RIGHT BACK AT THEM

Everyone who declared a bad date for her was present. She walked to the chair that was the farthest from the rest and sat. She crossed her legs and stared at them all and they all stared back, not all of them, some glared at her.

The tension in the room was so thick that a knife could cut through it.

Everybody refused to speak.

She raised her eyebrow and gave them a questioning look but they didn't seem to get the hint. She rolled her eyes and stared at the expensive beautiful clock that was given to her grandmother as a birthday gift from her father.

5:20pm.

She intentionally came here late so as to avoid unnecessary chit-chat but it was like a cat got everyone's tongues.

"So, why am I here?" She asked, even though Melissa already told her, she wanted to hear it from them.

When nobody talked she rolled her eyes and her mother gave her the stink eye.

"Just because you went away to some countryside for a year doesn't mean you should lose your damn manners?" Her mother said glaring at her.

Her mother had always favored Melissa over her. It used to hurt her a lot in the past whenever they fought because she loved her a lot but she is not the same naive girl who always tries to bend to her mother's wishes in order to get her approval.

That girl who was hurt was from some years ago and she is dead now.

"And by manners you mean?" She asked once again, infuriating her mother.

"Haven't you heard of basic greetings?"

"Basic greetings," she said, pretending to think about it for a while with her hands under her chin.

"I think I heard about it for a while some time ago but I don't think we have that stuff in our countryside " she said rolling her eyes, everybody stared at her shocked because they didn't expect that kind of behavior from her.

"You have become even more rude, I expected much better from you, you ungrateful piece of---" Her mother snarled before she was stopped by her father.

Let us just say that he is a male doll who always listens to his wife, he always had no objections and always sided with her.

"You have changed so much," Maxwell said, staring at her with sad eyes.

"It couldn't be helped, Max," She said with a gentler tone and he nodded. It pained him that the enthusiasm she used to speak with once upon a time was gone, any trace of who she used to be was gone with the misfortune that happened three years ago.

"So we called you here to inform you about a decision that has been made before you came here--," Her father said after clearing her throat.

She rolled her eyes, what's with this family and Making a decision about her in her absence, she scoffed.

"We thought that it's high time you become useful to the family," He continued as if he wasn't just interrupted by his daughter.

“Just as Melissa had also been useless, we are the same pairs,”

“Don't compare my daughter to you lowly self,” Her mother snarled.

"You are getting married to Mr. Alexander Aldine, the CEO of Triple A Group '' He said and she paused, she already heard it from Melissa but some part of her wished that it is not true and that they will listen to her choice but they already made the decision behind her.

"Are fucking kidding me right now?, I went away and you tracked me down, made me came here only to tell me bullshits about getting married?, you must be joking right now," she asked when her brain come to terms with her ears.

"No we're not kidding you,"

"I thought you have this beautiful goddess that is your daughter she will never do no wrong, the bundle of good behavior is surely enough for the damn man, isn't she?” She said sarcastically and everybody exchanged a look.

They probably didn't expect her to disagree with them, she should be willing to do anything to be accepted back into the family.

The naive girl that was chased out of the family would have been willing to do anything to get back into the family month to three months after she was chased.

Brielle stared at her amused, to say that her niece had changed is an understatement, the niece she knew won't dare to stare at all, not to talk of staring with disinterest.

Brielle stared at her niece and walked out wondering what changed, but whatever attitude she has is not going to stop the marriage.

The door opened and Arielle entered, she went to sit on a chair and buried herself in her phone.

Arielle is the daughter of her late uncle, she wasn't sorry that the asshole died, she wished him and a lot of people here a thousand deaths.

“Since Melissa had been kept under a hole somewhere, why don't you let her get married?” Sapphire gestured to Arielle which made the lady sit up to face her.

“Don't get me involved in your nonsense Sapphire, Ruby is your twin,” Arielle quickly defended herself.

“And he is your cousin, do me a favor and keep shut when I am not talking to you,” Sapphire said, condescendingly, which made Arielle snap her mouth shut.

"You are going to do it," Her uncle said and she whipped her head in his direction.

"And who the hell do you think you are to tell me that?" She snapped, her eyes taking a fiery hue promising to burn anyone that overstep their boundary.

"Don't talk to me like that, young woman,"

"I am just letting you know that you have got no right to mind my business, you've got no fucking right, Mr. Felix," she said, staring at him and they glared at each other.

"Alright, everybody should get out, I have to talk to her in private," The matriarch said calmly and quietly but everyone heard her clearly.

The door closed and Emiliana turned to her granddaughter, she assessed her before her eyes softened.

She was nothing like the girl she knew from two years ago, even though she used to be a cute spoilt, rude and naive young mistress of the Conrad family, most can't deny the fact that she was so intelligent and smart, when it comes to business she was so calculative and avoid impulse but the same can't be said about her life outside business.

She believes that one shouldn't try to calculate their every step because they wouldn't enjoy the life they would live and that made her to make many wrong choices, part of which included Oliver Gray and Heather Smith, Emiliana promised herself that she would make sure to right all those wrong.

"How have you been, Sapphire?" Her grandmother asked and she realized that she was the only person that bothered to ask how she had been.

She stared at her granny and her eyes said everything the older woman needed to know.

"But why me and not ..... and not the others, there is Melissa, the golden feather, Arielle, the model business woman, Venita, the super hot model, not them all? Why do you have to choose Sapphire, the family's horror? Why did you choose me?" She said her eyes were so cold, that once a year ago sparkling blue eyes resembled ice blue and threatened to freeze anyone that wanted to force her to go against her will.

None excluded.