( 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙔 𝙏𝙒𝙊. )
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THE MONOTONE VOICE OF Henderson Rosewood filled Jaylene's ears as she sat on a stool by the counter, picking at her breakfast with no desire to eat any of it. There was one thing she wanted in that moment, but it wasn't food. Ever since she smoked pot with Kiara and Sarah, she'd felt the desperate desire to pick up on her old habits again. She knew that she'd relapsed already by inhaling the toxin and chugging cheap beer that summer, but she didn't wanna get herself involved with hardcore drugs again. That would ruin her and she knew it.

If it hadn't been for the hunt for the Royal Merchant gold, she probably would've been in the gutter right now, drowning her sorrows with highly addictive drugs, but she was extremely thankful for the distraction that had stopped her from committing any sort of mistakes that she wouldn't be able to come back from.

However, now that the gold had finally been found, her brain felt like it was being clawed at as she stared at the medicine cabinet nearby. She felt taunted. And being forced to eat breakfast with her family didn't help in the slightest.

"I don't understand why you're still trying to act like we're some sort of picture perfect family." Nathaniel's harsh voice flooded her ears, instantly snapping her back into reality as she allowed the fork to fall onto her plate. It was a topic that was bound to be brought up at some point, but she expected it to come from her.

Looking upwards towards her brother, Jaylene uncomfortably shifted in her seat, bringing the cup of orange juice up to her mouth and taking a large gulp from it to help swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She knew that they'd have to discuss this sooner or later, but she didn't want it to be now. It was far too early in the morning to get into an argument. And considering that she had yet to tell Nathaniel that their mother was still alive, she couldn't help but feel guilty as she stared back and forth at everyone.

Henderson looked up at his son, eyes widened at the fact that those words were coming from Nathaniel's mouth and not Jaylene's. She was usually the one who initiated the arguments in that household. "Well, we obviously have a lot to talk about. And I hope you two know that I'm able to hold myself accountable for errors that I commit in the past—"

"You married her. So it clearly wasn't an error that you commit in the past." Nathaniel's voice rose as he mocked his fathers words, sending a harsh glare in Henderson's direction as the man allowed a guilty look to form on his face. "And the fact that you two can't bring yourselves to realize how fuc—"

"Nate, stop." Jaylene spoke up, not wanting him to say what she was thinking. "They're not even worth getting mad at anymore. It's like getting mad at children." Her tone was cold as she stood up from her seat, no longer wanting to be there.

"Seriously?" Nathaniel stared at his older sister in disbelief, annoyed because she had been the one who had gone out of her way to dig up the family secrets that had been buried a long time ago. "What? You're just over it now? You don't care that they've been lying to us this entire time."

"It was wrong. I'm able to see that. And I'm genuinely sorry for all the pain I've caused" Lorelei began to speak, earning two eye rolls in return from the Rosewood siblings. "But I need you to hear me out."

A sigh left Jaylene's lips as she gripped the plate in her grasp, tapping her nails against it as she looked in the direction of the woman. "I don't care if you two make eachother happy. None of this is getting resolved until you two split up and sign divorce papers." Jaylene brutally spoke. She knew that it was the last thing the married couple wanted, but it's what needed to happen if anything was gonna get better in that toxic household. "Because as long as you're still together, it proves that you aren't sorry for what you did. And as far as I'm concerned, you aren't my mother. I don't have to listen to a word that you say."

"Lorelei isn't leaving." Henderson quickly cut in, shaking his head at how blunt Jaylene was being. "We're gonna work past this. As a family."

"It should've been you and not her." Nathaniel muttered under his breath, loud enough for everyone to hear which automatically created a stiff silence in the room.

Jaylene's mouth was slightly open as she stood there, shocked that her brother had said something so cruel. She knew he was just as mad as she was, but he'd definitely crossed a line that she never would've gone close to. Maybe it was because she knew something that he didn't, but still, it was flat out cruel to say that to anyone.

