There were several small waiting rooms near the courthouse which, being so nervous, Rose hadn't even noticed existed when they first arrived there. Even so, his entire family was there now, with the exception of Andy, who was probably still talking to the other lawyers. All seated, in armchairs and small sofas arranged in a circle, while she continued with her hand in Aaron's, knowing that, more than ever, her husband needed support, while the longest hour of his life did not come to an end.
"There's no way we can lose, is there?" Adele asked, for perhaps the thousandth time that afternoon, as she got up to pace around the room a bit, not seeming to be able to sit still “Hell, Andrea even called the Ferrars and convinced them to come out here and testify on our behalf. The ex-husband of Mrs. Ferrars has not been seen in high society since the divorce. I didn't even know he was alive. And that boy, his son, is like a big walled castle, I can count on my fingers the times IEven after Edgar and Aaron's visit had spent a long time immersed in the thoughts of their mother that were written in the small notebook, the hour still passed more slowly than was humanly possible. Even Rose, who had convinced herself that she needed to be strong for the Vamcap and be the only one there not to get too excited, was already terribly distressed when the clock finally announced that the break period was over.More tense than ever, the four walked through the corridors back to the court, but as soon as they arrived at the door, they ended up finding something that Rose did not expect, but, considering everything she had discovered that day, was even expected: Andy and Gabriel were standing next to the court door, talking in whispers. And the expression on her sister-in-law's face wasn't good at all.“I cannot understand you, Ferrars.” Rose was finally able to understand Andy's clearly frustrated grunt, when they got close enough, “I gave you
“Sit down.” the judge ordered, with a sigh that sounded more weary than Rose expected “I feel I must begin the reading of this sentence by confessing that I know several of the many judges who have had this inheritance process in their hands. And honestly, even after so many reports of how you Vamcap family always found a way to turn the tables and bring new twist into the courtroom, I hadn't believed it was at such a high level until I saw it for myself today. New evidence, new witnesses, witnesses talking for over an hour... All this because of an inheritance case that should have been resolved a long time ago...” She put her hand on her temple, as if she could hardly believe this was happening."In any case, what this court saw today was proof that family problems can be taken to another level when it comes to money." the judge continued, pulling out the first piece of paper on top of her desk to read it “However, it is not up to the law to make
“Mommy, mommy, look!” Rose turned in time to see Alec running towards her, as usual with Nick happily at her heels, a piece of paper that was almost the size of her in his hands "I finished my poster for my school's Family Day!"“Good, dear!” she celebrated, quickly taking out the batch of colorful cookies that she was baking inside one of the ovens in her bakery, opening her arms to welcome her son still with the oven gloves “Oh, Alec, I know you are excited to show me the drawing, but don't rush in here like that, okay? The space is very small and you could end up tripping over something and getting hurt.” Rose kissed his cheek, which every day seemed to be getting less rounded and childish, before lifting the other edge of the cardboard, so she could look at him “Is this us? It looks so beautiful, darling.” she sighed, enchanted, even though she didn't know if it was just her mother's eyes or if her son really had a very promis
"I'm sorry if this sucks, but you can make class 47 about romance at a time like this." Aaron murmured, taking a step away from her, but Rose didn't even have time to ask what he was doing, before her husband dropped to one of his knees and finally revealed what he had been hiding behind his back all this time: a blue velvet box with a silver ring encrusted with so many little diamonds she couldn't even count, all arranged around a huge stone that sparkled too bright to not be a diamond “I've been thinking for months about how to do this in the best possible way, in the nicest place and with the most romance. But, my idiotic family told me I was self-sabotaging, putting a damper on every idea I had instead of just doing it all at once.” he grumbled, looking towards the door.Still in shock, Rose followed his gaze and saw that the kitchen door was no longer closed. Instead, it was wide open and all the Vamcaps, plus his sister and brother-in-law, were huddled there,
Rose couldn't tell whether or not she wanted this trip to the mansion to end at once or if it lasted forever. She didn't consider herself an exhibitionist and certainly the shame would haunt her forever if they were caught, but there was something about having one of Aaron's hands shoved inside her pants while the other was on the steering wheel was making her feel like she was capable of coming right then and there. Well, in the first place, she was the one who unbuttoned and unzipped her pants to let him caress her pussy, but, in her defense, it was he who started teasing her through the fabric of her jeans until she couldn't take it anymore.Lip clamped between her teeth, she saw the path outside the window go by in a flash, certainly faster than traffic laws allowed, as she braced her hands on the seat so she could roll her hips against his hand as discreetly as possible. Not that she thought anyone could really see through the smoky windows of that car, but still, Rose fel
