Devils Inheritance | Peaky Blinders

09.

Everyone was gathered in the betting shop— the whole family, well, apart from Ada, as well as any customer currently lingering around. Matilda was sat on one of the tables, staring down at all the money made from bets. She always wondered what she would do if she was that wealthy, perhaps she'd do as herself and Lottie planned, move to Italy.

But that was just a dream two little girls shared, for they both knew something as big as that would never become a reality for people like them. People associated with the blinders.

"Gentlemen," Thomas shouted as he made his way to the front of the shop, a smile on his face, which was unusual.

He caught the attention of everyone around, they all snapped their heads up towards him. Matilda, who was sat with her legs dangling off the edge of the table, she was curious as to why he had such a big grin on his face.

It was very peculiar for a man such as Thomas Shelby himself.

Tommy then held his hand out towards both Matilda and Polly, who were stood not too far away from one another. "And ladies. I have in my hand," he held a piece of paper up, "a legal betting license, issued by the board of control. The Shelby family has its first legal racetrack pitch."

The room erupted in cheers, with Polly's voice rising above the rest. Matilda, filled with joy, leaped off the table and embraced Polly, enveloping her and all her brothers in a massive hug.

It was a moment of celebration for them, marking the first time they had achieved something within the bounds of the law, even if it appeared insignificant at first glance.

"We're in business, Pol!" Thomas said as he pulled away from the hug, showing off the new licence the family had earned.

Matilda stepped back a little, it was a rare occurrence that her family were this happy, so she knew she ought to cherish it. A smile was on her face and she watched as Tommy spotted her, excusing himself from the crowd and making his way over to his youngest sister.

"Congratulations, Tom." She praised, nothing but pure happiness laced in her voice. Her brother pulled her into his embrace, holding her tightly as he cradled her head against his chest as if she was some kind of fragile object. "You deserve this so much."

He smiled down at her, before releasing her reluctantly, "you deserve the world, Tills. And I promise, I will be the one to give it to you. I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered.

💋🕯യ₊⋆ 💌 ﹪

The day so far had been a long one, a really long one. It turns out the small celebration held earlier was one of the only good things to come out of the day so far. Either way, a wedding was in action.

And no, it was not Lizzie and John's, though you may think that. Unfortunately— their wedding was off due to Tommy's cold ways. He had tricked the poor girl into thinking he wanted her service in order to see if her intentions were true towards his brother.

As he had expected, they were not.

But in Matilda's eyes she saw Lizzie as a young woman who just wanted a stable life— someone to love her, protect her, etc. Though, she couldn't help but laugh when John brought her up, natural instincts.

She knew she didn't want the life she had been given, the life of being known as a 'whore.' But that was her only option to get by.

If anything she felt pity for the poor girl. Lizzie Stark was a strong woman indeed, but even Matilda could tell she was hurting on not only the inside, but the outside as well.