After finishing from the Bank, Liam called Toni and decided to meet for lunch so he can inform the brunette of what happened and how is Cheryl going to get the money since everything is owned by Toni.
"I'm sure there is something wrong here," Liam said as he took a from his juice. "The credit card which is with Cheryl is limited. She can't withdraw cash from it and she can't buy gold or any type of jewelry. And even if she used it, they would send a text message to Larry's number."
Toni shook her head. "I am in a bit of a shock, I don't understand why my uncle wouldn't open an account for her? There's something wrong here." She then looked at Liam. "How much did my uncle have in his account?"
Liam sighed. "It's barely over a 1000 dollars."
"Larry used to take money from the company because he knows that I don't care about the money, but why he used to take his cut from the income and put it in the wine factory account and he never opened his own account."
"Maybe because he knew that it's your company and he wanted to keep the money for you?" Liam suggested. "Because he knew that when he dies the money will go back to you."
"To me?" The short brunette frowned. "What about his wife? Didn't he think to leave some cash for his wife?"
"Maybe he didn't trust her?"
"Then why would he marry her?" Toni exclaimed. "The person who treats his wife like this it means that he doesn't love her, he took a decision to leave her on the streets, to humiliate her. I don't understand why he married her!" She said as she rubbed her temples.
"I don't know Toni, I really don't know why wouldn't he divorce her since the moment he knew she was impolite and rude? I think it's his way of punishing her."
Toni sighed, "If he is really punishing her, why didn't he do it when he was alive? Did he really have to wait for his death to punish her? There's a missing ring here."
"Now Toni, that's beside the point. Cheryl needs cash and she doesn't have the privilege to withdraw cash, what would you like me to do?"
The short brunette sighed sadly. "How is she paying for what she needs?"
"From what I understood, she pays with the card and when I saw the balance sheet, she didn't spend a lot this month, just a couple of restaurants."
"Okay, create a new credit card for her, and take some cash from my account and add it to her's," Toni stated.
"W-What?" Liam asked in disbelief.
Choosing to ignore the lawyer's question, "How much did she ask for?"
"Ten or fifteen thousand dollars," Liam recalled.
"Then put fifty thousand dollars in her new credit card and give her twenty thousand dollars in cash."
The lawyer couldn't believe what was he hearing. "Why?" He asked confused.
"Excuse me?" Toni challenged the lawyer.
"I'm sorry, but what I am asking is, why are you doing this?"
Toni nodded, "Because I want her to think that she owns the money, there are a lot of things I want to figure out. So now, do we have something else w need to discuss?"
"Yes, a lawyer contact me and asked for a meeting. He said that there are some important papers Larry left for you."
"And when is the appointment?"
"In a couple of days, he will inform me," Liam said as Toni nodded.
Cheryl was making her way to Elissa's room to check if it's all ready for Jacob's arrival, but what shocked Cheryl is that the room was cold and there was no heater to keep them warm in case it gets cold. There's no way I am allowing that kid to sleep in a room like this. The widow thought as she made a mental note to call someone to fix the room. It was about seven PM when Toni parked her car in front of the mansion, she made her way out and started to walk to the guest room when she spotted Cheryl who was wearing a black short skirt with a white blouse and a coat that stopped mid-thigh and white heels. Wow. Toni thought as she continued walking towards the redhead. "What's wrong?" Toni asked worriedly as she saw the redhead was in deep thought.
"Nothing," Cheryl breathed out as she looked at Toni, she then sighed. "I was in Elissa's room, and there is no way a kid could live in it."
"How could you allow them to sleep in a room like that?" Toni asked raising her eyebrow.
"Me?" Cheryl asked in confusion.
"Yeah! You and my uncle."
"It's none of your business, and don't interfere with something that doesn't concern you." She said bitterly as she walked away from the brunette. Toni looked at the redhead and sighed as she walked back to her room.
Cheryl walked to Vee's room to find the tall brunette in a bad mood. She sat beside her and looked at her best friend. "What's wrong?" She asked softly.
"Nothing." The nurse replied not looking at her best friend.
"You've been in your room all night."
"It's nothing, I just want to lay in bed."
"Stacie, what's going on?" The redhead asked again.
"I'm fine! Ask me again will you?" Veronica snapped at her best friend. She was actually bothered by what happened in the morning between Toni and Cheryl.
The redhead was taken aback from her best friend's reply. "D-Did I do something to bother you?"
"No, I'm just bored."
"Do you want to go out and have dinner?" Cheryl suggested knowing her best friend wouldn't resist a night out.
"And after dinner, can we go to a club?" Veronica asked as her eyes lit up in excitement.
Cheryl nodded with a smile. "Whatever you want."
Vee sighed. "Can I invite Toni?"
The widow's eyes widened. "I don't want to upset you Veronica but..." She trailed off as she took a deep breath. "Fine, you can invite her."
