Cruel Beauty

Family Affairs

Awkward situations are never easy. The situation where a mother gives up her daughter, who showed up as an adult and tried to destroy the mother, while said daughter was nearly murdered on numerous occasions by said mother's girlfriend is....

'More wine?' Victoria politely swallows her food and lifts the bottle of wine looking at you. 'Don't stop pouring.' You groan offering your glass. 'Estella?' Cruella is skeptically moving her food with her fork in fear that it is poisoned. 'No, thank you. I think it's best I keep my wits about me.' she shoots you a look. 'And it's Cruella. Mother.' Victoria cringes she hates when Estella calls her, that, and it just seems unnatural. Victoria sets the bottle down again. 'It is a wicked name for a brand but you should use your proper name, especially in business.' She pierces a slice of cucumber on her fork and then bites it. 'What, like how you get everyone to refer to you as Baroness? Very few people even know your real name.' You drink. 'Tooshy.' Victoria purses her lips. 'Touche.' she corrects you. 'Baroness is my title.' she then corrects Cruella. 'Well if you want to get into semantics I hold the title of Baroness, mother.' Victoria cringes again. 'My title is through marriage yours through birth.' she wipes her mouth with a napkin. 'Would you like to be known as Baroness?' Cruella looks horrified causing Victoria to look satisfied, you burst out laughing spraying Cruella with wine, and Victoria tuts at you. 'Yn, perhaps you have had enough?' she suggests. 'Why? we are having such a lovely fun-filled family dinner!' You fall off your seat.

Victoria flinches at the abrupt movement and closes her eyes massaging her forehead. 'Jeffrey? Jeffrey?!' Jeffrey comes running in his hair has gotten marginally thinner since being promoted to valet. 'Yes, Baroness?' Victoria points an index finger towards you, as you sprawl over the floor. 'Help yn to bed, she is feeling a little under the weather.' Cruella snorts. 'Three sheets to the wind is more like it.' she wipes the wine off. Jeffrey goes to you and helping you up off of the floor is no menial task. You squirm around as Jeffrey all but bodily lifts you out of the dining room, you continue to prattle away. 'Forgive her, she's just a little nervous. This is an awkward situation for us all. I'm sure you would agree.' Victoria offers matter-of-factly. Cruella blinks staring at her. 'Oh, really I hadn't noticed that, I've been having such a wonderful time dining with my would-be killer and the woman who abandoned me at birth.' The Baroness doesn't react but the words sting because she knows it's true. 'But you didn't abandon me...' Cruella looks confused. 'That night at the warehouse, when I lit the fire.' Cruella snorts. 'Oh yes, the other time you tried to kill me.' she recollects. 'You didn't leave me, you could have left me in the lift to die.' Cruella thinks it is all a bit of a blur but it slowly comes back to her. 'I pulled you up, from the lift. And then you left me alone in the flames to die.'

Victoria sighs. 'Yn pulled me from the flames, I am told that she injured you after you saved me. A regrettable action I agree considering you had just risked your life for me, but she thought you were attacking me.' Cruella snorts. 'And after you had come too, it didn't occur to you to come back for me?' Victoria stands up tossing her napkin on the table. 'As a matter of fact, I did, I tried to go back, but no one would listen to me, they thought I was being hysterical. Then the building blew up, it wasn't until they reported that there were no human remains that I knew you were safe.' she walks over to the younger woman. 'I understand this situation is...well there is no word, but I am trying now Estella, if you would just try to meet me halfway.' Cruella glares up at her. 'Sorry, I don't really have interest in a family bonding session. I spent my life alone because of you. I do feel dreadful about what my fa- your husband did to you. No woman deserves that but I agreed we could work out a percentage of my inheritance and then I'm gone. London isn't big enough for the both of us and I have plans. The sooner this is dealt with the quicker I can leave. And for the last time, it's Cruella.' Cruella gets up and walks past the Baroness.

Victoria purses her lips looking down she hasn't much she can say in response to that, the will the Baron drafted lacked an official stamp. Technically Cruella got nothing but Victoria had tried to make amends with a financial peace offering. It wasn't going to wipe all their problems away but she had hoped that it may encourage Cruella to get to know her a little better. The girl had not agreed and Victoria knew she didn't have a leg to stand on. 'As you wish.' The Baroness responds to the empty room she wraps her arms around herself trying to warm up. All they had to do was make it through the time together then sweet freedom. The murder mystery party that the Baroness had planned all along, and not made Jeffrey work tirelessly to throw together in order to cover up your murdering her valet was this weekend. The guests would see amicable behaviour between, you, Cruella, and the Baroness. The signing would be complete and Cruella would be gone, but the days were dragging. Cruella sat sketching with a cup of tea when the Baroness entered peering over her shoulder. 'That's not how I would do it.'

Cruella's eyes burn into the paper and she clenches her jaw. 'Then it's fortunate that I did not ask for your advice or your opinion.' Victoria chuckled basking in the arrogance of the younger woman that mirrored her own. 'Yet perhaps you need it? You may even benefit from it.' Cruella growled in frustration standing up to leave the room. Victoria being Victoria had given up on the empathy portion of her personality, she felt somewhat peeved that Estella was not in thrall with her. After all, it's not every day you learn you are the child of a fashion genius who happened to be a Baroness. 'You could be a little more gracious. I am offering you quite a charitable percentage of the estate.' Cruella freezes. 'Charitable?' she says quietly. 'You are offering me hush money so I don't tell the police that your guard bitch murdered your valet. You are offering me what would have been mine, in fact, only a percentage of what all would have been mine if the will had been properly notarised. You aren't doing me any favours here.' she walks up to the Baroness looking up into the older woman's eyes. Victoria remains still trying to emanate her usual ferocity but there's just something missing, and she feels fear because those eyes...are Wilhelm's. 'You're...ungrateful.' Victoria raises her chin trying to ooze arrogance and hide her fear. 'Arrogant?! Me?!' Cruella's eyes widen, and she slaps the older woman across the face. Victoria's face turns to the side she presses her cool hand to her hot cheek. Cruella shaking with anger leaves the room.