_20_ (Irene Lee's Point of View)
Last night, I - no - we didn't see Lavalee or Jace come home.
I guess Jace has a police assignment or investigation again but what bothers me is Lavalee.
I know she's strong, we've proven that through those years we've been together but Lavalee is still Lavalee, a soft-hearted, kind, and loving Lavalee. We treasure her as much as she treasures us.
I stood up from my bed and did my morning rituals. I took a shower and got dressed before doing the beauty routines that Jess insisted on teaching me.
I still remember when she taught me.
That was so embarrassing and dreadful at the same time. The witch really tortured me while teaching me everything.
"Come on, Irene." I was a little surprised to see Lavalee after I left the room.
She has just taken a bath and is wearing a blue shirt which is a bit refreshing because you can only count on the fingers of both hands how many clothes she has without a shade of red.
And she'd never wear those clothes on a common day.
What's up?
I watched her walk upstairs on the third floor, which is off-limits to us.
I guess it's a family floor because Winter and Freia's rooms aren't here and I can see Spring's, Aqualyn's, and Autumn's on this floor. Lavalee's room is here though.
"Lav is wearing blue, right? I wasn't being color blind, right? " Jess immediately asked when I got down
"Yeah," I answered her
"Is she sick? That's a once-in-a-blue-moon event. " She said and slumped to sit on the couch
"You know Lavalee never wears other colors apart from any shade of red and black unless there's something," I said and leaned on the couch
Jace suddenly came out of his room and he was wearing a red shirt.
He went up to the second floor as if disgusted. Which I find a bit weird because he is usually stone cold and emotionless.
Wait, that shirt looks familiar.
I think I know what's happening.
First, Lavalee was wearing a blue shirt that was obviously bigger than hers. Second, Jace is annoyed as he goes up to the second floor where Lavalee is.
My conclusion is, it wasn't Lavalee's shirt and Lavalee pranked Jace.
"Let's eat. Breakfast is ready. " Chelsea said when she saw us.
We stood up and followed her to the dining room.
Among the four of us, Chelsea is the acting mother and we, Lavalee and I are the hard-headed daughters while Jess is the brat daughter.
In shorter words, the four of us can compose a family already.
Jace arrived first and sat down next to Elijah. We were just waiting for Lavalee and we saw Chelsea's eyebrows slightly raised when we saw Lavalee's clothes.
Uh oh.
Her motherly attitude is going to show any moment now. Lavalee was about to sit down when Chelsea stood up and pointed to her dress
"What are you wearing?" Chelsea's strict question
"Uh, shirt and shorts?" Lavalee replied and looked at us as if asking why Chelsea was asking her.
Jess pointed at Lavalee before touching the t-shirt she was wearing.
"Lavalee, go upstairs and dress up properly." Chelsea scolds Lavalee
"I'm wearing high-waisted shorts, Chels. No worries. " Lavalee said so Chelsea sighed before sitting down again.
Chelsea's really strict when it comes to the clothes we wear.
According to her, we deserve to be respected so we must respect ourselves too. She hates daring, seductive, and revealing clothes, and Jess always gets checked with that, she's strict in our clothes especially when there are guys.
We noticed that Lavalee's teasing smile didn't go away as we ate.
Oh well.
Lavalee really won't get stilled when she thought of mischievous pranks.
She's going to execute it one way or another so we're really careful around her because Lavalee is Lavalee, she loves teasing people.
"Whose shirt is that?" I asked as we ate.
"Bimil," she said and stuck out her tongue
"Bimil, eh? What if I tell Frost? " Jess challenges Lavalee
"Andrea," I was surprised when Chelsea scolded Jess.
It's because Lavalee is often called by Chelsea to explain when this is the case but the mere mention of Frost's name pushed Chelsea's button.
She even used her intimidating aura, an aura she rarely used. She likes to be the shadow, the decoy of being protected, same with Lavalee, that's why Jess and I are the only ones in the front line but if we get hurt.
I can't imagine it anymore.
If Chelsea's protective of all of us then Lavalee would flip a whole place if we get hurt, what more if it's her siblings that would be in danger?
I'm pretty sure that hell would break loose and I'm not anticipating that to happen.
"We're in front of the food, so please, no bantering and teasing." Chelsea calmly promised before looking at Lavalee who averted her eyes
"Sorry," Lavalee and Jess said before continuing to eat.
After we ate we went to the living room. We have school today but because Lavalee came home late last night, Chelsea told us not to go in first.
"Get ready, we will enter the third and fourth period," Chelsea said
"How is that, Chelsea? It's 7:53. " Ethan said
"Get ready. You wouldn't want to miss today's event. " Lavalee said as she went downstairs and Lavalee's teasing grin didn't escape my eyes
"Today's event?" we asked
"Check this out." We were surprised when someone appeared in front of Lavalee with a hologram and then she seemed to swipe toward us so we immediately took it.
