Chapter 30 Amelia Ridley #2
“I think that Mr. Ridley . . . Excuse me, as this is all new to me.” He chuckled before continuing.
“That he would be elated to have a fully white child—and a male, at that—to, let me think . . . take over the Ridley Line,” he whispered loudly enough for her to hear.
Amelia felt everything crumble before her.
Everything she had worked so hard for, all the lies and secrets she’d protected.
It was all going to be a waste when Dale was done with them.
She knew there was some truth to what he was saying.
Father truly had no loyalty to anyone but himself.
She thought for once Father was going to have her and her siblings’ backs if she complied.
But with Dale being Father’s biological child as well, Dale would make sure they would have nothing if Father let him be in control.
Amelia paused momentarily, knowing that Dale Caimen was always doomed to failure.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the gleaming champagne bottle.
She kicked Dale between the legs, making him scream in agonizing pain.
“Oh, you little bitch, you’re gonna regret—”
Cloink. Dale fell to his knees on the ground.
He placed his hand on the top of his head, which was bleeding.
Amelia held the heavy champagne bottle, which she’d thought would have broken on his head but had instead stayed intact with its heavy, thick glass.
He stood up on one knee, bracing himself so he wouldn’t fall into the fountain. She hit him again in the same spot.
“It was always you . . .” His voice trailed off.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell, his head hitting the edge of the marble fountain and his body sinking into the water.
Adesua gripped her dress so hard in fear of the words she’d heard. It had been no accident. Amelia had murdered Dale.
“I love you, Adesua. You have to believe me. It was self-defense. He grabbed me. I feared for my life.”
The estate’s wide doors opened, and all their siblings poured out of the house, heading to the garden.
“What’s going on?” Amelia was confused by the ruckus.
“Father is having another press day for us. Reporters are already in the garden,” Omar called out.
Amelia was shocked to be hearing of it last, as Father usually told her everything first. Father had shown his true colors, making it clear that he would turn on all of them if he had to.
Yes, she was the favorite by far, but he had a meticulous reason for everything he did.
His springing another press day on them without her knowing was sure enough a sign that she could no longer follow in his footsteps.
It was hard for her, as she had been under his wing her whole life, to now turn against the man she and her siblings saw as a king who did no wrong.
Amelia was ready to play the games her father had made them play their whole lives.
She looked at Adesua as they both slid out of the car.
Amelia silently gave her a confused glance, as she didn’t know what was going on either.
The garden was beautiful, with six fountains going straight down the middle, whereas the mazes both had their own ponds and sitting area. If it wasn’t the place of Dale’s death, maybe she would have liked it more.
She didn’t know if Adesua believed her or not, but she hoped in her heart, after all these years of being a family, that she wouldn’t betray her.
They all stood front and center in the garden.
There were about thirty members of the press all waiting, writing down every breath the siblings took, every glance they gave, and every lie they were about to tell.
She was sure of it, but she wondered why Father had not prewarned them.
This concerned Amelia because everything her father did was so calculated.
Father took a step up onto the podium. Of course he was raised above them all as they stood next to him on both sides. Mother stood nearby, quietly, but she was there.
“Our family has been under an attack I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy,” Father said, forcing a tear.
“And this has troubled my mind recently, escalating my illness. My health has declined gravely to where I can’t ignore it any longer.
I can’t seem to remember things that are necessary for me to keep going for . . . I am not sure how much longer.”
Amelia hated seeing her father like this. She walked behind her siblings, heading to the podium. He looked confused and shocked as she stepped up onto the podium beside him.
“I will be handling all affairs until Father gets better. I do believe the constant pull and tug with the press revealing things about our family has exasperated him to no end. So please give us grace during this time, as Kavita, my beautiful sister, is in mourning over the tragic death of her fiancé,” Amelia closed out, thanking everyone for their time.
The press took pictures in a frenzy. She could feel the envious looks of her brothers Omar and Wei next to her. She didn’t dare look at Adesua. Father stormed into the veranda and closed the doors, and Amelia followed her father’s lead.
“Amelia Rose Ridley, how dare you embarrass me in front of all those people.”
Amelia looked at his empty eyes square on.
“I have lied for you. I have killed for you. I sure enough can lead for you,” she said in a single breath. “I will go to the board myself, because clearly you are not in your right mind. To hold a press conference without letting anyone know. Not even me? We can’t keep playing these games, Father.”
Father wept for the first time in years.
The last time was when Mother had threatened to leave, giving herself the upper hand.
When she stayed, his tears dried as fast as they’d dropped.
