“This is your responsibility, Tony” Ember said angrily into the receiver. Her fingers gripping tightly around the phone, she wanted to strangle him. Months of designing and planning has resorted to this. The day where she could finally show off her clothing collection that she named “Devine”, the day where she could make a statement to the world that she was more than meets the eye. She was more than just a spoilt heiress who leeches on her father’s wealth.


“I put you in charge of delivering my collection, and you had better do it,” she used her menacing tone. The van Tony was driving had broken down two hours ago and the tow truck was still nowhere in sight.

"The show starts in an hours time, it’s impossible …” Tony explained but Ember’s cold voice cut him off.

“The word “impossible” is not in my dictionary right now…” Ember was about to lose it. She was going to hire a hitman to wipe out Tony's whole family. What is a fashion show without the fashion? “If I don’t see my collection on the runway in an hours time, you can start digging your own grave, I swear…”


Heather raised her palm, signaling Ember to stop as she typed furiously into her blackberry. Ember had told her to "Do something!" when she first got the news from Tony and she had been busy with the blackberry every since, using every connection the Debateaus had. Ember knew that it meant Heather had nearly got it sorted out… “I just sent a chopper and they will get the collections from Tony,” she informed Ember calmly. Heather was like a robot, she was so good at her job even Ember gets envious sometimes. Ember could definitely understand why her mother had picked Heather as her personal assistant.


Ember ended the conversation. She stepped into the elevator wondering why couldn't she think of sending the helicopter in the first place.



“You told me seven o’clock,” James stated the moment he found Lois in their bedroom. He didn’t want to get blamed for something that wasn’t his mistake.


Lois grunted as she sat on the make-up table. “I told you that we have to be there by seven o’clock. Not come home and get dressed at seven. It starts at seven,” she shook her head, touching up her makeup. Ember will be out of her mind if she didn’t make it for the opening of her fashion show in other words the opening of her new career. It was amazing to see Ember put so much effort into something. She normally just do it halfway and hire someone to finish it for her. It was a miracle. What kind of sister is she if she didn't give her all the support she needs? “Trust you to be on time,” Lois muttered bitterly, thinking of how he would have ruined her relationship with Ember.

James was amused, “Wow… Look who’s talking?” he replied. He could feel a fire starting in his stomach, “Who didn’t show up for dinner last week?” he asked, using the same bitter tone.


Lois’s jaw dropped, “That’s a complete different story!” she got up from her seat to face him. “It has no relation to this at all! Why do you even bother bringing this up?” They’d fought about this when James returned home from the dinner. She remembered him waking her up from her sleep in the middle of the night and how he’d pulled the comforters off her body so violently. The first thing he said was, “Slept well my dear?!" Lois was bewildered and had called him crazy...


James obviously didn’t agree with Lois, “Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was? I was celebrating my promotion for god’s sake! Everyone was expecting you and when you didn’t show up… you should have seen the looks on their faces.” Lois’s absence made an impact on him that night. Why didn’t she come? Was the promotion too tiny for the president of Aces to show up and celebrate with her husband? James couldn’t help but feel belittled by his wife. The dinner was hell, especially when his colleagues brought up Lois. She can’t make it? Where’s the president? Too busy with Aces huh? Although they were just joking, James was offended. He entered the bathroom and Lois followed angrily.


“I told you, I wasn’t feeling well. The headache was so overwhelming, I could barely stand up!”

“But you could make it to work and stay there till late at night?” James asked the same question from a week ago.

“I had to finish some paperwork and besides I couldn’t drive home anyway!” And she repeated the answer to him.

“What about every other night?”

“It doesn’t make a difference when you work odd hours,”

“Why do you think I work odd hours in the first place?”

Lois rolled her eyes, tired of repeating the same routine everytime they fight. “Just shut up, James.”

oh! Quite intrested in this, like to see were it goes.

Wow, this really sucked me in I'm definently looking forward for the next chaper.

Joanna Debateau replaced the receiver gently, and she felt bothered by the manner Lois was speaking in. My poor daughter, she thought. She couldn’t help but heaved a sigh before telling her husband the news, “They will be late and told us to go ahead without them.”


Pierre snickered and shook his head disapprovingly, irked by their behavior. “Punctuality is vital in businesses. Doesn’t Lois know that? And here I thought that I taught her well,” he frowned.


“Haven’t you heard? James just got his promotion… and Lois has Aces on her shoulders,” she sat carefully on the couch, “they are just carried away by their careers.” She gave Pierre a gentle smile, “we went through that too, remember?” They did. Joanna remembered during the early years of their marriage. They were both in the prime of their careers. For months they’d forgotten that they were married to each other, passing by each other in the hallway without even acknowledging each other’s presence.