Henderson was obviously hurt by the words that had been spoken. When they made their way into his ears, the color automatically drained from his face. He had known how disappointed his children were with his past actions, but he didn't think that they loathed him that much. He knew that Nathaniel was mad, but a lot of truth could be sensed in his words. It almost felt like he'd been waiting to say them for a while now.

"He doesn't mean that—" Jaylene tried to take back her brothers words, but he made his intentions extremely clear when he shook his head in disagreement.

"No. I actually did mean that." Nathaniel cut Jaylene off, throwing a harsh look at his father as he continued to speak. "You've hardly ever been a father to us. Jaylene nearly died under your very own roof because of how irresponsible you are as a parent. I mean, really, have you ever really been there for us? It seems like all you've ever cared about is how wealthy you are."

Jaylene took in a deep sigh, glancing towards her father as she parted his lips to speak. "He's not wrong about the second part." She admitted as she looked directly at Lorelei, who was at loss of words due to everything that Nathaniel had just said. "If you genuinely love my father, you'll know that the best decision you can make is to leave this home all together. This is an issue that we have to resolve as a family, and let's be honest, Nate and I don't see you as anything other than a home wrecker."

Lorelei couldn't deny how badly Jaylene's words had stung, but she swallowed the lump in her throat as she stood up as well. "I'm truly sorry for any pain I've caused."

"It's too late to beg for forgiveness." Jaylene shook her head at the woman, walking towards Nathaniel to lightly squeeze his shoulder before handing Celia the half eaten plate, giving her an apologetic smile because of everything that had happened.

"I'll tell Celia to help you with your bags." She heard her father say, causing her to automatically look in his direction, mouth gaped open in shock due to his sudden change of heart.

The older woman's eyes widened, completely taken back by the words that left her husband's mouth. She hadn't actually expected him to agree with Jaylene and Nathaniel. "You're kicking me out? That's ridiculous."

"I'm not kicking you out. I'm asking you to give my family and I some time to resolve these issues that we're facing." Henderson tried his hardest to keep a positive tone as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Lore, please. They're my children." He sighed, motioning towards the two teenagers who were equally as shocked as Lorelei.

"And I'm your wife! I'm a part of this family too, Henderson!" The brunette argued, clearly not being able to sense the tension in the room.

"Since when does being a home wrecker qualify someone to be a part of this family?" Nathaniel butt in, a snarky remark falling from his lips which earned himself two glares in return from the arguing couple.

Jaylene held back a snicker as her eyebrows shot upwards at the sudden sound of the doorbell ringing throughout the home, causing her to give everyone a quick glance before heading straight towards the front door to get away from the awkward conversation that was going on between her father and stepmother. She wanted to confront all the ongoing issues going on in her family, but not like this.

As she pulled the door open, a relieved look set itself on her face when she saw John B. stood on the welcome mat.

"Ready?" He questioned, earning a confused look in return as she glanced towards the arguing couple one last time before stepping out of the home and shutting the door behind her so that the shouting wouldn't be heard.

"What are you talking about? Ready for what?" She tilted her head to the side with a confused look plastered on her face.

"Yesterday I made a promise to you. Today I'm here to fulfill that promise." John B. explained, watching the confused look leave Jaylene's face as she remembered their conversation from the previous day. "But before we can do that, we need a blow torch."

Jaylene's expression immediately faltered, a frown set on her face as she shot him a weird look. "See, you had me, but then you lost me." She leaned against the front door as she slowly blinked. "What the hell do you need a blow torch for?"

"Well, we have to pawn the gold. And we can't do that if it still has the wheat symbol on it." He explained, referring to the three blocks of gold that he'd managed to grab a hold of yesterday. "So, what do you say? Are you in?"

"Of course I'm in. And if you're wondering whether we have a blow torch, the answer is yes, but there's no way in hell that I'm stepping foot into that house." Jaylene pointed towards the home that contained an arguing duo. "But I know someone who might."

