T I M E - four days before the Golden Gala, 2016
L O C A T I O N - Zalia and Yasmine's apartment, kitchen
"It's all part of the game, like chess. Once you set yourself up as king, all the other pieces turn into pawns."
"That's not how chess fucking works," Zalia shouted, aggressively hitting the space bar of her laptop to pause the interview she was watching.
"You okay?" Yasmine asked as she exited her room and went straight for the fridge.
Zalia put her face in her hands, letting out a frustrated sigh. "No. If I have to hear one more Jumanji riddle coming from their mouths, I'm going to kill someone."
For a week straight, Zalia had solely been watching Youtube videos, interviews, news stories, anything she could in order to study her five suspects. But the one thing that irritated Zalia to no end was the fact that they didn't make an ounce of sense.
"What's the point of torturing yourself? Just study the files that Sorin guy gave you, and you'll be fine," Yasmine shrugged, taking two beers from out of the fridge and rummaging through the drawers for a bottle opener.
"I can't just do that. I need to study the way they act, their preferences, dating rumors, everything in order to get this case over with," Zalia stated in determination, her motivation to resume the interview she had been watching renewed.
Yasmine snorted, sliding an opened beer to Zalia across the counter. "Have you even asked your parents if you could go yet?"
"No... but they'll still let me go, right?" Zalia muttered unsurely, raising the bottle to her lips and taking a large gulp. "Oh my God, what if they don't let me go because I'm the family disappointment?"
"You're not the family disappointment," Yasmine reassured.
"I'm a forensic pathologist making $100K a year when I come from a family of billionaires. My dad's the owner of an oil empire, my mom a fashion empire. My brother's inheriting my dad's company while I chose this path instead of inheriting my mom's," Zalai recited monotonously. "I'm the failure."
"Damn, girl," Yasmine nodded, taking a sip of her beer. "You're the failure. You need to call them."
Zalia sighed, reluctantly picking up her phone and pressing the contact she hadn't called in months now. She nervously tapped her nails against the counter top as the dial rang.
"Zalia darling! How are you?" Her mother's voice called through the phone welcomingly.
"I've been alright. How about you and Dad? And how's Nik?" Zalia asked back politely.
"Oh, we've just been travelling around the world a bit before the Golden Gala. Right now, we're in Dubai!"
Once Zalia renounced her mother's fashion empire and her seat on the rich side of society, that also meant settling down, getting a job, and kissing annual world travels goodbye. Although she did miss learning about languages and immersing herself in the culture of different countries of the world, stepping down from the grips of the media and other socialites gave her more freedom than an airplane and a passport ever could.
"Speaking of the Golden Gala..." Zalia began, before rushing out in one breath, "could I possibly attend with you guys this year?"
The other line was silent for a few moments, until her mother started laughing shrilly. Zalia physically cringed away from the phone as her mother asked mockingly, "So you want to join the 'rich side of society' again? What's with the change of heart?"
YOU ARE READING
Epilogue
Humor❝oh, but darling. what happens during the epilogue is only the start. ❞ what happens after high school? Zalia, the sweet girl who everyone knew was going to be successful one day, comes to her high school's ten-year reunion as the antisocial and sa...
