1st November, 15 days until the banquet.
The wind blew through Candace’s hair as she knelt, gently making sure the flowers were arranged just right- placing twelve of them around the memorial.
“Hey mom… it’s me again.” She brushed her hand across the front of the tombstone, freeing it from the dirt and dust it had collected in the year since she’d been to the cemetery. “I miss you… Happy All Saints’ Day~”
Alecia St. Clair - the memorial read- In loving memory . This was the twelfth such All Saints’ Day in a row that she had come to see her mother, and it never got easier for her- each November 1st just brought with it another poppy to decorate her grave with.
“I hope you don’t mind me rambling, you know… sometimes it feels like you’re the only one who actually listens to me.” Candace smiled, brushing her flowing blonde locks out of the way, now quite a bit shorter than they had been the previous year. “We just got back from the church, the service was really nice… you should have been there!!”
Candace giggled to herself, keeping a smile on her face as she reminisced with her mother. She never cried on these trips, it just didn’t seem right. Today was a day of celebration and honor, not mourning.
“Good news… that girl I told you about- Chloe- she’s safe. It turns out that Claudia ended up buying her… she saved her life. I love her for that.” Candace put her hand to the gravestone, trying to hold her mother like her mother used to hold her, one hand on her shoulder. “Oh yeah- Claudia and I have been talking again… she let me meet her family, I have a niece now… and I have my sister back. You were right, she finally did open up and support me~”
Candace turned around just briefly, enough to look back at Claudia leaning against the car. Claudia wanted to visit with her sister this year, but Candace needed some time to herself first.
“We’re going to be seeing Daddy soon after this, to try and talk to him about some stuff, but… enough about him-” Candace turned back to her mother’s grave, trying to remain upbeat and positive. “Claudia came to see you… her and I are going to watch the Wizard of Oz tonight, just like you used to watch with us… remember?”
Candace realized she was talking to a memory, but it felt natural to ask even if she knew her mother couldn’t answer, it didn’t bother her at all.
“Lilith told me about you and her… about how she let you go… how she left you with dad.” Candace smiled, reaching forward and protecting the flowers from a gust of wind threatening to blow them away. “Maybe one day you can tell me about her~”
A slight frown overtook Candace’s otherwise happy facade, remembering how she did the same thing with me. After months of keeping me to herself, she had let me go- all because her father wouldn’t let her keep me.
“I guess what I wanted to ask is… was it worth it?” Candace was on her knees as she asked this. She took after her mother in a lot of ways, but she didn’t like to kneel, she was supposed to be above it- except with her parents. There might not have been anyone else in the world who respected Alecia St. Clair like her daughter did, but Candace loved her just as much as she loved her father. “Did you regret just going along with what they told you? What would you do if you had the chance to do it all over again? Would you fight it to be with the girl you love… or would you make do?”
Her frown completely painted over her lips, sunglasses nearly blowing off of her face thanks to the wind. Candace couldn’t be more miserable, and it showed.
“Should I fight it, mom?” She choked back any signs of weakness, remaining steadfast and willing to do anything. “Or should I make do… just to be with her?”
Candace, of course, got no response from her mother’s grave… and the silence spoke volumes.
“Hey.” Candace turned around to hear her sister’s voice, now standing right behind her. “I’m sorry… I couldn’t stay away any longer-”
“It’s okay.” She smiled, making room for Claudia to sit next to her, which she did. “We just finished up~”
Claudia smiled nervously, looking over her stepmother’s grave. This was surreal to her, returning to the spot where she rested after so long.
“Hey, Alecia…” Claudia choked back a mouthful of emotion as she spoke, overtaken with grief for the first time in a long time. “Hey, mom… how’ve you been?”
Candace giggled, rolling her eyes at her older half-sister, which brought a smile to the older girl’s face. “I’ve never heard you call her mom before.”
“I know… there’s a lot of things I should have done while she was still here…” Claudia bit her lip, wiping tears out of her eyes as she read the words on the plaque. “I should have been at your funeral… I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”
Candace watched her sister slowly break down into tears, and she let her have that. Claudia felt a gentle hand on her shoulder as she sobbed, appreciating the warmth of her little sister’s touch.
“Thanks for taking me to see her, Claudia.” Candace brushed her sister’s hair out of the way, planting a single kiss on Claudia’s cheek. “I’m ready to go see dad whenever you are~”
“Yes, please-” Claudia chuckled, taking her sister by the hand as they both knelt there. “Give me a minute with mom and then we’ll go.”
“Whatever you say, Mistress-” Candace rose to her feet, shooting her sister a wink as she turned towards the car. “Don’t let the flowers blow away~”
Claudia forced a smile onto her face for as long as her sister could still see it, her expression quickly souring the moment she was out of view.
“Sometimes I wonder if she really is your daughter, you know…” Claudia quietly whispered to her stepmother’s tombstone. “She doesn’t have that submissive attitude you have, just a deep abiding hatred of herself… and an ungodly amount of persistence.”
Claudia couldn’t understand how someone like Candace could be so headstrong and difficult to break. She’d tried everything, and she just couldn’t get her little sister to bend. From what Claudia had seen from her little sister, she was completely incapable of being submissive.
Candace could do as she’s told, but she couldn’t submit.
“I didn’t even know there was a difference, mom.” Claudia frowned angrily, gripping her cane as hard as she could. “I thought submission and compliance were the same thing, but they’re not…”
She growled under her breath, lamenting how unfair it was that she couldn’t get her slaves to properly obey her. What was she doing wrong?
“I don’t think any of them are really submissive to me, mom… they’re all submissive to my wife… to Josie…” Claudia frowned, hanging her head in defeat. “If I can’t get Candace’s dumb dog to listen to me… am I really in charge here?”
Claudia paused, pondering her last question over in her head without letting it leave her lips- not wanting to entertain the thought of it out loud.
