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He nods, leaving the engine running as he climbs out the driver’s seat and comes to open our door. “Good luck, I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you tell them,” he says with a nod.
The four of us climb out and I lead the march up the steps to the front door. I don’t knock, I just open the door and walk straight in, after all this is my home. The others follow me in and Carson reaches for my hand, entwining his fingers with mine as I lead the others through the house to the living room.
Pushing open the door, I walk straight in, smiling widely as my parents’ mouths drop open in shock. “Mom, Dad, it’s so nice to see you,” I chirp, my voice so happy and upbeat I sound a little possessed.
“What the hell are you doing in my house?” Mom snaps, demanding an explanation as she jumps to her feet, planting her hands on her hips and glaring at us.
“Thanks Mom, we’d love to sit,” Tally says brightly as she strides over to the sofa and sits, pulling Arlo down next to her.
Laughing lightly, I follow suit, waiting for Carson to sit and then sliding into his lap, smiling manically the entire time.
“Get the hell out of this house you filthy little whores,” Dad says, the slight slur to his voice suggesting he’s had a few drinks already tonight.
“Why would we leave? We’re celebrating,” Carson tells them.
“Got any champagne Dad?” Arlo asks, lifting his eyebrows in a silent challenge.
“What do you want? We really don’t have time for all these pathetic teenage amateur dramatics,” Mom sneers sardonically.
“What’s the matter Mom, I thought you’d be over the moon, we’re worth a fortune and I landed myself a serious coup with my fiancé?” I ask her, blinking innocently as her expression darkens.
“Plus, it’s not like either of you have a job to go to in the morning, you’ve got all the time in the world,” Tally laughs.
Dad surges forward, but Arlo jumps up from the couch and blocks his path to Tally before my dad can take more than two steps forward. “Watch it, Dad,” Arlo says from behind gritted teeth. “Money makes the world go round and we have enough to make a body disappear, no questions asked,” he threatens.
Dad’s murderous expression doesn’t change, but he takes a step back, his hands still clenched in tight fists at his side.
“Well,” I say brightly, pulling the attention back to me as Arlo sits back down beside Tally. “We don’t want to take up too much of your time, I’m sure you must be busy making plans. We just wanted to give you twenty-four hours.”
“What?” Mom snaps dismissively. “Twenty-four hours for what?”
“To pack your things,” I say. “I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but good old great-grandfather put a nice little clause hidden in his will, so when I decided to break the will deliberately, instead of coming away penniless, I ended up with it all and without all the rules. His entire estate is mine. Well, mine and Tally’s, we decided to split it down the middle and share it. How fun is that?” I say with a cute shrug of my shoulders.
“Congratulations,” Mom sneers, turning her back and walking to the drinks’ cabinet at the back of the room, pouring herself a drink.
“Thank you,” Tally and I say in unison.
“His estate was massive, so many houses, so much land and property, including this house,” I say with a giggle.
“What?” Dad roars.
“I know, right?” I say, using my best valley girl impersonation. “So, this place is mine, Tally didn’t want it, so I took one for the team and agreed to take it,” I say, lifting my hands into the air in a what-you-gonna-do gesture. “Well anyway, I just wanted you to know that you have twenty-four hours to get your stuff and get the hell out of my house before I have the police remove you,” I say, losing all of the fake happy tone from my voice and letting the smile fall from my lips.
Mom spins toward us, her lips falling open in shock. “You can’t kick us out of our home.”
“Yes she can,” Arlo says. “This house belongs to Carrigan, the house is part of Harold’s estate and now it’s hers, so she can do whatever the hell she wants with it.”
“Have the house,” Dad growls, his face red and angry. “We’ll just buy another house,” he boasts.
“Well about that,” Tally says. “Funny story, but as part of our inheritance we also got control of the trust funds. The lawyer said it was the strangest thing, but that unlike most trust funds that become sealed when the person who set them up dies, great-grandfather had his set up a little differently. So now we’re in control of them. We can increase the money, decrease the money or hell, we can stop them all together if we want to.”
Dad’s face pales and he staggers to the nearest chair, grabbing it with his hand for support as he collapses down onto it.
Glancing to my sister I catch her eye, waiting for her slight nod, before I inhale a slow, calming breath. “You stole four years from us. You manipulated, used, abused, and hurt us. You made us hate ourselves and each other. You broke us and then you just walked away like we never existed,” I admit candidly. Locking eyes with my mom, I wait until a flash of fear passes across her face before I continue. “You took four years from us, so we’re going to take those four years from you. For the next four years your trust fund will be reduced to that of an average working class American family. If you require more money, you’ll both have to get jobs and earn it. You won’t have access to any Archibald property, companies, or assets, no offshore accounts, no cars, jets, or staff. For the next four years you’re outcasts.”
Mom pulls in a ragged breath, lifting her hand to cover her mouth. “No,” she gasps, shaking her head.
“For the next four years you’ll be poor and worthless,” I mock. “You’ll be forgotten, laughed at, and broke. No designer clothes, no big house, servants, and drivers. No cushy job where you do nothing but still earn a six figure salary. You. Get. Nothing.”
“We’re your parents, how can you do this?” Mom hisses.
My laugh is so cold and mean that it makes goosebumps rise across my skin. “You taught me that money is power, and power is everything,” I say. “You forced me to pick a side and guess what?” I say. “We win.”
The End
