Was it so awful of her to want some semblance of freedom? A fresh start? She had expected much worse than she’d gotten. She’d expected, frankly, for her mother to kill her.
❝ Anywhere we want, mommy. We can go anywhere — and nothing will hold us back. We can start over. ❞ The edge of pleading in her voice was somewhat distant. Nowhere near the tears she usually shed under her mother’s angry scoldings. Cheryl felt… cleansed. ❝ We can… we can go to Paris. I always wanted to go back. ❞
She turned to look up at her mother. Plush red lips pulled up at the corners to form a sanguine smile. Soft and tentative. Scared it would be smacked off of her the moment she let it show. But she smiled anyway, because her mother was all she had left. And now, without the things, without the money and the home and the jewelry and the clothes. Now she was all Penelope had, too. ❝ Maybe New York. Where Veronica’s from. It’s nice there. ❞
A booming sarcastic laugh fell out of Penelope’s lips; the woman clapping slowly at her child’s words. So naive and yet capable of do such damage. Clearly all the money in the world hadn’t been enough to teach her daughter strategic thinking. It was clear why Jason had always been the one set for greatness, the one set to carry the Blossom last name through generations. Cheryl would grow beautiful, just beautiful and, luckily, e picked up by a man superficial enough not to notice her obvious personality flaws.
❛ You stupid child. You think that will be enough? You think we’re anything without our name, without
our wealth? You think you’re SOMETHING without it? You’re not. You’re NOTHING. Thanks to your
little act, the rest of our beloved family will come upon us like birds of prey. You made us WEAK, Cheryl,
you made us VULNERABLE! You wasted everything I worked for because of what? A tantrum? If only I
had known I was raising a MONSTER this entire time, I would’ve--- we’re not going anywhere. We’re staying
here until you suffer the consequences of your actions. Tomorrow you will go to school and you will be
regarded like that weak little girl who went crazy and burnt her house down because I, for once, aren’t
covering your tracks. ❜