Chapter 3

Chantria

A lot of things had happened in our lives even though we were still kids. Our mom died on the same date as our baptismal day before we could even go to church. It was a few days from today’s date. We couldn’t get ourselves together at her funeral. We cried a lot that I couldn’t even remember how we got home.

After the funeral service, our dad went to work like nothing had happened. He instructed the butlers and maids to send us to school the next day like he didn’t care for our feelings. It was like he was telling us, ‘You already cried a lot at the funeral. Get yourselves together. We still have a lot of things to do.’

But I didn’t hate him for that. I know how painful it was for him, like how it was for us. We knew that he was just trying to put on a strong façade so that we would, too.

Not too long after our mom passed away, my dad announced that Carleigh, the second-born and the most intelligent one, was going to inherit his business. And when I mean his business, his principal business since he has a lot of company running. But she has a dream. She wants to be something else. She doesn’t want to inherit our dad’s business or anything that our dad has.

And so, being the eldest and the second in line, I volunteered to do it. Since I don’t know what I want to do with my life, I might as well do something right. I will inherit it on behalf of my sister. In exchange, I want to do it when I turn eighteen. Until then, I want to enjoy my teenage years.

“I’m sorry, again,” Chanel whispers, probably sleepy already since it is three in the morning right now. She is lying on her bed, our bed, nuzzling on the pillow that is supposed to be mine. But I let her anyway. Her voice is already soft, which only happens when she’s asleep or about to fall asleep. “I didn’t mean to tell dad where you went that day. He will find out about it anyway.”

I sigh, closing my eyes while hugging a pillow that is lying on my stomach. I am staring at the ceiling where it looks like a stary night because of the lamp we bought. It’s only effective when the lights are off. “Forget it. I’ll talk to him tomorrow. He said he had a gift for us, a trip. That means I am not grounded anymore, right?”

“Probably.”

Carleigh remains quiet at my right side. When I look at her, she is staring at the ceiling, wide awake. There is no sign that she is going to sleep anytime soon. I know that look very well. She is probably thinking about something she shouldn’t have.

I sigh. “I am going to inherit the business, so worrying about it right now is useless, Leigh. Let me do my job as the eldest sister.”

“I am just thinking. Dad will probably not let me go to Maryland College because I didn’t inherit his business. And I can’t go there without his money.”

I lie on my side, so I am now facing her. Chanel is already snoring behind me, leaving the two of us to talk about this since this involves just us.

“I am going to inherit dad’s business. That means I get a hold of his money. I will make sure that you are going in there just fine, even if I have to use all of his money. And don’t they offer a scholarship? You are smart. You will probably go in just fine.”

“You know there is a lot of books I need, and there will be field works. It will still cost me money even if I get a scholarship. This is Maryland we are talking about.”

I nod. “Do you really want to be a police officer? You know, you are too beautiful to become a police officer. You will fit more as a beauty queen.”

She rolls her eyes at the ceiling. I know that is for me, though. “I’d rather deal with criminals and guns than the crowd.”

I giggle, but it is immediately replaced with a sigh. “I just hope that dad will not be too hard on you. He tends to be so strict sometimes that it is suffocating. After mom died, he has been like that. And somehow, I understand. He just wants what is best for us. But I know you don’t take it that way. You don’t like being controlled, right?”

“I always follow the rules,” she said with certainty, “you know that.”

“I do. But following and wanting are two different things. You follow the rules, but do you want to?”

She closes her eyes, and I mirror her. I am starting to feel sleepy after that talk. We always talk about serious stuff like this because I know she can understand. Chanel probably can’t understand us, but she will, eventually. We just don’t want her to get involved too much right now.

It is enough with just me and Carleigh for now. We don’t want the same thing to happen to Chanel. We want what is best for her, being the youngest of us triplets.

We will spoil her if we have to. But there is a limit to that, and we all know that. I just don’t want her to experience what we are experiencing right now. At least we want to save Chanel from all this inheritance and career drama. We want her to choose what she wants, not what other people ask of her. Even if it is against our own father.

Once I inherited the business, I am going to support my siblings with everything I can. According to our father, they can only inherit their share once they graduate. On the other hand, I don’t need to follow that. I can inherit the main business as long as I want to.

The problem is, right now, I am not interested yet. I want to know more about this thing that I am going to put myself into since I am going to deal with businessmen and mafias. I heard one of the Big Three is owned by a mafia boss. And it is not something that I need to take lightly.

They can take me down so quickly before I even inherit the business.