A GOLDEN EMPIRE

CHAPTER THIRTY- ONE

"KINGSLEY, WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US?" Aaron says to his son the minute the chaos ends. Kingsley rolls his eyes at the man's attempt to be 'caring'. "All this has been happening to you and you haven't said a word about it. You're our son. We love you and you know that."

The Hawthorne heir shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest. The deep scowl on his face turns into a blank stare. Then... he cackles hysterically. Both Scarlett and Aaron look at him like he's lost his mind. Frankly, having these two as parents, you are bound to lose every single brain cell possible.

"That's funny. Hilarious, dad. I'm supposed to tell you stuff when majority of the time, you act like I don't even exist. The only time you decide to acknowledge me is when you want me to attend those boring ass meetings with you. After that, nothing but invisible Kingsley. I'm not about to go out of my way, waste my time and patience trying to get you to pay attention anymore. I'm done. I know I act like an ass sometimes but damn. So whenever you two come to your senses and realize that you have a son- I.E. me, let me know. Until then, I'll be elsewhere." Elsewhere being the penthouse Aaron purchased and deserted a year ago. So Kingsley uses it himself.

He has a closet full of clothes, shoes, etc. The only thing he doesn't have are his suits for this weekend's festivities. So after school, he's heading to the mansion to pick them up. He walks away from them without another word.

Down the hall Holden and Camille are having the same conversation with Adrianna, only the heiress is not listening.

"Adrianna, are you even listening to me?" Holden asks in exasperation.

She sends him a death glare. "No. I'm not trying to either. Kind of feeling like Kingsley right now. Dad, you barely make an effort to acknowledge me and all mom does is repeatedly body shame and berate me. I am sick of it. I exist, damn it. And Mom, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the way I look. You keep telling me to lose weight for my benefit but I truly believe it's because you want me to look like you. I love myself. I look and feel good. I'm not going to let you or anyone tell me otherwise." She moves the black LOUIS VUITTON Capucines MM taurillon leather bag from the crook of her arm up to her shoulder and walks away.

Aurora is the first one to see her walk outside. Her protective best friend instincts kick in when she sees tears stream down Adrianna's face. Pulling out of Justin's embrace, she walks up and pulls her into a bear hug. Then they all join in on the hug.

Brandon is the first to speak after they pull away. "From now on, Adrianna, whatever negative comment Camille makes towards you is a motherfucking lie. We know it and you know it. It's only been two fucking weeks since Junior year began and we're already dealing with some bullshit."

"This shit stops now. All of it. The throne that the Empire sits on- starting Monday morning, we are taking it back. We are seriously going to let it be known that we're at the top and no one is going to ruin what we've built to get here." Justin says, voice hard and stiff. He speaks in a tone that he never uses: indignant. Even when he's mad, he doesn't show it.

"He's right," Autumn mutters. "Tonight. We are going to have fun, damn it. Drink our asses off and wake up tomorrow incoherent with severe hangovers. Monday morning, we'll show up and show the fuck out." She looks around to see them nodding in agreement.

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THE HOLLINGSWORTH ESTATE
JULIETTE'S PARLOR
6:45 PM

THE GIRLS, INCLUDING JULIETTE, Fallon, and Andrea, are all scattered about the private suite where the elder mother brought in her team of specialists to prepare for the auction tonight.