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“Fuck that,” Olly cries. “You’ve earned every fucking penny for all the shit you’ve been through since your great-grandfather died. I hope the asshole’s turning in his grave for all the crap he’s put you and Tally through. Plus, your mom and dad are gonna shit a brick when they find out you got it all,” he laughs.
“Half of it is Tally’s,” Priss says, in the same tone you’d say Tag you’re it.
“I don’t—” Tally starts.
“Half of it’s yours, I’d give it all to you if you’d have it,” Priss shouts, panic so obvious in her voice it filters through her words and fills the small space in the limo.
“None of you have realized what this means yet have you?” Arlo asks, his voice silencing us.
“What?” Tally asks.
“Once Carrie signs that paperwork, we own one hundred percent of the shares in Archibald Inc, we own it all,” he laughs. “We don’t even need to request your dad lose his position, you can just fire him.”
Priss’s body visibly tenses and her wide, fearful eyes turn to me. I smile and her eyes immediately warm even as they fill with tears. Her lips tip up at the corners and a laugh bursts from her. “Oh my god,” she cries, covering her mouth with her hand as more laughter escapes, while tears fall from her eyes raking paths down her cheeks. “We can fire my dad,” she gasps.
Tally starts to laugh too. “Oh my god can I do it? I want to do it,” she giggles.
“Can we record it, I want to see his face from every angle,” Priss cries, laughing so hard she bends at the waist, her whole body shaking.
“Firing him is only the start,” Arlo says, an ominous amusement lacing his words.
* * *
It’s been almost two weeks since Priss signed all of the lawyer’s paperwork and officially became the sole beneficiary of Harold Archibald the Third’s estate. The moment it was all legal, she engaged the lawyer to gift half of everything to Tally.
I can see the weight of this money in Priss, she’s more solemn and withdrawn, but I’m hoping what we plan to do next might unburden her somewhat. When we got the full list of assets that were part of the estate, we discovered some very interesting things, and with a little help from our very helpful new lawyer we’ve put some fun stuff in place.
My girl wanted revenge, it’s what brought us all together, it’s what united us, and in a day’s time she’ll have it. She told us all that it wasn’t fair that her parents got off scot free, that they got to pretend they weren’t involved in all the terrible things they all did in pursuit of a fortune, and she was right.
Even now, estranged from both of their daughters, Vanessa and Freddie Archibald haven’t shown even an ounce of remorse for the way they’ve treated their children. But soon they’ll understand that every action has a consequence and for my beautiful fiancé I really hope revenge will be sweet.
17
Carrigan
Waiting is the worst thing in the world, there’s something about sitting and watching the clock counting down that makes time go slower than it ever has before. Nervous, excited butterflies are swirling around inside of me as I try to sit still, when all I want to do is pace the room or run away.
I wanted this, I asked for help in getting revenge on my parents, I wanted them to feel just a glimpse of the pain and agony I feel everyday for the things I’ve done. But I figured out a while back, that to feel remorse, you have to have a soul, you have to have feelings and a conscience, and my parents have none of them. Vanessa and Freddie Archibald are soleless entities, entirely driven by their own needs and wants and without an ounce of regard for anything else.
“You ready?” Carson asks me quietly from beside me.
“No,” I say on a shaky laugh.
“Take a deep breath,” he orders, and my body moves instinctually, pulling in air, then exhaling it. Some of my pent-up tension leaves my body as I follow his command, just like he knew it would.
“I love you,” I whisper, turning to look at him and as always, finding him watching me, his eyes full of promise and love.
“Good, because you’re mine,” he smiles, lifting my hand to his lips and pressing a kiss to my engagement ring.
Today’s the day, the shareholders meeting where the Archibald Inc board of directors expect to meet with the new majority shareholders. We asked for the news of my inheritance to be kept from public record for as long as possible, but if anyone wanted to find out who inherited, they could easily find the information now it’s all official.
We’re banking on anyone who has seen me as beneficiary to assume it’s an old will, so hopefully they won’t be expecting to see us when they walk into the hotel conference room where we requested the meeting to be held.
The advantage to being extremely rich is that few normal people question your directives if you’re prepared to pay well for them to follow them, so I know that those doors won’t open until exactly twelve noon. Which means I have exactly three minutes to get my game face on, and get ready to deal with a room full of business men who probably won’t be particularly happy to know that the company they work for is now owned by a group of eighteen-year-olds.
“Everyone know the plan?” Arlo asks, his voice calm and steady.
“Yes,” we all chorus back. We’ve planned the next hour down to the minute, and we all have our roles to play. We’ve got the room set out, just as we want it, we’ve got the tables set out in a T shape, with us sat on a slightly raised row of tables at the head of the room, and the rest of the seats set out around the tables below and in front of us.
