"Each day, money seems to be even more insignificant," -C.T

"What is this that I hear about you and Quino texting without Tomas and I?" 

I kept a straight poker face as I ordered more clothes off of my Macbook, seeing Vivi's face narrow as she stared through her phone camera. "I have no idea what you're going on about," I lied straight through my teeth as my computer dinged with several new messages from the poor boy. "You're lying," She hissed, but I could tell by the satisfied smirk that she wore that she was okay with it.

"What did he say?" She questioned and I chuckled, knowing that she would cave in sooner rather than later. I still hadn't told her what he confided in me about, and I wasn't going to. I didn't know if he was drunk or he was fully coherent, but I'd rather not pull a Sterling move and tell all of his important business to other people. "He was just sending me pictures of food from the restaurant where he works. I guess he wants me to try it," I shrugged, purchasing some new Armani cologne. 

"Are you going to?" I frowned at the thought of trying commoner food, but before we parted ways a few days ago, he made me promise that I was going to do better so that I could understand him more. 

I didn't get why he wanted me to understand him more. I was fine the way that I was. "...who knows?" 

"I'm happy you guys are becoming friends," She teased and I gave her a glare through the screen. "We aren't friends," Vivi rolled her eyes as if she didn't believe me. "Sureeee. Yeah, makes total sense to constantly text someone who's not your friend," She deadpanned, seeing right through me and I blushed slightly. "So did he have to grovel and beg for your number? I'm sure with someone as kingly as you, you probably made him jump through hoops and whatnot," She muttered and I shook my head, purchasing more things. 

"That's where you're wrong," She raised a brow, her mind inquiring as to what the truth was. "I was the one who asked him for his. He gave it to me too," I stuck my tongue out at her, satisfied with the way her mouth dropped open. "I can be nice too!" Though it took everything that I had in me to ask him for it. 

The phone fell silent for a bit and I thought Vivi had died of shock before I heard her let out a screech. "I'm so happy!" The clap of her hands drowned out the noise of the computer as I began to respond to his messages, oddly pleased with the fact that he had a response time of less than 30 seconds. 

Joaquin van Zante: So when are you gonna come down here and try some of this good food?

Cheyenne Thorn: Why are you assuming I'm gonna come to you? If anything, you're gonna be coming to me. 

Joaquin van Zante: Oh, is that right?

Cheyenne Thorn: You got anything to say about that, Mr. van Zante?

Joaquin van Zante: Nah. I guess I can work with that.

I snorted to myself, feeling Vivi's prickly gaze on me through the camera. "I've never seen you even grin like this," She pointed out and I frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about? I don't smile," The thought of doing such an action sickened me to my core. It wasn't like me to go around smiling, and I never had a reason to smile. 

"Stifle it," I grunted, not even bothering to let her get her words out. She was probably going to say something about the useless poor boy and I wanted to hear nothing about him. I liked to live a life of bliss denial. "But still..." She spoke with a sigh of trepidation as she bit her lip. "What are you going to do if your father finds out about him?" She whispered and I gritted my teeth, facing the fact that one of the reasons why I never dared to associate with people of the lower class was because my father could and would ruin their lives with a snap of his fingers.

He was the very businessman that he wanted to be: ruthless, dominating, cold-hearted.

"Honestly, I don't know," I stated truthfully. Whether or not he knew about Joaquin and Tomas, it didn't matter because, at some point, Sterling was going to make his mission to make life a living and breathing hell for everyone. 

"Right now, I don't care," It was getting to that point where I just ignored his presence. He was like that disgusting, hairy piece of gum on the side of the road, where the poor laid. He was becoming nauseating to be around because all he wanted to do was talk about his riches and his wealth. I liked to as well, but he took it past the point where money was the only thing that he saw. I was sick of it. 

I heard Cordelia call for Vivi on her end of the video and she slid me an apologetic look, waving to me goodbye as the call dropped. I sighed with a vengeance and stood up, cracking my back. All a sudden, a knock on the door echoed and bounced off of the walls and before I could even address it, the door was pushed open.

"Cheyenne."

Speak of the devil and he shall appear. "Sterling." I mocked with a fold of my arms, giving him the most uninterested expression ever. It wasn't hard because he naturally brought that part out within me.

I walked over, not wanting him to step even a foot inside my safe haven. "How can I help you?" I raised a brow, watching him scan me from head to toe, a sneer written all over his face. He looked ever as pompous in his blue suit, glasses pushed up on his nose as he looked down at everyone. 

He stepped in and then turned around so that I was in the doorway. He was silent as he ran a hand through his brown hair, his gaze cold and calculating. The air was rigid and tense as we stared eye to eye, not wavering.

Then he spoke.

"I don't know where that attitude of yours came from," He spoke up, referencing the other day when Christine dropped in. "But we'll have none of that," I rolled my eyes in disbelief, not hearing what he was saying to me. "Sure," I folded my arms with a scowl as he stepped past me.

"You'll do well to mind your tone and your business, Cheyenne," I caught the evil glint that he projected my way, a promise of torture if I didn't fall in step. "Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean?" Sterling was starting to look less like a father and more like an archnemesis. I couldn't stand the sight of him nor stand the way his voice sounded. He thought he was the shit, but he was just a pile of shit covered in money.

But he was cunning as he was terrifying.

"Just stay in your lane." He commanded in a dark tone, cutting his eyes one last time at me before he left the premises. A sliver of confusion and uncertainty coursed down my spine as I looked at the trail of smoke he left behind. The cold and bitter taste of resentment lingered on my tongue as I fought to stay composed. He thought that he had the upper hand over me, but I wouldn't let him have it.

