Veronica followed her best friend knowing pretty well that she might be panicking at the new information she found. "Cher?"
"Larry has a niece! Vee! niece!" Cheryl said pacing through her bedroom.
"Calm down Cher,"
"Calm down? Calm down!" The redhead yelled. "Larry has a niece! She is my age!"
"It's the minimum to be at your age Chlo! Larry was sixty years old!"
"That bastard! Eight years I was married to him! He failed to mention that he has a fucking niece! Do you think they all knew?"
"What do you mean by all?"
"The maids? The two witches?"
"Those two of course they knew! Didn't you see how they hugged her?"
Cheryl sat on the bed with tears in her eyes. "No one was put through what I did, no one of them lived the way I did, and neither one of them is getting a cent of his money! Go call the lawyer from downstairs, I want to talk to him." Veronica just nodded and left the room.
Back in the living room, Toni was still shocked about what just happened. She sat beside her aunts with a shake of a head.
"Did you see your uncle's wife?" Gina asked Toni, "Oh my dear brother, how stupid were you. She is a gold digger, she tricked him just for his money, and he was stupid enough to believe her lies. Look Toni, she was the reason your uncle died."
"Aunt Gina, lower your voice. People are hearing, we will talk about this later." The brunette stated as she got up and sat beside Sweetpea.
The tall brunette entered the living room and whispered into the lawyer's ear that Cheryl needed to talk to him, he nodded and followed the raven haired girl.
"My uncle's wife," Toni whispered to her best friend. The man looked at her with confusion. "She's my uncle's wife," Toni said with a nod.
Sweetpea cleared his throat. "Isn't she a bit young for your uncle?"
"It's not your time to be sarcastic. Her husband died yesterday and she wore a dress, and danced, and got drunk. What would you make from all that I said?"
"T-That she loves your uncle?" Sweetpea asked with a shake of a head.
Liam the lawyer entered Cheryl's bedroom and was followed by Veronica . "Mrs. Blossom, you asked to see me?"
"What do you think?" The redhead asked sarcastically. "I should let some woman inform me that she is the niece of my husband and won't ask for you?"
"Calm down Cheryl,"Veronica said calmly
"I am calm," She snapped at her best friend.
"Honestly, I don't know what to tell you," Liam started. "For all I know, I thought Mr. Larry had informed you about her."
"He didn't, does he have another niece I don't know about?"
"Toni is the only one."
"Did you hear him, Vee? She is the only one."
"Calm down Cheryl," She said as she bit her lip.
"Tell me Mr. Laim, why haven't I heard of this Toni till now? Where was she?"
"She has lived in Canada for the past ten years,"
The redhead nodded, "That's why Larry used to jump to Canada. Why did she never visit Larry?"
"I can't tell you that, I wouldn't want Toni to get mad about it."
The redhead fake gasped. "We don't want that now do we?"
"Calm down Cheryl," Stacie warned for the third time.
"I am calm!" She turned to Liam again, "Don't you dare let her think she is getting one cent out of this!"
"For that, we have to open the will and see,"
Both Veronica and Cheryl stiffened and looked at each other, "ًWill? What will?"
"The will that Mr. Larry wrote before he died."
"He left a will? Since when!? How did I not know about this."
"Cheryl! Calm down!"
"I am calming down!"
Liam sighed, "He wrote it a long time ago,"
"But Larry made me sign some papers, and he told me that he left me the house and the company."
"Maybe he left some stuff for Toni and his sisters,"
"He can do that?" The redhead questioned the man.
"Of course he can."
"Get me the will,"
"I can't, the will is going to be opened next week on Saturday."
Cheryl sighed and rubbed her temples. "Do you know how to open the door right?" Liam nodded, "Then go and open the door before I open the window and throw you from it." She said as Liam did as he was asking.
"Calm down Cher," She said as she passed the redhead her pills.
"I am calm! I am fucking calm!" She said smashing the glass of water "I am calm,"
———
Everybody gathered around the dinner table before Cheryl and Veronica descended from the stairs, and without being informed, Toni sat on the head of the table, where the redhead usually sat. The redhead and the raven haired girl entered the dinner table and Cheryl stood beside Toni's chair. "My place," She said calmly.
"Excuse me?" Toni asked in confusion.
"You are sitting in my chair."
"I am sitting in your chair?"
"The chair that is placed on the head on the table is for the house owner." She said crossing her arms, "And I am the owner of this house, and you are sitting in my place,"
The brunette raised her hands in defense. "Well excuse me, I apologize for sitting in your place." She said getting up from her place and sitting beside Sweetpea.
"Elissa," The redhead called for the maid. "Change the plate," She ordered.
"Don't forget to change the fork, knife, spoon, and glass," Toni said sarcastically.
The redhead glared at the brunette as everyone around the dinner table was looking at each other. She sat in her place. "Tell me..." She trailed off as she looked at the brunette.
