𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐲, 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 ¹

thirty four.

CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
saddest part of all

Cookie

next day

Cookie and Candace were enjoying their breakfast, or they were before Carol came running in angrily. "Sis, you have some explaining to do!"

Candace was alarmed. "Which one?"

"Cookie!"

Cookie waved her hand dismissively. "Carol, don't start. It's too early for this."

"Oh, I'm starting! Do you wanna tell me why my niece is kissing on a white boy?!"

Cookie and Candace gave her a puzzled look. "What?"

"Yup! It's all over Twitter!"

Cookie snatched Carol's phone. "Give me that!" She looked down at the screen and Carol wasn't lying. The hashtag #Bloyalty was trending, and there was a video of Blake and Royalty in the Empire conference room, making out for everyone to see.

"Bloyalty? What the hell is that?" Candace asked.

Carol answered. "Blake and Royalty's couple name or something. Like how Lucious and Cookie went by Coocious."

"If you don't stop with that nasty ass name. Sounds like a damn disease," Cookie hissed.

Carol shrugged. "I wouldn't be surprised if you do have one. Lucious is filthy."

Candace waved her hands around as Cookie glared at Carol. "Okay, back on topic please! Who the hell is Blake?!"

"Hakeem's best friend. I don't like him very much," Cookie said.

"So why is my niece kissing him?" Carol demanded to know.

"I don't know, Carol! I haven't been at Empire. I've been trying to stay away from anything that has to do with Lucious."

"Yeah, and now look what happened. That man is corrupting my niece!"

Cookie stood up. "I want answers like you, so I'm going to get some."

"We're going with you!"

"No! Stay here!"

-

"Royalty!" Cookie yelled when she entered the mansion. She searched around and found her in the living room with Lucious.

Royalty was nervous. "Oh, h-hey mom. I didn't know you were coming today."

"Don't hey me! You have some explaining to do, little girl! Why is there a video of you and Blake making out all over the internet?"

"I already talked to her about this, Cookie," Lucious said.

"Well, now I'm talking about it!"

"I didn't think people would see us," Royalty told her.

"It's a glass walled room, Royalty. Everyone can see you."

"We weren't thinking about that. We were in the moment."

"But why was there a moment? Why were you kissing him?"

"Because he's my boyfriend."

Cookie stared at her with the utmost disbelief. "You date that controlling boy?"

"Blake isn't going to be controlling anymore. He promised."

"Lucifer over there promised me a lot of things too. And what happened? He let me rot in jail!" Cookie countered.

Lucious was annoyed. "You can't ever keep my name out of your mouth, can you?"

"At least you know your name should be Lucifer," Cookie retorted.

"You wanna talk about real names? Let's talk about yours. Loretha," Lucious exposed.

Royalty looked at her, confused. "Loretha?"

Cookie fired back at Lucious. "My birth name is better than yours any day! Dwight Walker."

"Dwight Walker?!" Royalty shrieked.

Cookie exposed Lucious some more. "Yup! Your daddy changed his name to Lucious Lyon because he knew he wouldn't survive on the streets with a name like Dwight." Then she pointed at Lucious. "You a fraud, Dwight."

Lucious got defensive. "If I'm a fraud, then what the hell are you? I don't see people calling you Loretha!"

Royalty quickly stood up. "Okayyyy. You guys are arguing about names and it's weird. I'm out."

"Mhm. You better keep Blake in check!"

Royalty walked off. "I will!"

"You better!" She left the house, and Cookie just stared at Lucious angrily. He was avoiding eye contact. "Well, at least someone's happy around here."

Lucious caught an attitude. "Your daughter left, Cookie. It's time for you to go too."

"I'm not going anywhere. It's time for me to move back in."

Of course he was giving her a hard time. "You're not stepping foot in this house again."

"Yes I am! I need to keep an eye on my daughter and that Blake."

"You're not stepping foot in this house again," Lucious hissed through gritted teeth.

That made her smirk. "Aw. Did I hurt your feelings that much when I said daddy would still be alive if I never messed with you? I wouldn't have said that if you respected me."

"I'm glad you said it. You clearly wanted to get that off your chest for a while." Then he stood up. "Well, you won't have to deal with me for much longer, Cookie. I'm going to die just like your daddy, and I know you'll be celebrating when that day comes."

But that wasn't true at all. "Stop talking like that, Lucious."

"Why? It's true. You even told me to go die."

"I didn't mean it." Cookie sighed. "Yes, I'm mad at you, but I don't want you to die, Lucious. Our kids need their father."

"Well, I am dying Cookie, and there's no stopping it." Lucious shrugged. "I guess my karma's finally caught up to me. But for what it's worth, I'm sorry about your dad. He deserved better, unlike me."

Lucious walked out, not even letting her respond. "Lucious! Lucious!"

But he didn't come back to her, and now Cookie was filled with sadness because it seemed like Lucious had given up on life. It was because of her; because she blamed him for her father's death.

Candace was right. Those words hurt Lucious to the core, and it made Cookie wonder if she was right about the other thing she had said: about Lucious still loving Cookie.

A part of Cookie believed he did since he was so hurt over what she said, but she didn't know. What she did know was that she didn't want Lucious to die. Ever. Because if she couldn't live without him for seventeen years, how was she supposed to live without him for all eternity? Because the truth is, she still loved that man.

It pained her to admit it, but it was true. He was the only man she'd ever loved, and the only man she ever wanted to love. But she didn't think there'd ever be 'Coocious' again because there'd been too much betrayal and destruction between them. And that was the saddest part of all.