Bittersweet Marriage

Ch 1

"Hold on, didn't you say you would give it to me in place of the stale bread you 'accidentally' sold yesterday?"
The young lady glared at the dishonest salesman who had just denied knowing her. Just as she was about to utter another retort her phone rang.

"What?"
"Come home Ava."
"Why hello dad. Or should I call you father? Or Mr. Gray for short?"
"Ava."
"What? Don't you always advise me to address you according to the circumstances Mr. Grayson?
The man on the other side gritted his jaw.
"It's related to 'Sip & Savor'. Don't tell me you don't want the café?"
"I'm coming."
"Wai-"
Click

The 24 year old charming woman furrowed her eyebrows in irritation. "I'll deal with you later." She spat at the salesman as she hastened to take a taxi.

Sip & Savor was the café her mom had left for him before she died. Her 'father' who never felt like a father had taken hold of the property papers and all the legal documents before mom died. That man remarried merely a month after the funeral. Well she should thank him for at least having the decency to let her mother pass in peace.
But since when did socks not come in pairs? The 'beautiful' bride brought along her daughter, two years younger than her husband's biological daughter. The older sock was called Rael while the younger Sophie. Hah.

Well long story short, it was the typical cliché. The mom died, the scumbag married another woman. The stepmother and daughter mistreated the Cinderella. But in this story she wasn't going to be some pitiful damsel but instead the Queenella.

"Click" Ava opened the door as she thanked and paid the driver for the comfy ride. The charming woman found her way through the house using her memory. It had been months since she came here. She could never live with these people. It suffocated her.

"You're here" said the potato.
Suppressing her smile, Ava answered "Yes. Now what is this about Sip & Savor? Are you ready to surrender the papers to me finally?"
"Yes we are" said the female potato
"And what prompted this change?"
Mr. Grayson replied "I can handover the papers but on some conditions"
"Go on"
"Marriage. In a week."
"Oh. I thought it was going to be something worthwhile. Sigh you are wasting my time. I'm leaving"
"No you are not. I still have your mom's belongings. And that café. Isn't it the last thing Tia left for you? I can just demolish it since it isn't of any importance to me."
Ava gritted her teeth in anger.
"And i don't see how this benefits you dear father"
"I just want to reduce the number of mouths to feed"
"Don't lie. It isn't even your shit that I live on"
"Ava! Do you want the café or not?"
"Fine. I'll do it. Who's the lucky bastard?"
"Ezekiel Frost. I'll send you the necessary information and get ready. His family is going to come after 2 days to inspect the soon-to-be bride" the stepmother, Rael intruded.
"Inspect what? Am I an item up for auction? And what were you going to do if I had declined? Looking at how you sold your daughter off so quickly, these people don't seem to be people whom you can offend?"
"You wouldn't dare to afterall it's your and your mom's treasure. And it has always one of your sole aspirations to take hold of the ownership of the café"
"I am the owner. It's just that a thief has the documents, For Now"
"Ava stop and just get ready for Wednesday dear sister"
"Shut your trap Sophie. I know what to do"

Footsteps rang around the empty corridor as the beautiful woman exited out of the haunted house.
'Haunted with potatoes that is" Ava smiled as she took a taxi to her apartment. She was at the supermarket to get groceries for dinner when she was summoned to the haunted house.
"Luxker Apartments, tower no. 2" she told the driver and closed her eyes.
Even though it seemed like a blocked end, even though she had to give in for now she was going to make her 'family' suffer. As for the Wednesday visitors, she was going to judge for herself if those people needed her attention or not. She was not one to blindly judge or hate people for no reason.
"Sigh"

The driver adjusted the rear view mirror and saw the pretty lady closing her eyes as fatigue seemed to overtake her. No it was another emotion he couldn't fathom. Betrayal? Loneliness? Anger? He couldn't tell.
Quietly he adjusted the navigation app to the address his passenger had given and stepped on the engine.