“I miss you, mom…” Claudia placed her hand against the grave, just once. “I didn’t mean for you to die, I was just angry… I’m sorry…”
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“You’re making me go through the servant’s entrance?” Candace was almost offended by her older sister’s insistence, even if she knew that a deal was a deal. “You’re not serious, right?”
“We’re here to convince Daddy to let you off the hook, remember?” Claudia stood between the entrance to their childhood home and her little sister. “You’re not really my servant. We’re actors right now- father needs to see you like he saw your mom, that’s how we’ll convince him to forgive you~”
“I guess so…” Candace blushed, turning her head towards the side of the house, where she knew the servant’s entrance was located. “I just don’t see how me serving at your party is going to help get dad off my back.”
“It’s simple, honest.” Claudia grinned, twirling her cane in her hand just once. “Once father sees that you can submit to me, he’ll remember how good you are at doing what your family says, and then he’ll forgive you- it’s foolproof~”
Candace sighed, hanging her head in agreement. It was gross how right Claudia was about the whole thing- knowing that it was her job to do as her family said, that was the price of freedom for her.
Meanwhile, Claudia was going to use the front door.
“Good morning, dad~” Claudia let her father kiss her on the lips as she arrived- as her way to say hello. “How’ve you been?”
“Busy.” He smirked, rubbing her lower back as he helped her inside. “I’m glad you came, it feels like I never get to spend time alone with you.”
Claudia frowned, following her father inside of his office to visit. “Actually, Candace and I have been needing to talk with you-”
“Candace?” He almost seemed shocked to hear her mention the name. “You and your sister are talking again?”
Claudia put her hands on her hips in annoyance. “Yes, father. We’re talking again.”
“And how’d you manage that?” He smirked, turning his back to her as he walked to the back of his office to pour himself a drink. “What- did you kill that girl she loves so much?”
“Hey…” Claudia bit her lip, hanging her head just slightly. “That’s not funny.”
“Neither is finding out that public enemy number zero traded in one of my daughters for another.” He pulled out his chair and sat down, sitting up at his desk. “I assume that’s what you’ve come all this way to talk to me about- not to catch up and have lunch with your dad- to talk about this Chloe girl, because apparently she’s just that important.”
“We can talk about whatever you want to talk about, dad.” Claudia sat down across from him, a frustrated scowl on her face. “If you would like to just sit down and visit, we can do that instead.”
“Thank you.” He smiled, leaning back and taking a sip of his drink. “Believe it or not, I do love when my family comes to visit, Claudia- and I do love my daughters both equally.”
“Yeah, sure- equally.” Claudia shuffled in her seat, rolling her eyes at that. “We both know Candace is your favorite, dad. It’s okay-”
“Claudia.” Cardinal sighed, setting his drink down on his desk in front of him. “It’s not always about you, it’s about the family.”
“It’s always about the family.” Claudia rolled her eyes, finishing his thought for him. “I know.”
“Then I’ll cut to the chase-” Cardinal put on a straight face, sitting up in his seat. “Candace isn’t going back to that god forsaken sport, she’s going to focus on the money- and that means debt collecting. I’m not sending her to your mother’s party to have fun, I’m sending her to do a job. She goes in, she gets the work done, and then you two are free to canoodle however you’d like.”
“And Leah?”
“She returned your precious tape to you, caught the mouse girl, and has been nothing but helpful around here. I think she deserves to have a nice night at your mom’s party- without being bothered.” Cardinal frowned, finishing his drink and slamming the empty glass down on his desk. “Have you destroyed the parcel yet?”
“Destroyed the parcel?” Claudia seemed shocked to hear him suggest it. “How could I destroy her, she’s-”
“Oh for the love of god, sweetheart. That VHS tape is not your stepmother. I gave it to you to punish you, not for you to horde in your closet for your entire life.”
“But it’s a part of her!!” Claudia shot up from her seat, slamming her hands down on the table. “It’s the last piece of her we have!! Mom was keeping it for herself but now she’s back!! We have her!!”
“Well then do me a favor while you’re at it- and get your mother’s death on tape too.” He stood up, somehow looming over her despite being physically shorter than his own daughter. “Keep it however long you like, I don’t care. But if you let that tape fall into the wrong hands one more time, so help me god-”
“Yes, father…” Claudia frowned, slowly seating herself in her chair below him. “No one will see it who’s not supposed to… I promise…”
“You almost destroyed this family, you know.” He frowned, slamming his own burly hands on the desk to intimidate her. “You were going to be my heiress, Claudia. I wanted you to take over after me.”
“Yes, Daddy… I’m sorry…” Claudia swallowed nervously, her heart dropping in her chest. “I brought Candace with me…”
“Of course you did. Because it couldn’t just be about you and me, it had to be about something else-” He turned around and poured himself another drink, finally sitting back down at his desk. “I’ll send for my servant to go fetch her.”
“It’s always about the family, father.” Claudia smiled nervously, trying not to let her father’s words discourage her. “I want you to give me another chance, please. I really do want to lead this family.”
“I can’t just hand over the reins because you want them, Claudia.” Cardinal sighed, swirling his drink in his hand. “I need proof that you’re worthy of it. You have to show yourself capable of controlling your family, and you need to learn how to listen to me- without question.”
“And I can, Daddy. Please…” Claudia took a deep breath, keeping a determined smile painted onto her face. “Let Candace play her silly game, I can keep her under control for you.”
“Oh yeah?” Her father smiled, intrigued. “And how are you planning on doing that?”
“I’m glad you asked.” Claudia grinned eagerly. “Let me show you~”
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“What a load of fucking-” Candace cursed under her breath as she made her way around the outside of the house, towards the servant’s entrance in the back. “Horseshit. Fucking horseshit.”
It was always a sick game for her family, using Candace as a test subject for some sort of experiment, like she wasn’t a part of this family too.
Candace was this family, more than anyone else- it wasn’t fair for her to have to go in through the back like this.