Pierre softened. In his eyes, Joanna saw that he was thinking of the past too. “I dropped a bomb on her, a year ago, didn’t I?” he said.


Joanna shook her head, “Lois? No, not on her,” she corrected Pierre, “You dropped a bomb on her marriage.”



Pierre and Joanna arrived at the scene at seven sharp. Guests were already filling up the showroom and everything seemed in order. Pierre spotted Ember entertaining her guests. A sense of pride grew in his heart. “Not bad, not too bad at all,” he told his wife, surprised. To let Ember learn, he had stayed out of her project completely, allowing her to make decisions and… mistakes on her own. He couldn’t help it; he can’t see Ember being a responsible or determined person. Sure, he loved his daughter, but he knew her well too.


Ember and Lois have such fortunate lives. They could have everything and anything they wanted. It was no surprise if they should grow into spoilt, ungrateful brats—exactly what Ember did.


Lois on the other hand, was the complete opposite! She was intelligent, hardworking and humble. The last thing she wanted was people to judge her by her family background. She refused to take over Pierre as the president of Aces at first. She wanted to be a lawyer, not a business woman but Pierre’s heart condition was going downhill. The doctor told him it was time to retire.


By the age of twelve, Ember was already queen bee in school. She was good at telling people what to do, but she can’t even lift a fork with her own hands! Pierre and Joanna had done everything they could to teach her to be like her sister. How could two biological sisters be so different? Pierre had thought at that time. Ember and Lois were living proof!


Ember’s chirpy voice interrupted his thoughts, “Welcome to my fashion show!” she spoke in a deep, playful voice, sounding like a happy kid, “Shall I give you a tour?” she offered after kissing Joanna and Pierre on their cheeks.

“Nicely done, honey,” Joanna complimented.

Pierre smiled, “You surprised me, darling, I didn’t know you had this under …” his voice trailed off. In the middle of the showroom stood Ronald Vander’ woods accompanied by his second wife and their daughter.


He looked again to be sure. This time, Ronald caught his eye and he gave Pierre a nod. “Excuse me, darling,” he approached the Vander’ woods. Joanna gave Ember an apologetic smile and followed Pierre.


Ember felt her palms sweating as she realized that she will have to face the music sooner than she had thought.



“Where the hell are Lois and James?” Ember yelled at Heather, bothered by what was going to happen with her father. The Vander’ woods were expected to arrive later! Pierre wasn’t supposed to notice them until the event was over. Ember had hidden backstage to avoid her father. The show was beginning in a few minutes, backstage was a living hell with all the models, makeup artists and stylist running around wildly. Ember had never seen such mess before.

And the collection did arrive safely, as promised by Heather.

“On their way,” Heather replied, working on her Blackberry again, some problems had arisen as the event proceeded.

“We are starting in seven minutes, oh my god; she just wants to ruin everything!” Ember blamed Lois. Lois was the president of Aces. Her arrival will cause havoc when the press photographs her and it will interrupt the show. Lois would steal the limelight too!


Ember extended her hand and Heather placed a cell phone on her palm, reading her mind. “Are you coming or not?” she threw the question coldly at Lois the moment the line was connected.

“I’m trying, the traffic is horrible…” Lois replied, “I’m sorry.”


“Thanks for trying.” Ember hung up the phone and thrusted it back to Heather. There’s no way she’d steal my limelight tonight! She thought silently for a while and then made a conclusion, “Inform the ushers that Lois will enter through the back door, and make sure it’s clear of paparazzi. And when she enters…”

“I know what to do,” Heather nodded, giving Ember her confirmation.

Ember was stunned at Heather's confidence and she nearly glared at her, “Great. Make sure you don’t screw up." She told her eventhough she was sure Heather wouldn't.

Great chapter! Can't wait for the next one

Sibling rivalry, parental intrigue, and lovely pics. Great start! I'm looking forward to more.

Wow, I'm flattered! Thanks guys, for the motivation!


Lisang

Nice... This is getting interesting. I wonder what happens next?

Ember couldn’t be happier after the show. It was a huge success. When the show was over, there was a standing ovation. She never felt more satisfied her entire life.


The troubles that were bothering her, she had forgotten until she realized Pierre and Joanna hadn’t congratulated her. She had scanned the whole room, but they were nowhere in sight. Heather who had noticed Ember’s concerns went up to her. “They left as soon as the show was over. Your father wasn’t feeling well.” Those words had crushed Ember’s heart.