The nurse grinned. "Really? I love you, my best friend in the whole world! Go get dressed!" She said excitedly as she stood up from the bed and ran to her closet.
The doorbell rang and Toni opened it, she smiled when she saw Josie and Sweetpea arrive. She had already made plans with her best friend to come over but she was surprised to see josie too. "Hello J," She said as she gave the belly dancer a kiss on the cheek and a hug. She then turned to the man, "Hey man," She greeted as she also gave him a hug.
Veronica entered the hallway to find them, she smiled as she greeted the married couple and then looked at Toni. "I didn't know you had guests coming over, I was about to ask you out for dinner. Cheryl and I are going."
Toni smiled politely. "I wish I could have joined you but as you can see I have guests."
"We aren't going to stay for long Toni," Josie chimed in.
The short brunette shook her head. "Nonsense. We are going to enjoy our night and plus Pea and I have some things to talk about."
"Why don't you join us?" Veronica suggested, she really wanted to spend the night with Toni.
"Thank you," Sweetpea apologized politely. "But I really can't stay out late." He reasoned.
Veronica pouted. "Please? We'll have fun, and if you don't want to go out we can just stay here." Once they all agreed, Veronica excused herself and made her way to Cheryl's room to tell her about the new plan.
"What do you mean you they want to have dinner with us? You know I don't like him." Cheryl said as she sat on her bed. "I don't want to join."
"Please Cheryl please!" The nurse begged.
"Don't beg, I already said no."
After a lot of nagging, Cheryl agreed on attending dinner with the rest of the group. They all drank their wine glasses as Veronica spoke in excitement. "We really have to hang out soon, it's been long since we went out as a group, right Cher?" She asked her best friend who plastered a fake smile and nodded. She wasn't comfortable around the man.
"The last time I saw you guys as a group was when you were at the nightclub, right? The night that my uncle died?" Toni asked with a smirk causing Cheryl to look at her.
"And before that time I haven't gone out in a year, I was beside Cheryl all the time," Veronica said laughing, not noticing how Cheryl sent her a glare.
Josie noticed that her husband was drinking a lot, she sighed and looked at her husband. "Slow down on the drinks."
"Why do you even care if I drank or not?" The man replied buzzed from the alcohol.
Toni knew that this is going to lead to an argument so she tried to lighten the mood. "No, she does have a point because then I'll be driving you home."
Sweetpea laughed sarcastically. "Cheers to my wife then," He said raised his glass and drank a sip.
"I think it's time for us to go." The belly dancer suggested, she didn't notice how Cheryl was watching the couple interact.
"Why baby? Are you afraid of getting drunk and embarrassing you?" Sweetpea replied as he rolled his eyes.
Toni sighed. "Come on, there's no need for that kind of talk."
"Do you know why my wife wants to leave me?" He spoke again, causing all eyes to turn on him.
"It's not the time for this talk." Toni insisted.
The man shook his head. "This is the right time. She wants to leave me so she can dance." He said with hate in his voice. "Because apparently dancing is the most important thing for her."
"Enough Man, please." The best friend replied.
Sweetpea looked at his wife who was clearly nervous, she didn't want the world to know the problems they are facing. "Are you afraid of what I am going to say? Afraid of what people might think?" Then he shrugged. "At the end, people will find out why you left me." Toni placed her hand on the brunette man's shoulder only to be pushed away."Toni , stay out of this. My great wife is leaving our family to dance. She thinks people won't talk about her." He then laughed.
"If you aren't going to stop talking I will leave." Josie threatened.
"Why my love?" He exclaimed. "What are you afraid of? A person who hasn't done anything wrong shouldn't be afraid! And since you are sure of what you want to do why are you trying to shut me up?"
Josie nodded, "You know what? You have a point. I won't shut you up. By all means, continue."
Toni sighed and wanted to reach for Sweetpea's glass. "Dude, give me the glass-"
"Leave it!" He snapped as he took the glass out of Toni's reach. "Tell me, what do you think of this great woman?" He said pointing at Josie.
"You deserve it," Cheryl said calmly causing all eyes to shift to her.
"Cher," the nurse warned.
"You deserve what she's doing to you." She said with so much hate in her voice.
"I deserve it?!" The man exclaimed. "Are you telling me that I deserve it?" He asked as his voice started to get higher and an attempt to get up from his chair.
"No! She didn't say it." Toni chimed as she tried to make him calm down by making him get back in his seat, she then turned to Cheryl as she looked her in the eyes, pleading her to stop talking.
"Yes, I did say that you deserve it." The widow challenged. "You deserve more than what she's doing to you."
"Who do you think you are?" Sweetpea yelled as he started to get aggressive. "What do you know about me so you can say that I deserve it!?"
"Sweetpea calm down!" Josie stated firmly.