“Alright, open the door.” Candace pounded on it with her fist, already sick and tired of this charade- going along with what she’s told for the sake of the family. “It’s Candace-”
“Yeah, I know. I can recognize your voice- even through a door.” Candace was surprised to see Leah open the door to the servant’s wing of the mansion, holding it open and helping her dear friend inside. “It’s almost like your sister is treating you like your mom. Wow, shocker.”
“Leah?” Candace stepped inside, her mother’s hand-me-down dress swaying as she walked. “What are you doing back here?”
“I’m answering the door.” Leah opened and shut the door once to demonstrate. “You know- the one you were pounding on?”
Candace just crossed her arms in annoyance. “I meant back here in the servant’s wing, Leah.”
“I don’t live here, if that’s what you’re asking.” Leah smiled, rolling her eyes. “Right now your father has me employed as an enforcer… not that he has any slaves to enforce at all, at least not at the moment.”
In contrast to the shambled mess of a woman she had been just last weekend, Leah looked really nice tonight. Candace wasn’t used to seeing her in anything less than a stylish zip-up hoodie and a leather jacket over maybe a nice looking pair of tights if she was lucky and jeans more often than not, but the sheek silver a-line really suited her somehow.
“I can see you staring, honey, it’s okay. Look at me-” Leah grinned eagerly, giving Candace a little twirl to show off her new style. “I did it. I really did it. I finally made consigliere. I’m your father’s right hand~”
Candace had never seen Leah quite so happy, and it was a long time coming. After such a long time of working her way upwards, Leah deserved this promotion. Her curly brown hair bounced slightly with excitement, her dazzling blue eyes glistening in the light, a stunning pearl necklace swaying back and forth at her neck. This was the position Leah had been gunning for her whole life.
“Move over, Benjamin- it’s your widow’s turn to rock and roll!!” Leah was kind of a dork sometimes, especially when she was as excited as she was, Candace had hardly seen her this happy since Leah was her babysitter. “This is the top of the world, Candace- I’m royalty~”
“Oh my god, Leah. That’s amazing!!” Candace smiled, taking Leah by both hands and allowing the overly excited woman to spin her around in a circle. “I’m so proud of you!!”
“Yeah, I’m proud of me too. First my father, then my husband, and now-” Leah let go of Candace’s hand as she spun one last time, her heel clacking against the floor as she stopped herself. “Me~”
“Congrats, Leah. You really deserve this.” She giggled happily, proud of her friend for reaching such a high position after so long. “I don’t think Daddy’s ever let a made woman become consigliere before- you should be proud of yourself.”
“I’ve long since proved my usefulness to your father, believe me.” Leah gestured around to the entirety of the servant’s wing, kept in pristine condition. “Who else do you think is doing all the work around here?”
“You mean Daddy doesn’t have any servants for you to enforce- so he’s making you do it all for him?”
“We’re too busy right now, Candace. It’s time to target the big fish!!”
“The big fish?”
“The other made men- the family guys- you know!!” Leah seemed overly giddy at the chance to participate in something so shady. “Rich assholes your father has let slide for too long, it’s time to collect, and he wants us to be the ones to do it~”
“Us?” Candace paused, blushing slightly. “What do you mean us?”
“Well- Lilith isn’t going to be around for much longer- which means your father’s going to pick a new underboss, right?”
“You act like Lilith has actually done anything as underboss since the two of them split ways-”
“That’s the thing, Candace.” Leah took her by the hand and squeezed it, looking her in the eyes. “Miss Mariam’s been leeching power from the family as underboss for almost three decades now- once she’s gone there can finally be real change around here~”
“I can tell that you’re excited, but you’re talking like a little bit of a madwoman right now.” Candace urged Leah to slow down and explain herself a little more. “What does this actually mean, Leah?”
“Your father wants one of you to be underboss, Candace. If you want, it could be you, me, and your father all the way at the top-”
Candace’s heart squeezed in her chest at the sound of that. In theory, moving up was supposed to be a good thing, but right now it sounded like anything but. Becoming her family’s underboss wasn’t what Candace wanted- what Candace wanted right now was Chloe.
What Candace wanted right now was me.
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“Thank you, Leah. You can get back to work now~” Cardinal smiled at his assistant, waving her off once she’d delivered Candace to her father. “As for you two, have a seat.”
The pair of sisters seated themselves next to each other on a sofa in the back of the office, per their father’s instructions. Not one of them could really remember the last time the three of them had been alone together in one room- because it hadn’t happened since Candace’s mother passed away.
“Yes, Sir. I’ll get back to my very important work right away~” Leah was the only one to respond to him as she headed back out, leaving her boss and his daughters to their fate. “Good luck, girls. Play nice for once- make Mama proud~”
Leah winked as she closed the door, but unfortunately Candace and Claudia were too nervous to appreciate her encouragement- even if it did get a smirk from their father.
“So- your older sister ended up buying your slave.” Cardinal kept his eyes fixed on the door out of the lounge, talking directly to his youngest as he leaned back against his desk. “How did you make that happen?”
“I didn’t make anything happen, Dad.” Candace’s immediate response was to protest and defend herself. “Do you really think I would go behind your back to save her after you explicitly told me to get rid of her?”
“I don’t know, Candace. Does that sound like something you’d do?” Cardinal crossed his arms at his chest, rolling his eyes. “You wouldn’t- I don’t know- go behind my back to kidnap your archrival to save her life when I explicitly wanted her dead and buried, would you?”
Candace’s eyebrows furled in rage, wanting to rip her sister’s cane straight from her hands and beat her father over the head with it. “You showed him the recording?”
“Of course I did.” Claudia frowned, trying not to look at her little sister. “He deserved to hear it.”
“And what about the part where I’m trying to impress you, huh?” Candace immediately turned back to her father, very nearly shouting in his face. “I kidnapped and enslaved her on my own for you, dad. I wanted to show you what I can do. I can take control of a situation by myself!! I can be in charge!!”
“It’s not about taking control, it’s about listening to me!!” Cardinal finally snapped, shouting at his daughter for her blatant display of insolence. “It’s about obeying me and doing as I say!!”