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

"THAT'S FUCKING INSANE!" Sarah exclaimed with excitement as she looked towards Jaylene and John B., who had paid the girl an unexpected visit that morning, but she didn't mind. Plus, she was willing to help with anything, so she was more than happy to lend them the blow torch that her father kept in the garage.

"Wait, how do you plan on getting it out of the well? That's gonna require a bunch of equipment." Jaylene suddenly realized, flashing John B. a questioning look as she recalled how dangerous the whole situation truly was.

John B. began to explain Pope's idea as the two girls closely listened to him. Jaylene still wasn't entirely convinced with the logic they were going by, but she knew that there was no stopping it, so she simply nodded in approval.

"Hey." Ward Cameron's voice caused her to jump in surprise as he walked out of the home and in their direction, resulting in their conversation coming to a quick end. "What are you three plotting? Didn't even know you guys were friends."

Jaylene gulped at the sight of him, her stomach feeling uneasy, but she didn't know why. She'd met him a bunch of times, but something about him always caused her to grow intrigued. But instead of allowing him to grow suspicious with everything, she forged a smile onto her mouth before parting her lips to speak. "Yeah, we were actually making plans to go sailing tomorrow." She lied, her tone sounding extremely convincing.

"Really? Well, you kids wouldn't mind taking a rain-check, would you?" He questioned the three, earning confused looks in return before he continued speaking. "John B., I owe you an apology. You were an honest man who was able to own up to his mistakes and I shouldn't have fired you for that. So what do you think about going fishing tomorrow morning?"

Jaylene looked over at the Routledge boy as he struggled to mutter a single word. Then she looked back at Ward, but quickly looked down at the ground, catching a glimpse of the blow torch in her grasp which resulted in her holding it behind her back before he could notice it and question them any further.

"Dad, we told you that we have plans." Sarah shook her head, not quite understanding why a fishing trip was so urgent, especially when it had come out of nowhere.

"Yeah, Mr. Cameron. We just wanna enjoy what's left of our summer break before we head back to school." Jaylene added, hoping to convince the older man that John B. was unavailable tomorrow. She didn't know where the idea had come from, but she didn't even wanna find out.

"Sailing can wait a day, girls." Ward shook the two off, turning his full attention back towards John B., who kept his mouth shut. "What do you say? Are you up for it?"

John B. hesitantly nodded his head, earning a smile in return from Ward as he patted the boy on the back.

"Alright." Ward gave the boy a satisfied grin before leaving their sides and heading back into the mansion to continue with whatever he'd been doing before interrupting the three.

When Jaylene was certain that he couldn't hear them anymore, she looked towards John B. and Sarah, eyebrows raised in confusion. "That was weird, right?"

"Totally." Sarah nodded in agreement, letting out a deep breath that she didn't even know she'd been holding in.

"Sailing? Really, Jaylene? You couldn't think of anything better?" John B. spoke up, hoping to lighten the mood as she scoffed in response.

"It's extremely difficult coming up with a lie when you're put on the spot." She defensively spoke, bringing the blow torch back into view before handing it to John B. "At least I actually tried to get you out of that. Meanwhile, you looked like you were about to shit your pants."

"To be fair, Ward Cameron's extremely intimidating." John B. playfully scowled as he looked down at Jaylene, receiving an eye roll in return. "But I guess I'm going fishing tomorrow." He added, fist bumping the air in a non-enthusiastic way as a groan fell from his lips because that meant that they'd had to wait an entire day to continue plotting different ways to get a hold of all the gold.

"Maybe my dad will offer you your job back?" Sarah suggested, wanting to understand why her father had thought of the idea to go fishing. It didn't make any sort of sense.

"Yeah, she's right. Ward probably feels really bad about letting you go." Jaylene reassured him, tangling their fingers together before clearing her throat. "C'mon, guys. Let's stop over-analyzing this. We have a long day ahead of us."

authors note. I was going through writers block and hated everything I wrote, but I finally managed to write a chapter that I'm 100% satisfied with, so expect more updates soon! We're close to the end and there's still sooo much that's gonna happen! Stay tuned! :)