THE BILLIONAIRE'S CRYBABY
Chapter 199: DARKROOM THREATS

Chapter 199: DARKROOM THREATS

Ace’s head was pounding from the second he opened his eyes.

It had been one week since his worst fears occurred.

The press had not said a word, but he knew it was going to happen soon.

He had to make a decision, and a very fast one at that.

But first, there was Glams party tonight. After that, he would make the important decision.

He walked into his bathroom, and stared at his reflection in the wall mirror.

"Well you look like crap," he said, as he reached for his blade. "Time for a shave then."

In the room down the hall, Reign paced back and forth. Her phone rang a few minutes after a few places.

"Don’t scare me that way, Celine!" She almost screamed into the phone.

"You have the good sense to control the pitch of your voice. Good for you," Celine said.

"This is not a joke, Celine. Where the hell are you?"

"You’re asking as if you’ve done your part of the deal. I already made Ace get into trouble. The press are just waiting for my instruction to go crazy. Everyone has played their part, except you."

"Well it’s not my fault your nephew has been avoiding me for the past week. How can I get him to sign an agreement with my father, if he won’t even talk to me?"

"Are you trying to get me to spoon-feed you knowledge on manipulation? You pride yourself on being a bad bitch, but when it comes down to proving yourself, you’re not even a bad chicken."

"Celine!"

"Reign King!" She fired back.

Reign pushed the phone off her ears, and took a deep breath.

If she wanted this whole thing to work, she couldn’t afford to lose her temper on Celine.

She was right, anyway. Everyone had executed their role perfectly. She was the outlier.

"I’ll get him to sign it before the end of tonight. When the weekday begins, you’ll be president of Spades, and Ace will be preparing for his future as the heir of Kings empire."

"That’s more like the Reign I know. But tell me something. I’m curious to know."

"To know what?" She asked.

"For someone as strong-willed as you are, why would you want to step down as the heiress of King’s, so that Ace can take over?"

"Love would do that to you, Celine. I love Ace with my heart. I don’t care if he gets all my properties, as long as he’s with me."

"Well that’s just tragic."

Celine ended the call, and shook her head. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been that irritated.

"Love?" she scoffed.

She considered the younglings weak. They allowed a feeling as fickle as love, stop them from advancing, and reaching their greatest height.

Her eyes went beyond the balcony. Like every other day the Atticus were celebrating something, the air was always different.

It was her mother’s turn. The matriarch had pushed the return of Glam forward. She didn’t know why, and honestly didn’t care.

All she knew was that soon, she would own Spades.

She dropped the leftover cigarettes on the floor, and stepped on it with her slides.

The bell began to chime, signalling it was time for breakfast.

Rising to her feet, she looked at the gate of the Atticus.

It was only unfortunate the event wouldn’t be taking place in the mansion. She loved when it did.

There was no better chaos than when a party was held in the mansion. And Celine Atticus was itching for a good ole chaos.

The breakfast table in the Atticus dining room was getting filled up, as each member of the family present, walked in.

"Good morning grandma," everyone that entered greeted.

This time, it was Colin. She observed him through her lashes, before she returned his greeting.

For the last four years, she could barely recognize him. He had even refused to return to his job overseas.

She had told herself she wasn’t going to intrude in her family’s private life, anymore. But she couldn’t keep watching her Colin deteriorate right in front of her.

"Grandma?" He waved.

"Seat down Colin." She forced a smile.

"Trey said he’s going to bring me to the event tonight. I won’t be riding with Claire, mum," Blaire said, as both her and Gabrielle walked into the dining room.

"Who is Trey again?" The matriarch asked.

"Good morning, grams. You look gorgeous."

"Don’t change the topic, young lady. Who is Trey?"

"Yes grandma. I would love to know the guy she’s blowing off a chance to ride with her twin for," Claire said, coming in with a grouchy Sophie beside her.

"Stop lying, Claire. You know him. And I’m not a child anymore. I’ll be graduating college in two years." She rolled her eyes, as she took a seat.

Gabrielle, and the matriarch exchanged glances.