“Oh yeah- because that’s what an heiress is for!!” Candace snapped right back at him, completely fuming. “It’s not about finding someone you can trust to actually do the job when you’re gone, it’s about having a sickly little puppy who’ll do exactly as you tell her to, even after you’re dead and buried!!”
Cardinal just smirked, staring his own daughter down with a less than amused look in his eyes- clearly ready to knock her head off if she couldn’t control herself. “I’ve told you this already, I want her gone. I will not let you see this girl anymore, and that’s final.”
“Daddy, please?!” Candace clasped both of her hands together, practically begging for a second chance. “I will do anything to be with her again, I swear!!”
“Then do as your sister says, and don’t complain.” Cardinal shook his head, backing away from the girls and back towards his desk. “She belongs to Claudia now, so if you know what’s best for her- you’ll let her be and move on.”
“You mean-” Claudia’s eyes shot up excitedly, her heart pounding in her chest. “I can keep her?”
Cardinal brought his drink to his lips, nodding to Claudia’s question. “Yes.”
“I can keep her… You mean Chloe, or-” Claudia nervously glanced towards her little sister, Candace, still standing up beside her.
And her father’s eyes followed, glaring down his youngest daughter before returning his gaze to his eldest. “Yes.”
Candace’s mismatched eyes- meanwhile- went wide with disgust, frantically hopping back and forth between her sister and her father. “You can’t be serious…”
“Consider this your punishment, princess.” Cardinal finished his drink, setting it aside on his desk as he stared at her, still unamused. “If you don’t want to do as I say and work for your position, you can join that girl you want to be with so badly- which makes you your sister’s problem, not mine.”
“That’s it- if I’m not going to listen to you, you just don’t want to deal with me?” Candace’s jaw practically dropped, her arms crossed at her chest. “You’re just going to give me to my sister- like a slave?”
“That’s what I did to your mother, isn’t it?” Cardinal’s eyebrows furled, staring his youngest daughter down with a straight face, warning her- threatening her- with further punishment.
“What?” Candace’s weakness showed its skin the moment her mom was mentioned. “What did you do to my mother?”
“When your mother stopped listening to me-” Cardinal grinned, seeing how much this was getting to her without even needing to lift a finger towards her. “I gave her to your sister.”
Candace’s heart dropped in her chest, her skin beginning to crawl. “You did what?”
Claudia was as shocked to be hearing this from her father as Candace was, not because she didn’t know it to be true, but because she knew it to be secret. “Daddy?”
“I love you, princess.” Cardinal smiled towards her, genuinely and warmly, believing every word he said to be true. “And I will be more than happy to go right back to spoiling you once you learn to listen, just like I would have done with your mother. But until that happens, you have to realize that you can’t get away with this kind of thing.”
Candace lowered her head in defeat, realizing that there was nothing to gain from fighting it. Her father ruled her entire life, top to bottom, this was his way of smacking her back in line. Cardinal was just trying to scare her, he didn’t actually expect Candace to agree to being her sister’s slave- he expected her to immediately apologize and go back to doing as she was told. He was just keeping up his smug poker face and playing his hand- he was bluffing.
And Candace was more than willing to call his bluff.
“Yes, Daddy!! Whatever you say!!” Candace forced a great big smile onto her face, making sure to be as cheerfully and obnoxiously agreeable as possible. “I’ll be very good for my big sister. It’s just too bad that you won’t be at Miss Mariam’s party to see me serve. But if I have to listen to someone, I’d rather it be someone who actually cares about my wants and needs- like Claudia~”
Candace watched with smug satisfaction as her father’s poker face melted. His eyes went wide, his smile faded away, and his eyebrows both raised in genuine concern. That was the look of a man who wasn’t exactly getting what he wanted- in more ways than one- but even if his bluff was being called, he was still willing to play his hand.
“So be it then.” Cardinal scoffed, relaxing into his seat. “If that’s your decision, you can wait in your mother’s room while my daughter and I keep talking.”
“Very well-” Candace turned on her heel, starting her way out of the room as quickly as she could. “I love you, dad.”
Hearing his daughter say that certainly brought a smile to Cardinal’s face. “I love you too, Candace.”
The moment Candace was out the door however, his face told a different story.
“Alright then, here’s what I need from you.” Cardinal turned his attention to Claudia, which his eldest daughter was more than willing to finally receive. “You want a second chance, so I’m going to give you a second chance.”
Claudia’s deep blue eyes sparkled with excited gratitude. “You mean it?”
“You’re my daughter, Claudia. I would never cut you off completely.” For all his flaws, Cardinal had one thing going for him, he loved his family. “Show me that you’ve learned from your mistakes and follow my directions very carefully.”
Claudia couldn’t be more ecstatic than this, licking her lips hungrily. “Yes, Sir- what do you need me to do?”
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Candace angrily stormed her way out of her father’s office, heading down the hall towards the servant’s wing, where her mother had been forced to call home for much of her life here. She knew her childhood home like it was her own, but that didn’t make it any easier to navigate.
The private slave quarters she had shared with her mother as a child slowly crept closer, somewhere she hadn’t stepped foot inside in over a decade. It had been a nursery when Candace was born, when her mother was made to share a room with her child until Candace got her own room, subsequently becoming her mother’s quarters.
She stopped in the hallway just outside her mother’s old room, right in time to watch some cute redheaded maid sporting a pretty sick purple streak in her hair step out of her mother’s old room and turn towards the servant’s entrance, heading out to do some work outdoors.
Honestly, if Candace didn’t know better she’d think of following her, but she didn’t have the best track record with redheads.
It was surreal to be stepping inside of this room again after so long, knowing that this was where it had happened.
The lightly decorated bedroom was just the way it had been too, and now that Candace was an adult she realized that it was actually quite big for a slave’s bedroom, her mom had been treated like royalty.
