New Heiress

When Bartholomew told Silver he would give her the key to his dynasty, she thought he was crazy. Then Mathias turned a year old, and he began the process.

“Aaron will teach you everything you need to know about the corporate world." Bartholomew declared, introducing Silver to the man who took her from a novice to the fearless woman she is now.

In a room full of people waiting to take turns at stabbing her, Silver wasn't scared.

Silver's lips twitched, but she quickly flattened them before a smile could escape. It wasn't time to stir the fire, she decided.

It didn't matter because Burke got on his feet and stalked towards her. Silver rose to meet him.

“What did you do?” Burke murmured, but his eyes were sharp.

“Don't talk to me, Burke, talk to Clem," Silver said confidently, refusing to break gaze with him.

She watched him breathe hard, his brows twitching as he studied her. She saw when he finally lost the battle of calmness; he shut his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them back with intent.

“You tell me how you got him to do this right this minute, or I swear, I'll…" Burke exploded, trailing off with a clenched jaw. His fist clenched tight by his sides as he restrained himself from grabbing the woman and snapping her in two.

He didn't see this coming.

Silver smirked and stepped closer to Burke; their clothes were now touching. One more step and they would kiss. Silver briefly entertained the idea and would have done it if she cared to make an enemy out of Burke's new wife.

“I think you know.” Silver whispered with a shrug, leaning into the narrative. It was how Burke saw her anyway; why not use it to her advantage?

"This won't stand! I…I won't allow it.” Burke sputtered, staggering back. He pulled roughly at his tie, struggling for breath. Cold sweat dropped from his forehead to his neckline, irritating his skin. Burke felt like he was dying.

How could his father have done this?

It wasn't enough that he screwed his wife; he had to screw him over, too?

“Ex-wife," a faint voice whispered in his mind, but Burke was too agitated to pay attention.

“I want to contest the will. This woman is a fraud; she must have done something awful to influence my father's decision." Burke said, yanking the document out of the lawyer’s hold. He read through it, and he saw exactly what the man said, but he wasn't satisfied.

“There should be a video. When did he make this? It has to be recent, and he had to have made a video, show me now!" Burke demanded, bending over Clem.

“Sure." The man said calmly, waiting for Burke to ease up. Burke sighed and straightened up. Clem stood up to walk towards the TV.

Within seconds, Bartholomew's face was on the screen, and his voice was playing too, confirming what was read.

Silver bit her lips to hide her glee. Sure, she expected chaos when the news broke, but the reality turned out to be a lot of fun. Now Burke knows how it felt to be betrayed.

“Out, get out of my house, you backstabbing whore!" Felicia yelled, jumping towards Silver to grab her. Silver sidestepped the woman, but she was determined.

She tried to touch her again, and Silver instead captured her hands, hoping to stop her. 

Silver had no love for Felicia; she never supported her relationship with Burke. Still, Silver respected her, and she hoped one day they could be cordial, for Mathias's sake at least.

“Stop embarrassing yourself," Silver said calmly.

“Get your filthy hands off my mother." Burke snapped, shoving Silver aside to reach Felicia.

Silver struggled to hold herself, but she managed to break the fall with Maya’s help. 

“Are you okay?" Maya asked in concern as she helped Silver straighten up.

"Are you crazy?" Burke's wife snapped, stalking towards Silver and Maya. She stopped in front of Maya.

“What is wrong with you? This bitch just screwed you out of your inheritance, and you're asking if she's okay? Who cares if she snaps her neck and drops dead?!” 

Silver kept quiet and waited for Maya to speak. 

“Malia, Silver's not like that. I'm sure there must be some misunderstanding. Right, Silver?" Maya spoke softly, gazing at Silver with trusting green eyes.

It breaks Silver to do it, but she shook her head and crushed Maya’s hope.

"No, Maya. There's no misunderstanding. I am here to claim what's mine.” 

“What's yours?! You must be out of your mind. You have nothing here. Get out before we call the cops!” Malia spoke again, and Silver realized she was going to be an enemy, after all.

Glancing at her, Silver worked up a bored tone as she spoke.

"Why? Are you scared your husband would no longer be able to buy you designer items and fund your lavish vacations?” 

