Kendall Emeretta's orderly world is disrupted by the arrival of Wesley Archer, a threat who grins in the face of chaos. As her morals are compromised and ambitions blurred, will Kendall realise the art of maturity is more than a shiny new pair of Lo...
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A Richer Shade of Gold Chapter Sixteen
The following morning, Kendall was sat at the kitchen benchtop having breakfast when her father strolled in, empty coffee cup in hand, "The car place called. Your car is all fixed. I'll have someone pick it up later today."
"Oh good, I've been missing my car." Kendall replied with a content smile upon her face. Finally, her car had been serviced and fixed. She had been catching rides with Olivia or Xavier all week and while her father offered for her to be dropped off by their driver with one of the spare cars, Kendall felt like she would enjoy one of her best friend's company better. Besides, the trio often carpooled together to places.
"Also, Clarissa would like to discuss wedding details with you." William informed his daughter as he ran the coffee machine, placing his mug in the designated spot.
"Why?" Kendall asked with a roll of her eyes, "It's her wedding."
Her father shrugged and pulled his steaming cup of coffee out, pressing the button on the side and turning the machine off, "How would I know? Maybe she wants another female's opinion, maybe she wants the wedding as a bit of a surprise for me or maybe she wants you to get involved. I don't know, why don't you find out?" William Emeretta threw his daughter a pointed look before disappearing off and back to his study.
"I don't know where she is!" Kendall called out half-heartedly after her father as a last attempt to not associate with her future stepmother.
"Check the conservatory." He called back, loudly closing the door after him.
Kendall let out a groan and cleaned up after herself in the kitchen before leaving for the conservatory. "What is she even doing in here?" Kendall muttered bitterly and she walked through a hallway and up a few small steps. Kendall swung the dark oak door open and let herself in. "Clarissa?" Kendall called out monotonously.
The conservatory was a private place for Kendall. It was one of her favourite rooms in the house. There were shelves stacked full of both old and new books, some dusty, some not. There were ladders leading up to circular seats installed into the wall designed for reading. There were bean bags and lounges spread over the carpet and a cosy fireplace towards the centre on the wall opposite the three large windows. The three windows had cushions and blankets on them for anyone who might've wanted to lose themselves in a book there. When Kendall was younger, her mother would often read to her in the middle window seat until she fell asleep on her lap. In winter, they would snuggle under a shared blanket, watch the snow fall and read together, usually with hot chocolates by their side. So when Kendall laid her eyes upon Clarissa reading a tattered copy of a Jane Austen novel under a blanket in the middle window seat, Kendall was ready to rip Clarissa's messy auburn hair out.
"What are you doing?" Kendall asked her coldly.
"Oh, there you are. I was just exploring this spacious house and I found this!" Clarissa exclaimed as if Kendall didn't know her house. "Come and look! It's starting to snow!"