Before she had the chance to even notice it was occupied, Candace heard the light in the attached bathroom click off, watching the door slowly slide open.
“Oh, hey…” Leah blushed, nervously closing the door behind her, smiling awkwardly towards the other woman. “Didn’t hear you coming.”
Candace frowned, smiling politely as she continued inside, towards her mother’s bed. “I didn’t realize someone lived in here.”
“Don’t worry, no one does.” Leah continued to smile awkwardly, gently approaching the otherwise untouched bedside. “It was just the closest restroom.”
“And dad’s new servant?” Candace sat on the other side of the bed, her back turned to Leah. “Where’s she been sleeping?”
“New servant?” Leah raised a confused eyebrow, tilting her head just slightly. “Your father doesn’t have a new servant.”
“But she was just in here.” Candace frowned, noticing the still baffled expression on her friend’s face. “The redhead girl?”
“This is news to me.” Leah let off an unbothered shrug, standing up from bed and straightening herself out at the mirror. “I must have just missed her.”
“Just barely, yeah.” Candace frowned, her hands curling into the edges of the bedsheets. “She looked a bit like… you know who.”
Leah frowned, glancing towards Candace’s reflection in the full body mirror. “Like Chloe… you mean?”
“What, no. Not her-” Her hands curled in even further, practically tearing the sheets apart in her fingers. “I meant Riley.”
“Riley…” The reflection of Leah’s eyes lowered in shame, not wanting to look towards the other woman. “Right, her…”
Candace said nothing more than that, her eyes transfixed on the fancy belt still clasped around her waist, decorated with intricate spikes, rivets, and buckles.
“If you’re waiting for me to apologize for that, I’m not going to- I’m sorry.” Leah’s eyes fluttered closed as she took a deep breath, and when they reopened they were right back to staring up at the other woman in the mirror. “It was to keep you out of trouble, I was just following your father’s orders.”
“And that meant you needed to kill her?” Candace stared her in the eyes, aimed straight towards Leah’s reflection in the mirror. “There was no other way?”
“I am what I am, Candace. I can’t do much, but I would do anything in my power to protect you.” Leah spun in place, abandoning the mirror entirely as she returned Candace glare, filled to bursting with a dazzling amount of unashamed confidence. “I was following your father’s orders the only way I know how.”
“You are what you are…” Candace blinked first, her confidence quickly failing, breaking eye contact with Leah as she stared her down face to face. “Because giving my father what he wants is always going to be more important than what I want.”
“Yes.” That single word was the most resounding to ever come out of Leah’s mouth. “And you can’t condemn me for that… after all- You’re the same way.”
Candace’s heart filled with an inalienable sense of dread, her whole body shuddering with regret. “Like father, like son…”
“No, Candace.” Leah smiled warmly, quickly rounding the bed and taking a seat next to the younger woman. “Like mother, like daughter.”
Candace blushed, smiling ever so slightly at her friend’s words, lifting her head up in time for Leah to gently place a kiss on her forehead.
Leah frowned, placing one hand on Candace’s shoulder. “I take it things with your father aren’t going so well?”
“I can’t be with Chloe anymore…” Candace hung her head in defeat, grabbing Leah’s other hand for support. “Daddy won’t let me see her.”
“This is a mercy, Candace.” Leah smiled, taking the chance to squeeze Candace’s hand. “If he didn’t love you, he wouldn’t have let her live in the first place…”
“But I was the one to save her.” Candace could feel the tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, not wanting to let them out. “If I hadn’t gone behind his back in the first place, she wouldn’t still be alive-”
“And that means you’ve accomplished something no one else has.” Leah smiled, almost proud of her friend. “You managed to tell him what to do~”
Candace actually giggled at that, wiping the tears from her eyes with her other hand. “Thank you, Leah.”
“I know you don’t agree with everything I do, but I want you to know that I’m doing this for you. I was here before Tallie, before Aria, before Malcolm… and before Chloe. I’ve been here longer than anyone else, and I’m always going to be here for you.” Leah’s gentle blue eyes sparkled just a bit, clearly tearing up more than a little. “I love you, Candace.”
“Oh my god… Leah…” Candace bit her lip and smiled, the tears rolling down her cheeks. “I love you too…”
“It’s going to be okay.” Leah smiled, gently releasing her firm grasp on the other girl’s hand as she stood up. “Know that whatever you do, it’s going to be okay, I have faith in you.”
“I know what I have to do.” Candace smiled nervously, taking a deep breath in and then out. “If it means I can be with her again, I know what I have to do…”
The two of them sat in near silence for a while before Candace’s father finally returned for them both, his eldest daughter in tow.
“I don’t suppose you’ve managed to talk any sense into my daughter, Miss Watts?” Both of his feet stayed firmly planted outside of that room, refusing to take even a single step inside.
“No, Sir.” Leah rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “No such luck, unfortunately.”
“Well I applaud your efforts.” He smiled just slightly, giving Claudia a kiss goodbye. “Leah has her orders, and you have yours, don’t let me down.”
“Yes, Daddy.” Claudia nodded, grinning proudly. “You can count on me.”
“Sir, can we maybe talk about the whole kissing your kids on the lips thing?” Amazingly, Leah seemed to be the only one even a bit bothered by it as she began to follow her boss out. “It’s kind of grossing me out-”
“Oh don’t get your panties in a twist, Miss Watts.” Cardinal chuckled quietly, his fingertips grazing the hem of Leah’s skirt as she stepped past him. “You’ll understand when you have kids of your own~”
Leah paused just outside the door, her eyes turning in to give Candace one last smile of encouragement before she got back to work. “Yeah… I’m sure I will~”
“As for you girls- take care, be safe.” Their father gave them both an equally warm smile before following his assistant out. “I love you both, don’t forget that.”
“We love you too, dad.” Claudia smiled, waving them goodbye as she saw them off. “Right, Candace?”