"Toni,"
The redhead nodded, "Toni, I heard that you aren't living in the USA."
"So, you asked about me?"
"Of course I will ask about you, or do you want me to believe that every person who tells me that he or she is related to Larry, that I would believe him?"
Gina slammed the table. "Be careful what you're saying," She warned.
"Leave her be Aunt Gina, I'm sure that she is very sad about my uncle's death. I am sure she spent the night as she was.." She stopped and looked at Chloe who's head snapped to her direction. "Crying. I am sure she was crying all night."
Cheryl bit her lip in anger as she reached for the glass of wine, but Vee grabbed it before she could. "Calm down," The redhead turned her gaze to the brunette. "It's true," she said with a tight smile, "I was awake all night, tell me Toni, do you have a house here?"
"Why are you asking?" The brunette asked in confusion.
"So I would know in which room to throw you in,"
"What do you mean to throw her in a room? She will sleep in her uncles home," Liza said in anger.
"Who's home?" Cheryl asked crossing her arms over her chest.
"Her uncle's." Both aunts replied.
"It was her uncle's house. WAS. But since the moment Larry died, it became his wife's house. From this day on, this is my house. Not anyone else's."
Toni turned to Liam, "Tell me Mr. Laim before we open the will on Saturday, does this mean it is her house?"
Liam shook his head. "No," He replied flatly.
"What do you mean no? I have a contract that states that Larry left the house for me."
The brunette shook her head. "Where is it?"
"With Liam."
"It's not with me, Mr. Larry instructed me to add it to the folder that contains the will."
Toni smirked. "I already informed Elissa to prepare the room which is below your bedroom, so that by any chance you are sad, bored or you want to talk to anyone, I will be there," She said sarcastically.
After dinner, Toni and Sweetpea entered one of the empty rooms so that they can talk. The brunette was angry, she couldn't believe how someone who's husband died can act in such a way. "What is she thinking? What kind of a woman is she? She is an uneducated, not behaved woman! Her husband died yesterday and she went out to celebrate? I don't understand! How someone so young as she is could marry my uncle! He is sixty years old for heaven's sake!"
"Do you think she loved him for a minute? She married him for his money!" Sweetpea reasoned.
Toni shook her head. "I don't have words to describe her," She said as she exhaled a ragged breath.
"What's weird is that Larry never mentioned to you that he got married."
The brunette scoffed. "Only my uncle? My aunts call me every day to Canada, all they do is ask for things to send them, they failed to mention her!"
"Didn't you ask them why?"
Toni shook her head. "But I will, I won't let it pass by. You didn't know Sweetpea?"
"Tiny, after you left to Canada, your uncle and I barely had any contact."
Toni rubbed her temple. "It's weird, I am going crazy, how could my uncle marry a woman like her?"
There was a knock on the door, Liam opened the door with a sad smile. "I will be heading out now, I just wanted to tell you if you can pass by before Saturday? We need to discuss the finance and the wine factory." meaning to the company that Larry and Toni's father had. "And I also want to apologize for what Che did. Clearly, she doesn't know anything."
"And she thinks that she owns the house," The brunette said with a shake of the head. "I will pass within these coming days." Liam nodded and left the two alone.
"How do you know that she doesn't own the house?" Sweetpea asked with a raised eyebrow.
" I just know,"
————
After everyone left, it was almost eight PM when Che stood in front of a mirror looking at herself. She missed her father, she missed her mother as well as her siblings. It's been eight years since she has been with them all together. She suddenly felt suffocated, she couldn't breathe, she closed her eyes and wore her shoes and made her way out of the room. The redhead needed to get out of the house. And she knew exactly where to go.
Toni was exiting her room when she saw Cheryl take the stares rather quickly. "Is something wrong?" She asked in concern as she grabbed her arm. She could see the fear in her eyes.
"No," She whispered trying to get away.
"Is something wrong with you?"
"No," she replied weakly.
"Wait, do you need anything?" Cheryl asked softly.
"From you? No," She said as she jerked her arm from Toni's grip and ran to the door. The brunette stood there dumbfounded, she re-entered her room and started to strip her clothes, as she was looking out the window, she noticed that Cheryl was in a hurry towards the garden. She looked at at the clock mentioning it was eight and a half. She sighed.
It wasn't until it was eleven thirty AM when Cheryl entered her room to find a worried Veronica waiting for her. "Where were you?" She asked softly as her best friend laid on her bed."What's wrong?"
"Nothing," She said in a broken voice.
"You were out there right?" Cheryl smiled sadly and nodded. "Tell me what's going on with you?"
"I don't know, I have this weight on my chest."
"Do you want to go out?" Vee suggested.
"Where to?"
The best friend shrugged. "We can go out for dinner? Or did you forget that we can go out anytime we want now? Did you forget that you are a free woman now?"