Malia scoffed, pretending to be unfazed, but her flawless posture unraveled seconds later when she tried to slap Silver. Silver ducked her aim and shoved her aside like she weighed nothing— Silver wasn't sure that she did with how thin she looked.

She wondered why they were all resorting to violence.

“You people need help.” Silver huffed in irritation before taking a seat. She wanted to leave to give things a chance to calm down, but she didn't want to appear as though she was running. She needed a distraction.

Where was her mother anyway?

Now, in the background where she had always been, Maya slipped out of the house unnoticed, her heart beating fast against her ribcage.

Her father left her out of the will. Maya couldn't believe it. She didn't see it coming. And it wasn't that she cared much for the inheritance; she had a business of her own that was doing well. 

She was even happy that Silver was back, but it hurt that she wasn't included in the will. It hurt that she wasn't even considered; she wasn't an option!

She felt a strong urge to drink, and so she got into her car and drove off to get drunk.

In the staff room, Tatiana could no longer hold herself back from interfering, so she burst out and went to stop an argument going on between Silver and Felicia. 

“Enough," Tatiana said, but no one heard her. It was a madhouse now, and her daughter was the prey to three predators.

Felicia tried to grab Silver to drag her out of the house, but Tatiana wouldn't allow it.

“I said, enough!" Tatiana yelled, commanding silence.

It wasn't that the woman was entirely in support of what her daughter was doing, but she was her daughter, and she damn well was going to protect her. The Carringtons weren't saints, after all.

“My daughter hasn't come to claim anything that wasn't offered to her!” She snapped, pausing to look around the room. She continued when she was sure they were paying attention to her.

"Are you all shocked by the will? Yes. But this is happening, and you have to find a better way to figure it out that doesn't include violence, alright?

 Because this could easily escalate, one wrong move and a person could get injured, and the matter will no longer be about inheritance but how to evade jail.” The last part was an empty threat, but it got them all to calm down fully.

No one spoke for a while; they all sat and pondered the woman's words and their subsequent course of action.

But Silver already knew what she would do; she would fight like hell and wouldn't back down until she won. This was her son's right, and she wouldn't walk away. Not this time.

“There's one more thing, two actually." Clem broke the silence, and all eyes cleaved to him.

The man awkwardly shifted where he stood beside the TV before he pressed play, and Bartholomew's voice came on again.

“Silver and Burke are to stay under the same roof for 90 days for either of them to access their inheritance fully. If… “

"You've got to be kidding me, I'm not sharing a roof with her!” Burke declared, pacing to and fro.

Silver huffed, irritated by the outburst. 

"I'm not particularly thrilled about living with you either, so just tone down the arrogance." She snapped.

“What are you talking about? You have no right to be here! No one cares what you think or want. You are an intruder, leave!" Burke barked, hoping to strike a nerve, but Silver was impenetrable.

“I have as much right as your mother does to be here right now." She retorted.

"Why? Because my father married you so he could keep fucking you? Or you have his bastard child hidden somewhere, so you think you deserve something? Fuck you!” Burke said, getting in Silver’s face.

Silver flinched, taking a step back.

Tatiana ached to speak, wanting to set Burke straight, but she refrained.

In a corner, recovering from Silver's push, Malia watched Burke and Silver exchange words with a passion that defied logic. For years, she has had to beg for scraps of Burke's love because of Silver, and now she was back, not only to stay but also claiming wealth. Wealth that should be Malia’s. She won't let it happen, not on her watch.

Felicia stood up again, ready to kill Silver if that’s what it required to get her permanently out of her sight.

“You need to leave, right now. We've heard what the Will said, but you need to give us time to process.”

"What time? She's not getting a dime, Mom.” Burke interfered, but Felicia waved her son off, staring intentionally at Silver.

Silver finally nodded— not because she cared for Felicia or wanted to back down from this fight with Burke, but because her phone had been vibrating in her pocket for the past minute, and she was scared something had happened to her son.

“Okay, but I'll be back and I won't be without my luggage." She said calmly, Burke tried to speak, but Felicia shut him up with a glare.

Silver’s lips curve with a shaky smile, she jerked a nod and walked out with her head held high despite her inner war. She maintained calmness until she entered her car.

“Get me home, now!" She barked at the driver when she finally glanced at her phone and confirmed it was the babysitter. She received ten missed calls in just two minutes.

Something was definitely wrong.