“Why did we let my grandmother organize this party, anyway?” Aaron snorted in a low voice, his arms around the bride's waist, while he watched all the guests, most of whom were called by Adele, walking through the largest of the mansion's halls, talking and drinking."Because she wouldn't have let us have a minute's peace if we hadn't allowed her to throw an engagement party for us." Rose chuckled, totally relaxed as ever in a situation where they had to shake hands with nearly a hundred people. “Actually, I'd say she allowed us to announce that we're engaged at her event, if you pay close attention. Besides…” his bride turned her face and, looking in the same direction as her, Aaron realized that there was a cluster of gentlemen the same age as Adele gossiping quietly nearby, with judgmental gazes, as they watched Jullian smile at Adele without any hesitation “It's an important day for them, too.”“Do you really think this
“Oh, Adele, allow me to be the first of our guests to congratulate you on your engagement.” the old woman, who seemed to be leading the other two, broke into an extremely white smile, her blue eyes narrowing with pure malice, and while Aaron would never be able to remember the name of an insufferable high society crone like that, the look on his grandmother's face told him all there was to know about that guest's intentions.“I appreciate it, Melanie. And thank you so much for being here in person today. When I sent the invitation to Westcote, I never thought it would be you coming to represent your family.” Adele commented, with the haughty posture Aaron always saw his grandmother assume when she got defensive.“My daughter-in-law is always busy with her business in the Middle East at this time of year, so obviously I couldn't let our family pass up an event as important as your grandson's engagement. And, I'm glad I did. You certainly know h
“Unbend that tiara. Can't you see it's at a completely wrong angle? And the bouquet? Don't tell me you made the mistake of mixing camellias with peonies this time too, right? It's not enough for me to be almost embarrassed by that arch of flowers outside." Adele didn't stop talking for a single minute to the maids who were tidying the room around her, with far more breath and energy than Rose would have, even though she was four times her age."Rose, can you line up the choker around your neck?" Grace whimpered softly "I'm afraid Adele will drink my blood if she realizes I got it wrong."“Don't worry, Grace, it's just a matter of angle.” Rose laughed, calming her sister, but even so she gently touched the silver line full of pink diamonds that was around her neck, until she was hugging her neck perfectly "Better?"“I don't know how Grandma didn't pull these jewels out of the family vault at one of the many parties you went to with Aaron.”
She could do this.The past was in the past and that scared, easily intimidated Andy was no more. She had been locked in that broom closet, with her hands bleeding and at the bottom of that lake, on that dark night, so many years ago. Now there was only Andrea Vamcap, a competent lawyer and part of a family she would never allow to fall apart, if only because she hadn't had the courage to face her memories and meet with the only person who could save the Vamcaps from Alphonse in that moment."Ms. Vamcap.” a female voice called and, as he turned around, Andy realized that she had been so deep in her own thoughts that she hadn't even noticed that the smiling secretary had returned and was now standing beside her “Mr. Ferrars will see you now. Please, follow me.""Thanks." Andy groaned, his throat raw with nerves.Biting the inside of his cheek to force his body to hold steady, Andy followed the woman to a private elevator and then down a wide hallway that certainly could have held an ent
“And finally, I want to thank our lead developer, Grace Evans, for making this indie initiative the game of the year.” Timothy Collins, the owner of the game development company Grace had been working for for almost 6 years, pointed her out from the middle of the row of all the other people who had worked alongside her on that project “This award belongs to all of us, folks. Thank you again."At the sound of that last sentence, the audience rose to applaud them and, right in the front row, Grace saw Simon, sitting next to Timothy's husband, with that beautiful smile on his face, looking at her as if he were seeing a Goddess on top of that stage, instead of a human being. And as thrilled as she was that her most beloved work had won the award that was every developer's dream, Grace couldn't wait to step off that stage and give her husband a hug.Finally, after another round of applause, she and her co-workers were finally able to step down from the stage and, without even worry
"And this is where Simon's old room used to be." Mrs. Dickinson announced excitedly, opening the door for Simon and Grace to enter “I left him as he always was, at his request, but it breaks my heart to see how simple everything here is. Especially now that his help has made our children's rooms so beautiful and cozy...”"It's just as cute as he is..." Grace sighed, making Mrs. Dickinson laughs and Simon blushes.“Well, that was the last place I wanted to show your girlfriend. Oh, I'm always so happy to see you here again, my boy..." the old lady sighed, going to hold Simon's face by the cheeks as she had done since he was abandoned at the door of the orphanage, in a box, as a baby "And even happier to know that now you knew what love was. I've never seen you so happy before, not even when I was giving you extra time on my living room computer.”“It was great meeting you too, Mrs. Dickinson.” Grace smiled, looking genuinely thrilled to be there “It was so amazing to see the