Candace simply watched her sister’s eyes rest upon hers expectantly, giving in and returning her father’s smile- at Claudia’s behest. “Of course…”
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The two of them settled into the back of Claudia’s unmarked black cab together, letting her driver take them where they needed to go, leaving them to themselves in the backseat.
Candace vacantly stared out the window as they drove. “So what did you and father talk about in there?”
“A plan for you.” Claudia had this smugness about her as she said it, holding back all of the menacing little details. “You and Chloe both~”
“You’re going to use her against me, aren’t you?”
“Calm down before you jump to conclusions, please.”
“Fine.” Candace angrily gave her sister the side eye, her face still pointed out of the window. “Go on, what is it?”
“Daddy promised you she’d get to live, and for now he plans on keeping that promise.” Claudia gave Candace an eager smile, scooting across the backseat towards her. “Daddy says that you can work for me, and I can take over your section of the family.”
“And what would I get out of that?”
“You’d get to be with her.”
Candace shuffled in her seat for a moment, softening up towards her sister as she got closer. “What do you mean?”
“Chloe belongs to me now, obviously.” Claudia smiled, setting one hand on Candace’s thigh and rubbing her gentle skin up and down. “As Daddy and I negotiated, there are two options. You’re mine until you’re ready to go back to working for and obeying him, or… you’re mine forever.”
“That’s not fair-”
“It’s not supposed to be fair.” Claudia’s grasp tightened onto Candace’s leg, digging her nails into her sister’s skin. “You’ve already proven yourself to be incapable of controlling a single slave, father isn’t going to give you that power anymore. At least not for a good… twelve years or so… but I’m sure you’ll get a second chance eventually.”
“So what, I’m just supposed to do as I’m told until then?”
“Look, Candace. Daddy doesn’t expect you to actually agree to belonging to me, he’s using it as an ultimatum. Daddy expects you to make what he thinks is the sensible decision- and go back to doing exactly as he says…” Claudia took her other hand and gently tucked two fingers under Candace’s chin, tilting her head up ever so slightly to look at her big sister. “But I am giving a choice, I am giving you the opportunity to be with her again, if that’s what you want…”
“How?” Candace desperately locked eyes with her sister’s, her legs trembling in Claudia’s grasp. “If father won’t let me see her anymore, how can I be with her?”
“That’s simple. All you have to do… is follow me~”
Claudia’s eyes drifted closed before Candace’s as she watched her sister tilt her head to the side, pressing their lips together. Candace felt her eyes doing the same as she returned her sister’s kiss, melting into it like a hedonistic moth to a killer flame.
It took Candace a great deal of willpower not to break the kiss first, but she pushed through it until Claudia was satisfied, signifying her hesitant submission to her sister’s desires.
“Now that that’s settled-” Claudia smiled, her fingers still lightly pressed to her sister’s chin as she sat up. “Let’s take you home for the week~”
Candace nodded, relaxing back into staring out the window as they made their way back to her own lonely mansion. “I’ll see you next weekend, right?”
“Of course you will.” Claudia smiled eagerly, admiring her little sister beside her as they continued on into the sunset towards her home. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world~”
Claudia waved goodbye as she saw Candace back off to her house, dropping her off at the doorstep and heading back out for the night, returning back the way they came.
She sighed, watching the mansion shrink in the distance as they continued on, the light in her eyes fading significantly. “Take me to the plantation.”
Claudia’s wedged heels clicked as she stepped out of the car, strutting across the pavement and into the facility where she worked- the very same slave plantation she oversaw.
But before she could even step inside, there was an unexpected guest waiting for her up front.
“Josephine?” Claudia frowned, quickly hurrying to her wife’s side. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?!” Josie scoffed, taking one stride towards her wife- and smacking her square across the cheek. “What are you doing here?!”
Claudia reeled backwards from the slap to the face, her cheeks glowing ever so slightly in embarrassment, rubbing her sore skin as her eyes nervous made contact with her clearly quite angry wife’s glare.
“It is one thing to go out without telling me- but to leave for the whole day without once telling me where you were?!” Josephine was practically seething, her face bright red with anger. “I don’t care if we’re separated- you can’t just ignore my calls and texts, I’ve been worried sick about what’s going on!!”
Claudia frowned, extending her arms towards her wife in an attempt to help calm her down. “Josie, please- calm down.”
“And the worst part- I wake up this morning and Chloe is just gone.” Josephine crossed her arms at her chest, backing away from Claudia’s touch. “What did you do to her?”
“As if it matters what I did to her, you didn’t want her anyways.” Claudia grumbled in frustration, clutching her cane tight in her hands. “She belongs to me, remember?”
“She’s a part of this family now, Claudia.” Josephine stomped her foot, trying desperately not to just bark into her wife’s face. “She belongs to us.”
Claudia snarled, pointing her cane accusingly. “There is no us-”
“Yes there is!!” Claudia instinctively raised her cane in self-defense as Josie stepped towards her, just in time to watch her yank it away and toss it onto the ground between their feet as the other woman grabbed her by both hands. “And don’t pretend like there isn’t!!”
Her single shield thrown to the wayside, Claudia froze in her wife’s grasp, unable to move a muscle against her out of sheer terror. The only movements she could manage were the slightest attempts to escape her clutch, but even those did nothing against Josie’s superior strength.
Claudia blushed profusely as her hands trembled in her wife’s palms. “Y-you’ve gotten stronger?”
“Claudia, I’ve always been stronger than you, remember?” Josie frowned, locking fingers with her wife. “I’ve just been off my hormones for a while, so my muscles have probably just gotten bigger-”
“You’ve been off your hormones?” Claudia’s eyes went wide with shock. “Since when?”
“Oh, I don’t know- since long before you got Chloe- Why does it matter?” Josie gently pulled Claudia closer, trying to ease her fears. “I’m still me, no matter what chemicals I’ve got pumping through my loins~”
“B-but I got you those hormones so that you could be a woman…” Claudia nervously stepped closer and closer, stepping over her cane and towards her wife. “I took over the plantation so that you could be a wife-”
“Yeah, well I’ve been thinking for a while…” Josephine smiled nervously, kicking the cane to the side completely as Claudia got nearer. “And I want to go for a hail mary.”