I couldn't.

I made my move to go downstairs but all of a sudden, I heard a giggle that sounded awfully like Davina's coming from one of the guest rooms. I figured that she was making it her home in this fiery hell. I squinted my eyes, moving along in my Balenciaga slippers to where her voice was coming from. "I know, Stefan," She said with a sigh as if she was trying to quiet herself. 

"Okay, I'll call you later," She said with a giggle, one that I hadn't heard in so long and I blew air out of my nose, oddly impressed. She hung up the call with a smile on her face as she gazed longingly at the cellular device, not sensing me yet.

"Wow."

She jumped in surprise, her eyes narrowing in on me once she realized that I heard her entire conversation. She went to speak, but I jumped the gun. "That was Stefan, wasn't it?" I asked in a tone that let her know that she couldn't lie to me as I folded my arms, leaning against the doorframe. Davina straightened up her posture, placing her phone on the bed as she looked away from me.

"...yes."

She then pinned me with a stare that threatened to castrate me if I defied her or if I even spoke of this thing she had going on. I gazed at her, seeing the tiny bit of concern in her eyes as she studied me. Though as snake-like and venomous as she was, she didn't hesitate to berate and call out Christine when she showed up unannounced. I heard from Tara that she really defended me despite seeing her other child out of the blue. Maybe she wasn't as shitty as she liked to think she was. 

I clicked my tongue with a shrug of the shoulders, kicking off of the doorframe so that I could exit the room. Her stance was defensive as she expected me to call her out on her bullshit like I normally did. "...do whatever you like, Davina," I threw a hand over my shoulder as I turned around. I paused for a bit, teetering on whether or not I should take the step further. Maybe I should.

"Just make sure to be careful and wary of Sterling."

I didn't stay long to hear what she had to say because quite frankly, I didn't care. In this household, everyone had their secrets and everyone had something they were afraid of. I just stood my ground by distancing myself from everyone else.

I decided to go downstairs, feeling like I should be nice for a day and let our team of maids go home for the day. From what Tara has told me about her fellow friends, they were in need of sleep. Hm, maybe I'll summon some inkling of kindness into my soul. 

Before I could step onto the last landing to greet the marble floor, a nuisance blocked my path and I took a deep breath, wondering why the hell Christine was still here.

"Can we talk?" I furrowed my brow, wondering if that was really what I heard. Her blue stare bore into my person as she bit her lip, watching me step down to face her. "Correct me if I'm wrong," I clicked my tongue. "But did you just ask me if we could talk? Do you realize how absurd and stupid that sounds?" Christine jolted at the sound of my harsh voice, her lips coming into a pout. 

I almost want to laugh at how delirious she sounded because there was no way in hell that I was going to let her come back into my life now. 

"You do understand that no matter how much begging on your knees, no matter how much groveling, no matter how much you cry," My hands were waving everywhere, a sign that I was beginning to lose that small amount of control that I just gained back. The sting of tears burned at my pupils and Christine frowned, obviously sensing the pain that I was trying to hide. "Nothing will ever be the same? We could never go back to the way things were," I shook my head, knowing that the same bridge she pushed me off had burned down long, long ago. 

"I-I'm sorry," She spoke in her small voice, her gaze falling flat to the floor as she began to scratch at her arms, a habit she had before she left. The action did nothing but enrage me. "You're sorry?! Are you fucking kidding me?!" I was livid, and everyone else around me was going to know it too. 

The adrenaline was surging through my veins just as fast as the irritation and the disgust were. The anger was full-on coating my skin, shielding me. "You really think I give a damn if you're sorry?" I yelled, enticing the steps of Davina as she stood above us, her brows furrowed and contorted in pain. "Wow, I think the drugs might've affected your brain a little too much," I sneered spitefully, ignoring the way Tara came stumbling out of the kitchen, confusion following tow.

I didn't want her to see me at my worst, angry and yelling because there was no way that counting to ten was going to help at this point. 

"I understood the fact that you left because you didn't want to be bound by Sterling and his dumbass rules! Work for him, be him, whatever he says!" I squeezed my shaking hands, heaving out a shuddering breath as I seethed. "But what I could never understand is how you thought that I deserved that, that I wasn't worth enough for you to even try to bring me with you..." I didn't recognize this person before me. 

"I jumped in Sterling's fucking way to make sure that you didn't get hurt, and you repay me by forgetting about me?" She flinched at the venom in my voice, listening to it as it oozed the gritty timbre of wrath. "Not once did you ever try during these eight years to come back and save me," The funny fact about being betrayed is that it often came from people you thought you knew.  

I bit my lip so hard, it felt like blood was spurting into my mouth. The sting of tears became even more painful when the first drop fell, something that I never wanted her to see. I didn't want her to see how much she broke me. "I don't want your god damn apology, so you can take that shit and take it back with you to whatever hole you crawled out of." The chain of control that I had snapped into tiny pieces and by god, I knew I was going to snap.

She was starting to cry now and even if she was my older sister, someone I once looked up to, all of that was nothing but a vague memory.

My heart was heavy and it felt like I couldn't breathe. It hurt. "You might be my sister by blood, Christine Thorn, but trust and believe me, I'll never consider you to be family to me ever again." One might say that I probably overdid it, others might say I didn't. I thought I could get past it, but eight years was more than enough time and this house wasn't that protected. If she wanted to, she would've found a way. I know I would have.

I let out a trembling sigh, steeling my cold and rigid glare. It wasn't the fact that she left because even I would've done the same to avoid the entangling spider web that was Sterling Thorn. But it was the fact that she didn't think enough of her own brother to come back.

"It was my mistake for ever trusting you."