“Stop swinging your legs like that! It looks like a tremendous duck!” Elisabeth scolded Grace for the millionth time that day, causing her to stop nervously shaking her legs as she sat in the waiting room of the restaurant where her parents had taken her to meet her mystery fiance “And stop biting your lip or you'll get lipstick on your teeth! God, I never met a girl more slovenly than you! How can you be my daughter?”“Shut up and stop causing an uproar!” Michael growled in a low tone, reaching over to grab his wife's arm after seeming to have finally finished confirming the reservation with the waiter who had accosted them the moment they set foot in that huge restaurant and who screamed exclusively "We have to make a good first impression on our son-in-law!"“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” Elisabeth spat, moving her arm away from his grip, but at least in a lower tone “Do you have any idea how long it took me and how much makeup I had to spend to make her even remote
It had been exactly 7 months, 2 weeks and 4 days since Grace had asked to see her best friend's dick, and even after the day Simon had gotten up from the table so fast as to break his own computer and end the conversation, she felt that he was still awkward around her, even though they had made a silent pact not to mention her request again.The funny thing was, Grace couldn't even feel embarrassed. Not that she didn't know that asking someone to be naked during a video call was weird, but… She honestly wanted to see that part of Simon. The only thing that made her feel bad was the fact that, from some of their conversations, Grace had the distinct impression that Simon thought she had asked this out of pure and simple curiosity. And unfortunately, whenever she tried to explain that she really was physically attracted to him, and even more so, Simon seemed to panic and end the call.Her parents had always said that she was very strange, and maybe Grace really was. Because she
“Please make yourself comfortable, Mr. Evans.” Mr. Conti touched Simon's shoulder in a friendly way as the waiter poured a glass of whiskey at the table he was sitting at "It's a pleasure to have you here again."“Thanks again for the invitation.” Simon forced himself to smile, since, of all the people he had met since he had started making a lot of money and being invited to that kind of high society club, Mr. Conti and his wife seemed to be one of the few people who were being genuinely kind to him.“Let me say hello to my other guests, but I'll be back here shortly so we can talk a little, yes?” the old man smiled, as if he knew perfectly well that Simon would not fit in easily here among all these men who were twice his age and never had to worry for once in their lives about what they were going to eat the next day “Why don't you try to take a walk and meet the other gentlemen? I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun.”Suppressing a sigh, Simon just smiled a little and nodde
“Grace...!” Rose called out to her, still inside the living room where Alec Vamcap, the nephew of the man she had married, was now happily playing with his adorable puppy; however, Grace pretended that she hadn't heard her and continued to walk quickly towards the room where she was staying in the Vamcap mansion, with the Christmas card, which she had questioned about, in her hands.It was still hard for her to believe that her sister actually looked so happy, in fact happier than she had ever been in the Springs, here with the family of the man she had forcibly married. Not that Grace was bothered by that. After all, Mr. Vamcap had turned out to be a better person than she realized, not only preventing Rose from being assaulted by Michael, but also bringing Grace into that mansion months ago, when she still had to wait until she could move into the dorm. Of course, she had been absolutely surprised when he had done this, as she had painted an image of him in her mi
Simon knew he was acting like he was 8 years old again, hiding in corners and just observing everything around him, letting shyness get the better of him, instead of doing what he really wanted to do. But dammit, whenever he glanced in Grace's direction, his heart raced, his palms turned cold, and he was more certain than ever that he still didn't have the courage to walk up to her and simply introduce himself. Not if it meant his looks might disappoint her and she wanted to stop being friends with him.Of course, he also knew he shouldn't have taken advantage of the fact that she had told him where her college was and given him the opportunity to go there and see her, on the day he knew Grace would be coming to apply, but... He wanted so much to see her up close. Or, at least, from a few meters away, as he was doing now, sitting at one of the tables in the college cafeteria, while he watched Grace standing in line near one of the rooms, hugging some documents and looking very
Most kids learned from their parents that strangers were not to be trusted, especially strangers you met on the internet and had never seen their faces before. In the case of Grace Springs, however, it was her older sister who had taught her that. So she knew very well how horrified and worried Rose would be to learn that she was doing exactly that right now."How's your day?" The message flashed in the in-game personal chat after the match ended, and with a smile, Grace clicked to open the message and reply from her friend Simon.Well, theoretically his nickname was still TallMole95, but they were long past that stage of knowing each other's real names. Seven months in all, in fact, since she'd managed to get hold of one of the notebooks in her father's study. Rose always said that she needed to avoid getting into trouble with Elisabeth and Michael as much as possible, especially while her sister wasn't back from college, but after those two had sold the portable game con