Today, we weren’t discussing the matter of a prenup. I sat along a lengthy oak table with Abraham and Priest at my side. Across from us was our so-called sister, Giselle, and her lawyer Elijah Carter.
I couldn’t front. The minute Giselle stepped into the room, my breath hitched. She looked so much like me that it was kinda freaky. Her pictures served her no justice, as did mine. She had exceptional cheekbones, and her hair was so silky. She was a little taller than me and was more on the thin side. I was cut andin shape, but this ass was two handfuls, and I took pride in it, especially when my man smacked it.
Since we had taken our seats, we had spent the entire time just staring at each other, taking in each other’s mannerisms, facial expressions and looks. It baffled the fuck out of me how much we looked alike. I could guess her aesthetic and day to day routine. She was the type of chick who wore her hair in a claw cup for most of the week and drank matcha every morning. She was so… different from me and Priest.
While Giselle and I were eyeing each other, Priest was leaned back in his seat, running his fingers through his beard. He finally had enough of shifting his eyes between us before he chuckled. “This shit trippy as hell.”
Her lawyer, Elijah, cleared his throat as he adjusted his thin framed glasses on his face. “My client is the biological daughter of Sylvia and Terrence Barette. She was deliberately excluded from all estate planning and insurance benefits.”
I scoffed. “Wasn’t shit left in the estate. She didn’t own shit because she sold everything for crack. Terrence was a bum and lived off her while she lived off my brother. We finished here?” I batted my lashes while tilting my head to the side.
She was probably hoping for some touching background of Sylvia and Terrance, and I gladly popped her bubble of hope. Wasn’t shit to look forward to.
She said nothing, but she did turn her head to her lawyer and give him a curt nod.
“Not yet. Our records show that there was a life insurance policy for Mrs. Sylvia Barrette and a trust fund.” He cracked opened his folder.
“Which were all funded by me. Sylvia ain’t work a job since the early 2000s. Life went up for her when I made it happen. The money you’re referring to wasn’t earnings. It was just me taking care of my mother and her husband,” Priest explained.
“While all that sounds very nice of you, Mr. Justice, that doesn’t mean my client wasn’t deliberately excluded.”
This time, Abraham scoffed. “I don’t believedeliberateis the term. My clients didn’t even know your client existed.”
I laughed sharply. “You’re giving Sylvia and Terrance too much credit if you think they told us about you.”
Finally, Giselle leaned up and narrowed her eyes at both of us. “Whoever they were to you doesn’t minimize what they did to me. You lived a lie just as much as I did, so step off your high horse.”
I was fixing to fire off on her, but Priest placed a hand on my shoulder. “You angry at the wrong people, sweetheart. Their plots are next to each other. You can sit right in the middle and let out all your frustration. Me and my sister don’t got shit for you.”
“You always get in front of her and make her think she’s untouchable?” She tilted her head to the side, just like I would whenever I asked a question.
She was as fiery as I was. I shouldn’t have expected anything less. She was, after all, Sylvia’s daughter. She blessed and cursed us with her slick-ass mouth.
“You thinking you can touch her makes you stupid. I would hope you got some brains.” Priest’s jaw clenched. Just like me, he didn’t do well with threats and intimidation, and Giselle was dancing on a thin line.
“You don’t get to walk into our lives and demand compensation for people who ruined it,” I coldly snapped. “We don’t owe your truth a payout, especially when it’s wrapped in entitlement after you were spared.”
“Spared? You lived a life with our parents.”
Priest and I exchanged glances with each other before we erupted into laughter. The shit was so comical, all Abraham could do was pinch the bridge of his nose and shake his head.
“We didn’t live the fairytale you’re trying to portray. Wesurvivedthey asses. And you got the best of it ‘cause you didn’t have to go through half the shit we did,” I coldly let out.
“Look, I would’ve respected you a lot more if you approached this shit differently. You came in ready for a fucking come-up off money that don’t got shit to do with you. You not genuine, and you clearly not looking for shit but some fucking money. If it make you feel any better, I would’ve traded anything to be the kid who was given to a family that actually gave a fuck. You lucked up, shorty. You just so blinded by a couple dollars that you can’t realize that shit,” Priest concluded as he pushed his chair away from the table and got up.
I followed suit, grabbing my Chanel bag from the table. “Abraham, speak that legalese and tell her lawyer she’s not getting shit.” I followed my brother out of the conference room and made sure to look over my shoulder and shoot Giselle a taunting smirk.
To think she was about to get paid off my pain and suffering… this bitch was nuttier than her dead-ass mama.
“I don’t trust her.” Priest shook his head as we approached my car. A few feet away, Elijah was walking Giselle to her car since they left shortly after us. By the look on her face, I could tell she was pissed. Like Priest said, she had the wrong fucking approach. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree; she was just as much of a greedy bitch as Sylvia.
“I never did. There’s no telling how long she’s been watching our lives to see how much money she could come up on.”
“She ain’t coming up on shit,” he scoffed. “How it feel seeing that she’s your fucking twin?”
I folded my arms against my chest before rolling my eyes. “She’s gorgeous. I can’t even front.”
“Look just like you and Sylvia.”