"I forgot who I was," Cheryl replied with sadness in her voice.
"Let's go out, I will go change my clothes and you do the same. Wear something nice."
"I want to wear something with colors."
Vee nodded with a smile. "Don't go overboard." She said as she ran to her room.
It was about an hour later when Cheryl entered the raven haired girl's room wearing a red short dress. Veronica looked at her with wide eyes as the redhead turned to show the brunette the dress. "Is it nice?" She said grinning.
"I told you not to go overboard and you agreed! What is this!?"
"Is it too short?" Cheryl asked looking at her dress.
"Too RED! You are wearing a red dress."
"Isn't it good?"
"Not at all,"
"I told you I was going to wear something with color,"
"I thought you were talking about brow, grey, dark green, navy blue, but not RED!"
"Don't yell, I'll change it now."
"And wear something respectable,"
"Fine," Cheryl said huffing and leaving Vee's room. She turned her back to start walking but only bump into Toni.
"Good evening," Toni greeted as she eyed the redhead. "Your dress is very nice."
"I don't care what you think," the redhead replied.
"And the color? Amazing," She said sarcastically.
"Look, I allowed you to stay here not because I was forced to, but because I felt pity towards you. I didn't want you to sleep on the streets. So be careful, this doesn't mean we are on good terms or friends for that matter and give me opinions about my dress. Understood?"
Toni nodded, "Thank you for not leaving me to sleep on the streets, are you going out?"
Cheryl sighed, "Don't you understand? I told you not to interfere with my life."
"And you have to stop being a spoiled brat," Toni said calmly. "When I ask you if you are going out you answer with either yes or no, and I think your husband hasn't been dead for 48 hours, how are you going out with that dress?"
"Look, I am going out and I will be back in a few hours, as I am gone I want you to pack your stuff and leave. And when I come back, I don't want to see your face." She said as she went to her room.
———-
At the restaurant, Che and Veronica were waiting for their dinner, the redhead sighed as she took a sip of her wine. "Never do something good with people, and I allowed her to stay at my house," She said with a shaking her head.
"Can I be honest with you?"
"You are my best friend, Vee, of course, you can be honest with me,"
The raven haired girl sighed, "That red dress you are wearing provokes the rocks!"
Cheryl shook her head. "I didn't change it to annoy her."
"Cher, she is sad about her uncle, you are wearing a red dress and going out, how could that be?"
"She isn't the boss of me,"
"Her uncle is the one who died,"
"If her uncle was the one who died, then she should know him very well," Cheryl said in an icy tone. "And she should know why I am wearing red."
Veronica shook her head. "No one sees's the faults in the people they love."
"Faults?Larry had faults? Vee, if he had faults, you would have seen me wearing black all my life. Larry didn't have one good character to say that he was a person. And I will say it again, she should've known her uncle very well, unless she's like him.
——-
After what happened with Cheryl , Toni called her best friend and told him to come quickly. They were sitting in the garden as the man was listening to his best friend rant.
"If someone told me that she wore a red dress I wouldn't have believed it! A RED DRESS."
"Tiny, you know she married Larry for his money, for god's sake she danced the day he died, do you expect her to wear a black dress?"
"There's something wrong. If a woman married a man for his money, she wouldn't act this way. She goes clubbing and she wore a red dress! A red dress Pea!"
"I understand it's red Toni!"
"This isn't the way a woman acts if she loves her husband. This is a way she acts when she HATES her husband."
"She's a gold digger, forget about it Toni."
"I am trying, but I can't. I just want to leave. I can't wait for Saturday to come. I would never come back here. I can't stand being in New York anymore. I feel suffocated."
"Hey, what happened to you has nothing to do with this now."
Toni shook her head when she came to respond. Cheryl appeared in front of her looking annoyed. "Didn't I tell you to pack your stuff and leave my house?"
"Didn't I tell you that you can't say it's your house before we open the will?"
"Don't you dare think that you will stay here until Saturday."
"And don't you dare think you can tell me to leave before Saturday."
"I won't only tell you to leave, I will get the drivers to kick you out. And honestly speaking? It wouldn't be a nice thing to happen. So be a good girl and leave on your own."
Toni eyes Cheryl, "Didn't I tell you not to leave in that dress? You are starting to irritate me."
"Irritate you? You are the one who is unpolite, rude, and doesn't have any manners! Leave my house!"
"OUR house, and I am not leaving."
"You're not leaving?" Cheryl asked in anger.
"Tsk," Toni said shaking her head. "I won't."
The redhead raised her hand to slap the brunette but Toni caught it, they stared into each other's eyes as Cheryl's eyes had fear in them. Everyone was in shock and didn't know what to do as the scene unfolded.
——————
Glad you guys liked the first chapter! Let me know what you think of chapter 2