We no longer remove the hologram nail lacquer because it makes communication and exchanging information easier.
"On it," we said and quickly climbed but we saw Jace just coming out of Lavalee's room while carrying the little tiger.
We just got ready quickly so before 8:30 in the morning, we were ready to leave.
"Mnemosyne, stay here," Jace said
"Let her be, Jace. Mne won't listen. Won't you, Mnemosyne? " Lavalee said and lifted the tiger
I got in the car and Elijah drove away.
"Have you been friends with Lavalee for a long time?" Elijah asked while driving
"All right, don't answer." He said
"Kind of. Lavalee has been my friend since I was nine, I only met Jess and Chelsea through Lavalee when I was 13, that was four years ago." I said
"It's not obvious." He said making me look at him
"It's not obvious?" I asked wondering
"Ah, because it looks like you and Jess are close, I thought you were with them longer than Lavalee." He said
The car was ahead of the three of us so I was a little surprised when something beeped on the car screen.
'Hologram.'
That was all that was written but I immediately started typing in the air and a hologram appeared.
Eel. Inheritance.
Those were the two words from Lavalee and a little later, we were stopped by three black cars. I knew immediately what that meant.
"Irene, it's dangerous," He said but I shook before lying down.
"Stop the car," I said but he continued to drive
"Stop the car, Elijah." I insisted so he looked at me for a moment and put the car to one side.
There were no passing vehicles so we were easily surrounded.
"What are you doing?" Elijah asked when he saw me get out of the car
"Leave me alone, Elijah," I said
"Let you go down? I'm here to be your guard." He said so I shook my head
"Lee," I said and that confused him
"They're Lee's staff," I said
"Lee? Isn't that your last name? " he said and I nodded
"I'm coming." He said so I closed my eyes in irritation when he came out and opened the door for me.
I was just getting out of the car when a hologram came out from Lav.
'They're rooting for Thunder.' I was in disbelief by what I read
That's why I took this responsibility so that they wouldn't be affected after this.
Fucking shit!
When I got out of the car, Tyrone's brother came up to me.
He was about to approach me but Elijah stopped him.
"I'm fine," I told him so he stepped aside
"What do you want?" I asked directly
"Nice. Feisty little bitch huh? Is that what that gold dig- State what you want. I'm running late for school. " I cut to the insult he would say about my Mom
"Leave," he said making me laugh sarcastically
"Are you stupid?" I asked icily and his armed men started pointing their guns at me
"You blocked the way in case your pea-sized brain fucking forgot. Now you're telling me to leave? Are you fucking messing with me, huh? Tell me." I said coldly and stared into his eyes
"Leave the inheritance." He said and I looked at him like he just said a big joke.
"For what? So that you can enjoy it? No thank you, bro." I said mischievously and grinned devilishly at him
"You, bitch! You're just an illegitimate – So what? I am still the eldest and I'm already at the legal age." I said and walked toward him
I held his necktie and placed my mouth near his ear
"It's the rule of the underground right?" I whispered
I let him go and roughly pushed him, causing him to hit his back against his car.
"Put your guns down, idiots. I am the successor of the family, not that idiot." I said and smiled menacingly
"Bitch!" He snarled and gritted his teeth
"Call me whatever you want, you impostor. But I will always be a Lee. YOU will never be the successor as long as the pure-blooded Lees are here." I said teasingly and glared coldly at him
"This is Bianca Irene Lee, 18 years of age, the eldest successor of Eel," I said and turned my back
"Get out of the way or you'll experience hell," I ordered coldly and they immediately went back to their vehicles and drove them out of the way
I got back in the car and saw Elijah get in as well.
"Who's that?" he asked as he drove away
"Chasing Lee's wealth," I answered and typed in the air
'As expected. You must warn your father. '
I was stunned by Lavalee's answer
'What the fuck? Are you serious there, Lav? '
'Why not? He's still the head of Eel, right? '
I lay down and removed the hologram
"Wow, that's cool," Elijah said
"I'll tell Chelsea that you complimented her inventions." I said and pulled out my cellphone
To: Tyrone Lee
Ambushed. Impostor. Watch out.
It's up to him to understand what I texted.
Tyrone Lee is calling…
"Oh?" I said after answering the call
[How are you?] I was stunned when Aunt Rhea's voice answered.
"I'm fine, Aunt, it was just an impostor." I answer in a polite tone
[I was worried when I analyzed your text. Riley read it. Were you hurt? Where are you?] I couldn't help but smile when I heard Aunt Rhea's question.
"I'm heading to school and I'm fine, Aunt. I promise but can you please tell Riley and Thunder they can't come over? It's too dangerous." I said
[I will tell them. Just be careful, okay, Irene?] She said
"Yes, Aunt Rhea. I'll be." I said and dropped the call