Chapter 1 Amelia Ridley #2
Amelia tried on dress options as Adesua slipped on her shoes.
Amelia zipped up her sister’s dress and marveled at her look.
Adesua was a timeless beauty, with her coiled black hair adorned with pearls and crystals.
Her onyx skin glistened as the falling sun shone through the window.
But as soon as Amelia glanced at the clock, her nerves began to set back in.
Downstairs, the staff and lead maid, Mrs. Darla, rushed to Kavita to help her as she stumbled out of the car.
Amelia caught the side-eye Adesua gave her, knowing they should go check on their wild-card sister.
They opened up the French doors to the balcony to hear the commotion.
Adesua caught a glance and could not contain her laughter.
“My God, she is falling over like a bull in a china shop,” she said, while Amelia seethed. All four Ridley brothers—Wei, Omar, Diego, and Henrik—stood on the porch beneath them, sighing as their irresponsible younger sister failed to climb the steps.
“Dammit, Kavi. How many times do I have to carry you up the stairs? You aren’t a kid anymore!” Omar said as he swooped her up.
She waved one hand at her brother and dragged ten shopping bags with the other. “Oh, my Mellie! My sweet, sweet Mellie. I got one helluva dress for ya tonight, hon!”
Omar was annoyed at her antics. “Why don’t you be quiet before Mother and Father find out about this?”
The other brothers had a hoot, sipping their old-fashioneds.
“Did you see what she was wearing? I’m certain that was a lampshade on her head!” Henrik, the youngest brother, exclaimed before gulping his drink.
Amelia rolled her eyes, listening to the ongoing foolishness her siblings were causing.
“Well, now the party has officially started with Kavi here,” Wei said.
“You know, Omar always says this is the last time he’s helping Kavita—but here he goes helping her again,” Diego remarked.
Wei raised his glass in a toast. “To our dear baby sis, Kavi, the life of the party, for better or for worse.”
Amelia met Omar at the top of the steps and brought Kavita to her room. He looked at her, lifting his eyebrows like she wasn’t his issue anymore.
“I don’t understand how Father and Mother let her leave the house after all these stunts she pulls,” Adesua said in amusement.
Wei chuckled with her. “Well, she sure knows how to keep everything lively. You know Father loves to argue with us about watching her.”
Kavita reached behind her back, struggling to unzip her dress, stumbling.
Amelia, exasperated at her attempts, swatted her hand away.
Kavita was then handed off to Adesua as she helped her into the tub.
They had a specific order of things even Kavita knew by heart, an order they had performed many times like a well-oiled machine.
The maids and Amelia frantically scrubbed Kavita down.
The aroma of alcohol permeated the whole room, prompting Adesua to pour rose and jasmine oils into the water.
Kavita started laughing like a madman, her speech slurred.
“Oh, my sisters, if you coulda seen those dashing men last night. The music was truly electrifying!”
Amelia scoffed. “Kavita, at every event, you do this. Do you realize you’re not just affecting yourself, but us too? Dusie and I are over this. You are about to be a married woman, supposedly, so act like it.”
Kavita was in another world, making a bubble beard.
“Well, shucks. I hear ya, Mellie. But I wish you could see how I feel.” Her eyes sparkled lazily as she smiled and started to speak, almost singing, “You know, on a beautiful night like this, I wish I could be a puddle of water from the rain being stepped on because I am invisible. No one would care to bother me . . .” Her voice trailed off.
“A nice night of rain will make me feel cleansed.” Her words hung empty in the air.
“Honey, what on earth are you going on about?” asked an apprehensive Adesua with a smirk of disbelief.
The maids scurried over with Kavita’s scented towel and gold robe as she clumsily jumped out of the bath. Amelia stepped over to her bed and held out a cup of coffee for her sister.
“Yuck, you know I hate black coffee, Mellie! Are you trying to kill me?”
Amelia pressed on with the hot coffee with a downward look. “Kavita, at this point, you have no room to talk. You need to wake up and get it together. We will not have you stumbling around the party like a fool.”
Amelia pulled out the black crystal gown with tulle trim for Kavita to wear.
“And you know what’s crazy, Adesua? You or I would be the ones to get in trouble for letting her come out acting wild like that.
Isn’t that right, baby sis? Now, why on earth would you miss our family interview today?
You know the press is going to have a field day over the fact that we couldn’t even come together for one hour. ”
Kavita closed her eyes, hoping it would make her vanish. When it didn’t, she took a few gulps of the bitter black coffee and revolted at the taste. “Oh, did I say how lovely you two look right now?”
“Oh, nuh-uh, you will not get—”
Wei walked in with Omar, following as the eldest brother would, and interrupted Amelia before another ruckus broke out.
“Kavita, you need to get in line. I’m tired of Mother nearly having an aneurysm over you every day.
If you don’t cut it out with your silly antics, your silly fiancé—and every man in New York—will run away from you. ”
Kavita let out a scream as if she were a toddler. “And what exactly do you know about getting a partner, huh, Wei? You are always so serious. No one knows how to have fun other than Henrik.”
Henrik and Diego, listening from the next room, began to chuckle. Kavita heard them and slammed her fist on the wall twice.
“Well, since everyone is listening, I might as well make a show out of it. Fine, I will sober up for you all. You want me to tap-dance for you too?”
Kavita stood up, waving her hands like a showgirl, and toppled over her feet.
“All you boys need to leave,” Amelia said with a steady authoritative voice. “Kavita is in no state to entertain your company. Leave this instant, before Father and Mother hear.”
The boys left, though Wei hesitated before finally relenting and leaving the room. Amelia closed the door and locked it for fear of any more shenanigans. She turned to see Adesua rubbing Kavita’s head, as she had fallen fast asleep.
“Okay, we can let her have a catnap. Oh, Dusie, what are we going to do with her?”
“I don’t know, but we need to find Mr. Jenkins to see if he has your—”
There was a light knock on the door. “It’s Mrs. Darla. I was able to take your dress to a local designer earlier to get it fixed. Her name is Ann Lowe, and I think you will be surprised.”
Amelia turned to Adesua with the biggest grin and jumped up and down.
The door opened to a dazzling dark-blue silk dress covered in crystals and sequins.
Amelia raised her eyebrows, taking in the intricate beading that traced the lines of the dress.
She could tell that Ann had sewn on every crystal with love and care.
The girls gushed over their outfits and then struggled to dress Kavita.
Somehow Kavita had mustered enough energy to apply a small red dot of kumkum in the middle of her forehead, creating the perfect bindi.
She still practiced Hinduism, although Father and Mother had them attend the Catholic church.
Kavita liked a mixture of both, but she held her peace.
The Ridley sisters strode to one of the rooms near the ballroom.
The moon ascended as if it were a spotlight on the Ridley estate.
Tonight would be an evening of escape, wealth, and the city’s finest. The final preparations had been completed, and everyone in New York held their breath, ready to witness a show that only the royal family of the grandest city in the world could deliver.
Amelia had a feeling that tonight’s party would be one for the books, unforgettable in every way.
She just didn’t know it’d be for all the wrong reasons.