"I know that you deprived her of the thing she loves most!" Cheryl shot back. "You hurt her, and who hurts his wife, he deserves more than his wife leaving him." She said in anger.
The man laughed bitterly. "I didn't deprive her of anything! She chose to stop dancing!"
"Because you made her choose!" Cheryl yelled back at the man. "Again, you hurt her!"
"I didn't hurt her!" He yelled back. "I never did anything to harm her! Whatever she wanted was brought to her! She never asked for something and I didn't make it happen! I never said a bad word towards her! Are you seriously telling me that I hurt her?"
Cheryl couldn't contain her anger anymore. "Do you think that the one who hurts his wife beats her? Or belittles her or even humiliate her? When you deny her dream, it means you hurt her, these are both called abusing!" She yelled on top of her lungs.
"Abusing?" Sweetpea shouted back. "I'll show you what abusing is!" He said as he stood up from his chair.
Cheryl was behind Toni who was trying to stop him from laying a hand on her, tears were sprinting out of her eyes as she watched Sweetpea attempt to pass Toni. Vee hugged Cheryl as the widow buried her head in Veronica's shoulder and started to cry. The nurse was hugging her tightly as she watched the scene unfold.
"Dude STOP! STOP!" Toni yelled trying to push him away. "You need to leave now!"
Cheryl ran to her room followed by Vee, she clutched her pillow and started to cry. "Cheryl , sweety calm down. I beg you." The nurse said as she tried to help her best friend breath. "He left, I promise you he won't hurt you."
"I am n-n-not knowing m-m-myself anymore Vee," Cheryl said through the tears. "This isn't me." She said as she shook her head. "He took me with him." She said meaning how Larry changed her to be this cold-hearted woman. "What did Larry do to me?" She asked as she sobbed.
Veronica's tears were also falling on her cheeks, it broke her to see her best friend like this. "Cher, Larry died. It's over, try and forget him and live your life."
"I-I can't," Cheryl whispered sadly.
"You are a beautiful woman with millions of dollars in hand, you should be happy!" She tried to convince her best friend.
"Then why aren't I happy?"
"Because you don't want to forget," the nurse replied.
"How could I forget? These were eight years Vee. Eight years of humiliation, cursing, and abuse. Eight years of r-r-r-..." She said as sobbed into Veronica's chest.
A few moments later, a soft knock was heard. Cheryl wiped her tears and ran to the bathroom in her bedroom as Veronica walked and opened the door. "I'm sorry for what happened," Toni said sincerely.
"Did they leave?"
The shirt brunette nodded. "Where's Cheryl?"
"She'll be out in a few moments."
"I don't know what happened and how the conversation developed."
"Cheryl irritates him and he was drunk." Vee reasoned.
"That doesn't give him the right to do that."
Cheryl walked out of the bathroom and looked at to I as she crossed her arms over her chest. "What?"
"I apologize for what he did."
"Okay, if you are done you can leave," Cheryl said in a low voice.
Toni walked to where Cheryl was standing and sighed. "Can I know what you are hiding Cheryl?" Toni asked bluntly. "Why all of this hatred and rudeness? Why? What do you want to hide?" She said as she shook her head. "Today I am really convinced that I want to know why." She stated as she turned her back to walk away but stopped. "And I will know." She said in a whisper as she left the room.
Josie stormed into the house as she has not said a word since they left. "What's wrong? Why were you all silent in the car?" Sweetpea asked as he walked behind her.
"Why was I suppose to talk?" Josie shot back.
"No you didn't, besides it's not like you have something important to say," he said in anger.
"Besides, you said everything!"
"I am free to say whatever I want!"
"And are you free to attack people in their house?" The belly dancer replied.
"She started it! I didn't do anything!"
"And you acted like someone with no manners! He attacks people and jumps to hit women."
"I didn't touch her!"
"Because Toni didn't allow you to touch her! Do you really think if you got drunk and shouted that I would stay?"
"Who the fuck told you that I want you to stay with me?!" He exclaimed.
"If you don't want me to stay with you why are you running around and telling people our problems!"
"Because I can say whatever I want! You only care about yourself! You are selfish and a person who only thinks about herself!"
The next morning, Toni was playing on her phone while Veronica sat on the opposite couch and started to drink her coffee. "How's Cheryl ?" Toni asked, not taking her eyes from the phone.
"She just came back a couple of hours ago," Veronica said in annoyance.
"She went out again last night?" The short brunette asked again.
"Toni can I ask you something?" The nurse asked in a not so nice voice. Toni stopped the game and looked at the brunette with a nod. "Why do you keep asking about Cheryl?"
The short brunette shrugged. "She's a different kind of person, she's mysterious."
"She's sick." The nurse stated.
Toni's eyes widened in worry. "What's wrong with her?"
"You have to ask her, I can't answer that," she said as she placed the cup on the table and left the living room.