mind to return to the office, I instead end up in my room's shower in the mansion. I change into a fresh pair of loose trousers and a T-shirt, deciding to sleep for the rest of the evening.
Coming home doesn't leave me with much energy. All I want to do is curl up in my bed and watch sports on my big-screen TV. Home makes me lazy probably because Mom doesn't allow us to do anything when we are here. She loves taking care of us — from preparing our favorite dishes with her own hands to having servants sent to take care of our every need.
It is sickening at times. I only have my cook back in my apartment. I do most of the cleaning myself. It is a waste of money to pay so many people to take care of things you could do yourself. Unlike Mom and Reece, I happen to still remember that we once used to be a middle-class family living in the suburbs.
Being a workaholic by nature, I find it difficult to let go of myself. Mom forces me to and I know that if I head back without having dinner, she will put that on the list of stuff to blackmail me for later.
I drop my towel on the floor after drying my hair, then fall face-first on my freshly made bed. I am half grateful that Mom didn't change our bedrooms into her kitty party rooms after we left. She had threatened too.
I slide under the sheets, the scent of detergent lingering on the washed pillows already soothing my agitated nerves.
My phone rings and I find Lizzie's name flashing on the screen. I smile gingerly at that before turning my TV on and connecting my phone to project Lizzie's voice from the speakers around my soundproof room.
"Mr. Pierce!" Her syrupy sweet voice greets me when I receive the call.
I lie back on the pillows with my arms underneath my head as I shut my eyes, finding the distraction I need in her.
"Yes, Miss. Gold?"
"Mr. Pierce, you haven't returned yet and your schedule says you're to attend an event with Miss. Espinoza and then you have a meeting to discuss the current stock market rates with Mr. Kim. There's also your gym schedule remaining, followed by a dinner with—"
"Calm down, Miss. Gold," I say to her, finding her voice increasingly panicky as she narrates to me my well-memorized schedule.
That woman's voice is so fucking sexy, I want to rub out one while talking to her about business.
"But the schedule—"
"Fuck the schedule, Lizzie. I already took care of it."
The speakers vibrate with the sound of her breathing slowing down. It is like she is all around me. I can even smell her, or perhaps I am just remembering how she left her scent lingering on my body when she left that day.
"Oh..." she hums. "Okay, then. That's great! Good night, Mr. Pierce."
"For God's sake, Lizzie. Don't you dare hang up."
"Do you need something, Mr. Pierce?"
"Yes." You in my bed riding me hard. "I want to rant. It's your duty as my assistant to hear me out."
I lie and she seems to register the lie.
"What do you want to rant about?"
"Family," I answer. "I fucking hate my family, Miss. Gold. They are nothing like me. Tell me what to do about them."
"I...I wouldn't know the answer to that Mr. Pierce," she says, her voice becoming thicker. "I...I never had one."
Guilt twists my chest. I open my eyes to gaze at the ceiling above. I missed out on the fact that Lizzie never mentioned any of her family members except for her roommate. I never asked her either.
We fucked for hours and yet, I never asked where she belongs from. Who she is.
I know nothing about her yet I keep asking her for dates like I have known her for years. I don't know what it is. We seem to share an unexplainable connection.
"I'm sorry, Miss. Gold," I murmur over the call, mentally picturing her sitting in her office and recalling every moment in her life where she could have used a family.
A breathy laugh leaves her, the sound of which is like a wind chime dancing with the promise of sweet dreams.
"It's not your fault, Mr. Pierce. You don't have to be sorry for that."
"Still...I'm sorry. As your boyfriend, I should know these things."
"You're not my boyfriend."
"I will be after our next date," I declare, determined to make that happen.
"Ryan..."
"Another date. Tomorrow."
"No."
"Fine," I say. "Not a date. A business party then. Join me as my plus one. Tomorrow at eight."
Moments pass in silence as she thinks over my offer.
"But I don't have anything nice to wear for such occasions," she points out after a while.
I feel my lips pull to a slow smirk as an evil plan forms in my head — one that includes my pretty young assistant being desperate for me tomorrow.
"Don't worry about that, Miss. Gold." I start to slide my hand beneath the waistband of my trousers, grabbing my hard cock in my hand. "I'll send something for you. You'll love it. Now, tell me...have you had the time to think about the arrangement I told you about?"
I drag my hand over my cock, the sound of her breathing from the other end turning me on more.
"Good night, Mr. Pierce."
She hangs up before I can say something back.
I spend the next hour jerking off to her thoughts like a teenager with a wild crush on a girl he can never have.
—
• author's note •
Did you like the chapter?
We get a glimpse of Ryan's life as well as a little heart-to-heart with Lizzie.
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