The annoying charisma of Max Brown (Now published so sample size only)

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

To say the house that Ry lived in was overly ostentatious seemed an understatement. The place spread out before me in its gargantuan presence. It made me wonder why Ry ate all my food when he probably had his own chef in this place.

"Before we go in there I'm going to have to explain a lot of things." Max said as I stared at the humongous house.

"Why the heck does Ry always cry poor if this is his house?" I couldn't help but ask.

"This was my aunt's father's legacy. She can only live in this house. All of what you see she has to upkeep with her own money now. It was a part of the deal in the will. She didn't realise that the trust fund money for the house would run out so fast, but she and her first husband spent it on frivolous things and not the house. Nobody in the family wants to give them more money when they wasted millions of dollars on lavish things that they now can't afford."

"Millions of dollars?" my words choked me.

"That was in the beginning when Ry was a kid. My aunt spent the money and now they have nothing but this huge place. It might look impressive but it's a money pit. They've hardly got a cent, let alone a possession to their name. She can't sell the house to reap anything back, so it all continues in this big circle. When she dies, the house goes up for sale and the people listed in the will receive an inheritance."

"Wow, I wonder if Carly knows any of this." I couldn't hide my amazement.

"Ry doesn't tell anyone about the truth of this place. He probably brought Carly here when he was trying to steal my life. Made him seem big and important."

"That's a lot of money to waste." I babbled as I stared out at the property.

"Yeah, it is. There's two more thing I have to divulge, so you don't looked shocked later when we're talking to Edith."

"I'm sure you can't shock me any harder." I told him.

"Edith is about seventy, and she had Ry late in her life. The man she bore Ry with ended her marriage because he didn't want children. He left the moment she mentioned the pregnancy."

"That sucks."

"The second thing is that she lives for reading erotica, and I mean the really raunchy stuff. I made the mistake of glancing through one of her books, and I could never look at her the same way."

"I'm not sure that I want to meet this woman now." I shook my head.

This trip only grew more dreadful with every word that fell from his lips. I always knew that Ry was a bit askew, and now I knew where it came from, his mother. The last thing I wanted to do was to meet this erotica loving elderly woman.

"That's why the story of how we met will work with her. Plus, she loves me. Sometimes it's in a sweet aunty way and sometimes it's kind of gross, so prepare yourself." Max warned me.

"Ewww, why did I let you talk me into this?" I complained.

"C'mon, Honey Bee, you can't get out of it now." Max strode towards her door and I followed with a growing sense of reluctance.

Stepping up to the fancy entryway, I realised that the paint had started to peel, the wooden door had warped out of the frame, and bugs were creeping though the walls. It stole the rich ambience from the place and made it appear seedy.

Max held out a hand to me. I paused before I grasped his. I really was getting close to dreading coming here with him and we hadn't even walked through the door.

"I'll keep you safe from her, don't you worry, Honey Bee." He said before he raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.

The innocent older lady who answered the door surprised me. I hadn't expected someone quite so angelic looking. She had her silver strands of hair tied up into a neat bun. Her knee length, modest dress didn't flaunt anything it shouldn't either.