She still found it hard to believe how much the twins had grown.

Soon, they would want to leave. She couldn’t be more grateful to have Sophie.

"Uncle Colin, do you think Blaire should drive with a boy she hasn’t brought home yet?" Claire asked, taking a seat.

"I think she’s an adult, and can do whatever she likes," Colin said.

"I will toast to that," Nara said, entering the dining room.

"It’s our future doctor, everyone!" Gabrielle clapped, as Nara walked to her, and placed a kiss on her cheeks.

"Yeah, my daughter, the future doctor. Yours is already going out with boys at such a young age. How cute," Celine said, walking in.

Everywhere grew quiet, and awkward.

"What?" She asked, popping a grape into her mouth. "I can’t join in the fun?"

"No, because you suck the fun out of everything. Sit down, Celine."

"Ouch mummy! If I had a heart, that would pierce through it," she said, dropping to her seat.

"At least we’re all self aware," Sophie muttered a little too loudly.

Everyone turned to her, and she pretended not to notice they were staring.

"Hey, Nara. You know this child here, she once had a psychological issue, right before Gabrielle made her one of her charity cases. Do you think the problem has reoccurred? You’re going to be a doctor soon. You should be able to tell."

"Stop it, Celine!" Gabrielle raged.

"Or what? It’s not my fault you’ve refused to teach your children some manners."

"Celine, you can’t–"

"Don’t bother, mummy. I don’t even have an appetite anymore."

Sophie rose to her feet, and Gabrielle tried to run after her.

"Sit, Gabby. I’ll go talk to her," the matriarch said, rising to her feet.

She shook her head, as she walked past Celine.

"What?" Celine shrugged, smiling innocently.

"Can we just eat? I’m starving," Colin said, already filling his plate up with food.

The rest of breakfast went by in awkward silence.

Even when the matriarch returned to take her seat, no one noticed, as they all concentrated on their plates.

The matriarch shook her head, as she observed everyone.

Before Celine returned from wherever she went, the time around the dinning table was always filled with laughter.

It had taken her this long, but she was ready to finally admit it. Celine was the cancer to the family, and until she was gone, they would never fully know peace.

Evening came, and the Atticus household began to prepare for the party.

A knock sounded on Nara’s door, as she dressed up.

"Come in," she called.

The door opened, and Sophie entered the room, already dressed in her sparkling snow white dress.

"Sophie! You look gorgeous!" Nara smiled at her.

"Thank you," Sophie said, and went to sit on her bed. "I wanted to apologise for how I spoke to your mother. It wasn’t right," she said.

"Oh baby," Nara left the dressing mirror, and went to sit beside her. "You want to hear some honesty?" She whispered.

Sophie nodded, and drew closer to her.

"Celine did deserve it. She can be very annoying. I know, because she’s my mother. Unfortunately so."

"Still, I’m sorry. It’s not my place to speak against an elder."

"Nonsense! When an elder is bullshitting, they should be called out. Hey, don’t tell anyone I cursed around you, okay?"

Sophie chuckled. "Don’t worry. Grandma does it all the time, and also tells me to be discreet about it."

"I knew it! That sneaky old woman!"

Sophie burst into laughter. "You’re so funny."

"I try my best. They say medical school is capable of draining your joy. I never want that to be me."

"You’re going to be the best doctor ever! Okay, maybe after doctor nice."

"Yeah, Leighton is a beast of a doctor," she admitted, followed by laughter.

"Okay, I’ll leave you to dress up. See you at the party?"

"Sure baby."

They hugged, and Sophie ran out of the room.

She was on her way to her room, when a hand pulled her into another room. A very dark room.

"Hello, Sophie," Celine said, before she could scream.

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

"I’m not holding you hostage. I just wanted you to know, I saw you hovering close to the balcony today. If you repeat to another ear what you heard this morning? You may just really return to a mental ward. But this time, I’ll make it an institution. Do you understand?"

Sophie was too shaky to respond. Her entire body trembled at the threat of terror.

"Do you understand?!" She shook her young body.

"I do!" Sophie screamed, as a single tear, rolled down her eyes.