Claudia blushed as she felt Josie’s hands release her own, too close now to move as she watched her wife grab her by the waist and pull her close, refusing to let her go… and Claudia’s hands instinctively found their way onto her partner’s firm shoulders for support- her chest bubbling with a feeling she hadn’t felt in years.
Claudia’s eyes slid shut and stayed there as Josephine pressed their lips together, a fiery blush overtaking both women’s faces- embracing each other in a passionate loving kiss.
And it took nothing at all for Claudia to keep with Josie until her wife finally pulled back. “I want to have another baby.”
Claudia’s eyes shot open, a shocked and furious growl making its way out of her as she took her wife’s shoulders and she shoved her backwards.
“No!!!! Absolutely not!!!!” Her face was red not with a blush, but with anger as she scooped her cane off the ground, clutching it to her chest in self-defense. “How in the world could you think it’s a good idea to have another baby right now?!?!”
“Because I’ve wanted this for a while now, Claudia…” Josie stopped, standing back from her wife as she raised the cane like a weapon. “Why do you think I didn’t have an anniversary present for you?”
Claudia’s eyes softened just a bit, lowering her cane as she came to the realization. “You mean…”
“I wanted to surprise you with it.” Josie blushed, smiling excitedly. “I’ve been off my hormones for months because I wanted us to be fertile again. We were in a good place, we were ready for this, and then… things fell apart… and I didn’t know what to do.”
Her whole body tensed up at the thought of being pregnant again after so long, her vulva throbbing against the inside of the harness she wore around her waist, hidden beneath her clothes at all times to keep herself chaste just in case. Claudia was nothing if not a faithful wife, or… husband.
“I’m sorry, Josephine. But this is not the way to fix things between us.” She sighed, deciding it best to give up the thought of it altogether. “I can’t carry children anymore. I’m the husband now, that’s not my place.”
“I can’t carry children either, Claudia. You know that I would if I could, but I can’t.” Josephine hung her head in disappointment, biting her bottom lip and posing to make herself look more attractive to her. “If this isn’t the way to fix it, then I’m sorry… I don’t know how to fix this-”
“But you do, Josie!!” Claudia thumped her cane against the ground in frustration, which never for a moment frightened her spouse. “All you have to do is listen to what I say and be a good wife-”
“I’m trying to be a good wife, Claudia.” Josephine didn’t even shout, there was no point to it anymore, it wasn’t going to get the other girl to listen to her anyways. “Do you think I sit around all day and do nothing because I want to? Because I don’t.”
Josephine just eyed her wife, her face filled with an intense dissatisfaction with how things had been between them. Claudia was too stuck in her ways to change at this point, and Josie hated it.
“I don’t want to be your picture perfect housewife, Claudia. I find housework menial and boring, but you’re always too busy working to spend time with me.” Josephine resigned herself to just saying it, knowing that there was no point in holding it back any longer. “We could do this together. We could split the work between us and leave more time for each other- but instead I’m left at home bored out of my mind while you work yourself to death for what end, Claudia?”
“I am not the bad guy here, Josie.” Claudia’s voice stuttered as she spoke, having no proper response to what her wife was saying. “You were the one who wanted to be a wife-”
“No, Claudia. I wanted to be a woman. There’s a difference.” Josie frowned, shaking her head and stuffing her hands back into her pockets in complete defeat. “This is just like your father. You’re trying to back me into an ultimatum, threatening our marriage in order to get what you want, when that’s just not something I’m willing to give to you any longer… I’m sorry.”
Claudia’s heart shattered inside of her chest, losing all breath inside of her lungs. “So what… that’s it then?”
“Basically, yeah. If you don’t want to talk with me and find some sort of compromise that works for us both… I can find someone else to have a family with.”
Just the sound of that made her blood boil. Josephine was supposed to be Claudia’s woman, not her own woman. “Yeah, good luck finding someone willing to carry your children for you-”
“I already have, Claudia.” Josephine stared her down with a genuinely terrifying glare, with not even a touch of dishonesty sprinkled onto her words. “So if this is it, I will take my slaves and my plantation and we can part ways.”
Claudia paused, her grip tightening around her cane as her heart started up again. “Your plantation?”
“The plantation was given to me by my parents to run, and then I handed over the reins to you, because I thought it was what’s best- but it’s not.” Josephine gestured towards the building behind her before turning to Claudia’s driver, standing near his boss. “Who does this establishment belong to, Russel- do you know?”
The stoner driver Claudia always had drive her around chuckled at his boss’ misfortune, shrugging his shoulders. “Sounds like a Violet question.”
“Then please make sure my wife asks Violet when she gets inside.” Josephine huffed, turning away from Claudia and heading towards her own car. “And don’t worry, unlike you- I know how to drive home.”
“J-Josie, wait.” Claudia blushed, chasing after her as she began to walk away. “I didn’t mean-”
“Oh so now you don’t mean it?” She didn’t even bother turning back around to face her. “You’re fine with being like this but the moment I threaten to take away the plantation, you don’t mean it.”
“I love you, Josie.” Claudia was pleading now, following her all the way to the car, trying to keep her from leaving. “I’ve always loved you-”
“Of course you love me. I’m the best thing that ever happened to you.” Josie stared her right in the eyes as she got back in the car, shaking her head in disappointment. “You’re nothing without me, Claudia Rosegold Mariam.”
“You’re right. I’m not!!” Claudia swung the passenger door open and slid inside before Josie had the chance to drive off. “Everything I’ve ever done from taking over this facility to keeping this chastity belt tight between my legs I’ve done for you, Josephine. You’re right, I have nothing if I don’t have you.”
Josephine just sat there, staring into the rearview mirror to avoid her wife’s gaze. “What do you want, Claudia?”
Claudia paused, unsure how to even start with that question. “What do I want?”