Amelia left without acknowledging his sadness.
All the years of her father’s corrupt actions would catch up with him sooner rather than later.
She wasn’t going to let this empire—her empire—fall because of his incompetence.
Amelia got in her Rolls-Royce, heading for Jamison at his family’s Hamptons estate.
She was informed by Elion that he had left in a panic in need of an escape.
From Kavita being kidnapped and now Father losing his damn mind, Amelia needed her escape, too, and her only form of peace was now Jamison.
No matter the issues that he had with his family, Jamison had always found his way back to her side.
Amelia walked up the long winding driveway at the Hamptons summer home, thinking of how different it had been when she was there with Jamison in the summer.
No longer were blooming flowers covering the driveway; now it was just fall leaves and brisk air.
There was only Jamison’s car in the driveway, so he must be home alone.
Amelia brought her hand up to the door to knock, but hesitated.
She smiled to herself. There was no need for formalities when he was home.
If they were married, she would have walked in without warning.
So that’s what she did. Amelia wanted to spook him like she had when they were young children playing hide-and-seek.
She silently giggled to herself, covering her mouth.
It was the first genuine laugh she’d had in months.
She walked to his room, seeing it was empty. He was more than likely in the library.
She opened the door to the grand library, seeing Mrs. Darla at the table with papers around her and red letters in the fire.
Amelia froze at the sight. She began hyperventilating.
Amelia had held her guard up for so long.
How had it come to this? Jamison’s eyes almost seemed hollow, as she could look right through them. She knew that she had been lied to.
“Mellie, oh no, Mellie, listen, honey,” Mrs. Darla said, falling out of her seat while trying to console her.
Mrs. Darla came up to Amelia, trying to brush down her hair with her hands and then cupping the sides of her face. She leaned in, whispering in her ear, “I promise. I promise on my soul I won’t tell anyone about Dale. You deserve a chance.”
This was a betrayal she hadn’t felt in her life.
“Darling, listen. Listen to me. We had no choice, sweetie.”
Amelia stopped crying and looked at her. “Everyone has a choice. Jamison, I can understand, but you . . . You, Mrs. Darla, you were my family.”
“Honey, I know. I am still family. You have no idea what your father has done to me and Mr. Jenkins. He has taken advantage of our kindness for years. My husband doesn’t know this, but our children, they lost their jobs.
We needed to provide for our grandchildren in some way, Mellie.
Your father barely gave us two pennies to rub together,” she cried hysterically.
Jamison sat there in silence. Amelia knew he wanted to disappear, but she was going to make him feel her pain.
“You, Jamison . . . I trusted you. You were supposed to be my future, and now it is all gone,” she said, frantic.
“No, it’s not, Mellie.” He stood up and came over to her.
“Mrs. Darla and I were burning everything before you came in here. The press offered us a substantial amount of money to find the exposé Dale had written about you all, but we waited and waited. Neither of us had the heart to do it. Which is why you are seeing all the papers in that fire. Because I love you.”
“But why, why would the press offer money? How did they know?”
Jamison looked at Mrs. Darla, seeing if it was okay to speak.
“We didn’t look deeply into the file before going to the press.
They told us if we gave it to them after you all gave your statements about the night of the murder that we would be offered an amount even you would have taken.
Mrs. Darla told me how Mr. Jenkins pleaded with Mr. Ridley for a loan, but he laughed in his face in return.
She was angry, with every right to be so, Mellie,” he said in a somber tone.
Mrs. Darla continued, “The more we found out about the secrets, the more we knew it wasn’t no measly scandal that Kavita had gotten herself into but that this was something that would put you all in grave danger.
We didn’t know if Dale had already said something to the press.
When everyone was in a commotion, I grabbed the file, and Jamison followed me out of the garden, demanding it.
Then we spent the time to figure where to go from there, and here we are now, burning it.
I did feel for Dale, but you seven are my children. ”
Amelia couldn’t think about love, but she did feel her heart soften for Mrs. Darla. She and her husband had raised her and her siblings. The least Amelia could do was provide for Mrs. Darla and Mr. Jenkins’s family, as they had done for her.
“For your loyalty, I will protect you and take care of you, Mrs. Darla. I am going to be leading the Ridley Line, so whatever salary you need to help you and your family, I will make it so. You have my word.”
Mrs. Darla got on the floor, nearly kissing the ground Amelia stood on, grabbing her legs and thanking her profusely.
She looked down at the maid with pity. Was this the power her father felt looking at others?
She knew she was slowly morphing into the leader of the family, and this moment settled it for her.