A Billion Dollar Bequest to A Stranger - An Inheritance Games Fanfic

Chapter 5: I Need You Here, Lacey

"Thanks, Nash," I smiled at the eldest Hawthorne before waving to him as he drove off after dropping me off at my residence.
"Malacey Belladonna Prairie! Where have you been?" came the furious shout of Kirk.
"Don't worry, Kirkie," I laughed at his overreaction. "Nashie dropped me off."
"Yeah, I could see that," he said, annoyed. "Why didn't either of you call me?"
"We didn't want you to worry, big brother," I smiled at him, meeting him with a hug and ruffling his hair.
"Uh huh, you could've gotten killed because of that big bounty over your head now," he muttered, swinging an arm over my shoulders as we walked inside.

"So," Carson said, entering the Great Room before heaving himself onto a couch, "what are we going to do about the billion dollars bequeathed upon you now, little sis?"
Billion dollars bequeathed upon you now.
Damn, Carson was actually making a valid point to start a conversation now.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do, Hem," I sighed, shortening his middle name/nickname. "Probably donate it to charity or do something good with it."

"What you're going to do with those 'billion dollars bequeathed upon you now,'" came a voice that turned our heads to it, "is talk to your new lawyer."
"Maine Seedlen?" I exclaimed jumping out of my chair.
"How lovely to see you again, Miss Prairie," he smiled at me with his wicked smile, his dark curly hair making his lighter coloured eyes stand out. "And I am delighted to see you two, Mr and Mr Prairie."
"Mr Seedlen," my brothers regarded.
"What are you doing here, Maine?" I asked before walking over to hug him.
"Didn't I just say, Lacey?" he snickered, hugging me back. "Your new lawyer from McNamara, Ortega and Jones."
"Ah yes, the nephew of Mr Jones," Carson said as Maine released me to shake my brother's hand.
"Yes," the lawyer nodded before shaking my eldest brother's hand too.
I walked Maine over to my office, dragging my brothers with me.

"So what do you think I should do?" I asked my former best friend. "And how did you get to, well, here?"
"I'll answer the first question later, so I'll answer the second one now," Maine said as he clasped his hands on the table.
"Because I was your senior, I left high school and went straight to university to get my degree in law. Blah blah blah, fails and passes, I got to where I am now."
"Wow, you've gotten past Carson," Kirk snickered as the said brother punched the eldest.
"As if, Ole," my middle brother heaved. "You haven't even gotten a job yet."
"It's just that nobody is hiring a a model right now," Kirk smirked, flipping his bangs.
Carson punched his brother on the shoulder again before silencing.
"So, about your inheritance," Maine said, pulling out a folder. "I've got good news and bad news."
I grimaced. There was always consequences to my choices.
"What's the good news?" I forced a smile.
"The money is up to you to use now, but whatever is payed now will be put on the tab of your lawyers," Maine explained.
"And the bad news?" I winced.
"You will have to live in Hawthorne House for a whole year in order to inherit all of the money," he announced, sighing.
"And if she doesn't?" Kirk said in a sudden outburst.
"Her share of the inheritance will go straight to charity. Not to the Hawtjornes. "
"And?" Carson smirked, looking over his nails, uninterested. "Those stuck up rich kids probably don't deserve that money anyways."
"It means that the whole family will hate me," I huffed, angrily. "Not that it concerns me, but no one's addressed the elephant in the room yet; I'm supposed to marry Grayson Hawthorne when I'm 25."
Silence overcame my brothers as my head hit the table.
"Yeah, about that," Carson said suddenly, cutting the silence, putting his hands on the desk causing me to put my head up.
I gave Carson a small glare as I waited for whatever he had to say. Honestly, it couldn't be good.
"Grayson Hawthorne and the rest of the Hawthorne family have requested your presence at their house," my brother said, wincing under my glare. "And you know that when the Hawthornes request something, they demand it and always get what they want."
I groaned.
"But I don't want to go," I moaned, banging my head on the desk again. "I'll have to see Grayson and his stupid face again. And Nash won't even be there."
"We're not allowed to come either," Kirk grumbled.
I groaned even more now.
"I'll come with you," Maine suddenly said, reminding us of his presence. "I am your lawyer now after all."
My face lit up as he said that.
"Maine Seedlen, you might just be my lifesaver."

"What did you want from me?" I said, forcing a smile onto my face as I sat on a couch in the foyer of Hawthorne House, Maine behind me.
"As said by the requirements of the will and the arranged marriage," Skye Hawthorne said as she sat in her flowy dress in front of me, "you must live in Hawthorne House for a whole year."
"Yeah, I'm not so happy about that either," I snapped as I glared at the Hawthornes but skipping over Grayson.
"Miss Prairie," Zara Hawthorne-Calligaris snapped back. "We decided that it would be fit, because of the marriage and inheritance, that you start living in Hawthorne House today."
"What?" I exclaimed, ready to stand up but Maine held me down.
"We've arranged for your belongings to be brought here," Skye said, as if it was a reassurance.
"No!" I gasped and shot up, Maine unable to stop me.
"Malacey-" he tried to say as he grabbed my arm but I cut him off.
"No, I don't want to stay here!" I shouted as I shook Maine off of me.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Grayson visibly flinch when Maine grabbed me, but I ignored it.
"Lacey," Xander said, trying to persuade me.
"Belladonna," Jameson sighed sounding disinterested, conflicted and convincing at the same time. "Just comply with whatever they say and then you'll live in peace."
"I live in peace just fine without you," I hissed at his remarks. "I lived in peace without any of you and I wish I had never lived with you."
Silence rippled in the room as they all turned to look at me. I felt a stray tear fall from my eye as I stared defyingly at all of them.

"Miss Prairie," Grayson suddenly said, his voice no louder than a whisper. "Could I please speak to you in private?"
"You can say whatever you need to say in front of these people, but no matter what you say, I will not live here with you people," I snapped at him, crossing my arms.
"Uh," the boy said, looking around nervously.
"Uh, what, Mr Hawthorne, my time is being continually wasted by you and I am feeling the continuous need to waste yours."
Grayson cleared his throat before he spoke.
"We need you here, Miss Prairie," he said, quietly.
I scoffed. "I don't think I heard that, Mr Hawthorne."
"We need you here, Prairie," he said, clearer this time.
I heard what he said but I wasn't getting what I wanted.
"Damn it, I need you here, Malacey," he pleaded as he walked towards me. "You can waste as much time of mine as I have, yours."
Grayson Davenport Hawthorne begging and pleading for me to be with him?

Hell no.

But if he was about to get on his knees and beg for it...
"Fine," I said, crossing my arms as I heard sighs of relief. "But on one condition."
Grayson looked me on the eye as I spoke.
"I'm rooming with Nash."

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Author's Note:
Sorry for the accidental publication of this chapter! This is the actual chapter, so I hope you like it and enjoy it! I'll tag harrypotter9898 because you actually read my chapters and I thank you for it even though its probably not really good and its unpopular at the moment. Thank you to the rest of the readers too for reading! Have a lovely day!
- Reika