“Out of this marriage.” Josie glanced towards her out of the side of her eyes. “What do you want out of this marriage?”
“I want to be a family again.” Claudia lowered her head, reaching out and placing one hand on Josie’s thigh. “When you first came out as a woman, I was terrified. I thought that there was no way things could work out between us, and then I decided to become the husband that you didn’t want to be… for us.”
Josephine smiled just slightly, her cheeks turning pink at her wife’s honest emotion. “Yeah?”
“It hasn’t been easy for me, Josie… it’s been really hard.” Claudia retracted her hand, curling in on herself. “I’ve been putting in a lot of really really hard work to try and be your husband, and I just feel like you haven’t been putting in a lot of work towards being my wife…”
“That’s not how this works, Claudia.” Josie frowned, her grip tightening on the steering wheel ahead of her. “We don’t need to be husband and wife, Claudia… we can both be wives.”
“No, we can’t. Because I need the structure that being husband and wife brings…” Claudia sighed, grabbing the door handle and opening it up. “Anything else is a dealbreaker for me.”
Josie sighed, turning away from her wife at long last. “Then I guess I’m a dealbreaker for you.”
“Yeah…” Claudia frowned, stepping out of the car. “I guess you are.”
“We’re talking more about this later, aren’t we?” Josie frowned, keeping her eyes on the dashboard. “You are coming home tonight, right?”
“Yes.” Claudia turned around and smiled, shutting the door behind her as she waved her wife goodbye. “I’ll see you at home tonight~”
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“Your wife is in fact right, Miss Mariam.” Claudia made sure to ask Violet her question as soon as she got inside. “The plantation does in fact belong to Miss Jacquel’s family, though curiously- it is still property of Jonathan and Dixie Jacquel.”
“That doesn’t help, but thank you.” She sighed, shrugging her aside as she stepped inside. “How was she today, you didn’t have trouble dealing with her, right?”
“Not at all, Ma’am.” Violet smiled, looking up from her clipboard as they walked towards the holding chamber. “She very graciously surrendered herself to being restrained actually, it was pretty painless.”
“That’s good.” Claudia nodded, seeing the chamber approach just up ahead. “Can I see her?”
“She’s yours, Miss Mariam.” Violet grinned eagerly as she grasped the door handle, opening up the chamber for her. “You can touch her if you’d like~”
“And I will.” Claudia smirked, moving past her and through the doorway. “Hello, Chloe~”
I of course wasn’t able to hear a thing they were saying until they opened up the door, watching in terror as Claudia stepped inside with me. My hazel eyes nervously flickered upwards towards her, the chains keeping me in place rattling as I shook.
“I’m glad to see you didn’t do anything to cause my assistants problems.” Claudia snickered at me. “Did you?”
I whimpered through the hard black bit gag stuffed into my mouth, chains still clunking as I shook my head desperately, completely unable to speak.
“She’s actually been really tame, especially compared to how she is at home.” I heard Nell’s voice from just outside the cell, remembering that they’d been here all day to watch me. “Helps that she’s totally locked away in there, though.”
“That’s good to hear~”
Thump . My whole world shook as she slammed the tip of her cane against the tile floor, the terror of it echoing between my ears.
“I’m sure by now you’ve met each of my three best assistants.” Claudia gestured to the man, woman, and enby behind her. “Chloe, this is Russel, Violet, and Nell. You’ve met Nell obviously, but these three together make up the bulk of my crew. Russel is my driver and personal bodyguard, Violet mans this plantation for me while I’m away- keeping the slaves here under control, and Nell is my enforcer at home- keeping my personal slaves in line while protecting my wife and daughter. Made men, all three of them thanks to me~”
I took a moment to bow my head in respect to all three of Claudia’s lackeys, trying to signal my submission to them and to her without words.
“Now that introductions are out of the way-” Claudia smiled, crouching in front of me as she reached behind my head, her cane in hand. “Let’s get that off of you, shall we?”
I lifted my head up, doing my best to help her ungag me, keeping my mouth shut once she was done- lowering my head to the floor and prostrating myself.
Claudia smiled, holding her cane up to my lips, its eyes already glowing red. “The confession, sweetie.”
“I snuck into your office when I knew I wasn’t supposed to, and I watched some of your VHS tapes without permission.” I already had scared tears in my eyes before I’d even started. “Thank you for not killing me, Master. I’m sorry. Your secret is safe with me, please.”
“There there, Chloe dear, it’s okay.” Claudia gently reached towards me, running her fingers through my hair like a caring pet owner. “You’ve used your one get out of jail free card. Bringing you here wasn’t a punishment, it was a precaution.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Tears fell from my eyes as I nodded my head, hands shaking in their shackles. “I won’t tell anyone a thing, I swear-”
“And I’m counting on that. Because if you do, then my mercy here will be for not, and you will become one of those tapes.” Claudia turned the recording off, tapping the side of the cell with her cane. “As you might have recognized from some of those tapes, this is the very same holding chamber where I execute disobedient slaves. This is where you’ll be sleeping for the next five days.”
“Yes, Master…” I bit my lip, struggling to hold back my tears. “I’ll do anything.”
“Since you’ve already seen everything, I haven’t much to hide from you anymore. As a general precaution to make sure you’re ready to listen to me again, you will be staying here at the plantation this entire week- not as a work slave- but as an office assistant.” She reached down, gently wiping the tears out of my eyes. “You’ll be right at my side throughout the day, spending your nights in this cell… and I will pick you up and take you home Saturday morning when I am ready for you”
I gave my owner a nervous but grateful smile, sniffling back my tears before any new ones formed, nodding my head in agreement. I could do this, I could survive through a week here without a problem. I survived living in a cell Candace put me in, I could do the same for Claudia.
“Once that is said and done and you leave this cell however, be warned-” She smirked, lifting my chin ever so slightly with the head of her cane. “The next time you step foot in this chamber, it will be because I’m putting you down~”