“They stayed throughout the whole show right?” Ember asked Heather, her expression indecipherable.

“Yes, they did,” Heather reassured Ember and then excused herself as she saw Lois approaching them.

“Great job, Ember!” came James’s voice. Ember turned around to face her brother-in-law and her sister.


"Ember," gushed Lois, pride glinting in her eyes, "that was spectacular. I was at the edge of my seat! Well done!" If only you were Pa, thought Ember as a lump started forming in her throat.


She walked away without saying anything. All that she could think of was how to explain everything to Pierre. She knew he was furious at what she had done and that was why he had left so quickly.


She rang the bell and waited patiently for the butler to get the door.



The melodies to a classical music echoed soothingly in the art studio where Pierre was painting a vase with flowers. When he was younger, he painted during most of his free time. He was told that he was very good at it but Pierre was in for something bigger. He had more passion for the business world. And so Pierre pursued his dreams and painting was left aside. The business world demanded too much from him, his time, his strength, his health…


A year ago, Pierre had a completely unexpected heart attack. Pierre was signing a few papers when he felt a sudden discomfort in his chest area. Then, he felt a squeezing motion that was racing up his breast bone. It made him winced. Pierre had dropped his pen and lie back on his chair. The sensation continued up to his throat and then spread out into his jaws. His chest tightened and the air was squeezed out of his body.


He passed out after that.


The doctors had told him that he was very lucky. He should be grateful that it wasn’t his first and last heart attack what with his age and all. The whole family heard that. A week later, Lois had reluctantly accepted the position as the president of Aces. Pierre still possessed complete discretion over the company though, as the ultimate shareholder.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice Ember’s arrival until she greeted him. Ronald’s Vander’ woods smirk flashed by in his head, his gloomy mood returned. Pierre didn’t bother jumping around the bush with his daughter; he went straight to the point. “Did you make a deal with the Sunshine magazine?”

Ember saw this coming and she had prepared herself last whole night, “Yes.”

“You are aware that Sunshine belongs to Cassandra Vander’ woods,” he spat her last name out, spitefully, “Ronald Vander’ woods wife, right?”


“Yes. Can I explain?”

“I’m not done.”

“Alright, sorry.”


“You agreed to let them do a cover story on you and no other magazine could. In return, they paid you half a million, am I right again?” Pierre carefully brushed colours over his canvas. He didn’t wait for her to respond this time, “you just gave my enemy the story of the year.”


Ember chuckled, “No, I did not. Face it, Pa, our name might be worldwide famous but people are more interested in celebrity scandals… And it was a good deal, half a million dollars, way more than I had expected…”


“Exactly.” Pierre said sharply as he placed the palette and brushes down. “Exactly my point. Do have any idea why they offered you that amount in the first place? That’s because they are desperate. The Vander’ woods aren’t doing very well lately. Lois and I had worked so hard to put them where they are right now. In the last year, she had taken over most of their major business, expanding Aces in the way I had dreamed of.”


“Now that Ronald’s business is at the edge of the cliff, he is turning to his wife’s magazine Sunshine to seek recovery, financial wise. Sunshine will be bringing in the modals Ronald needs to recover his business. Sunshine could never be a huge success, they didn’t have the ‘it’ factor, unlike OK magazine or PEOPLE magazine.”


“But your story, you and your collection,” he paused for a breath, “the one you had publicized so dramatically for the past few months, which you had agreed to let Sunshine cover, is going to help them,”



He remembered how Ronald had smirked at him, telling him to thank Ember for making the deal with them last night. “They are going to put your name and my last name on the cover of the magazine and use it to sell their magazines. They pay you half a million but they are going to get so much more in return.”


Ember felt her eyes welling up. She could break the deal… No, she can’t. If she did, she’ll have to pay them an amount that will cover up their losses—which will equal the money that they’ll be making if she didn’t break the deal. It was written in the contract. So, it would't make a difference if she broke the deal. They would definitely ask for a snug figure that will help whatever problem Ronald was having. Damn it.


Ember was speechless. She just threw a rope into the pit which her father had thrown his enemies into, helping them to climb their way up.

looking forward to reading all the chapters.

Your characters/plot seem very well thought out. I got sucked right in.
I can't wait to see what's next!

Thanks yls and Montridge! I'll be updating soon, keep reading! :D

Whoa Ember screwed up big time. What now?

Yupe, she did BonnyLove! The update is a little late... my computer broke down but i just got it back! No worries! Working on it now! Stay tuned!

“Your father wanted her to make her own mistakes,” Joanna laughed sadly, “And there you go.” Pierre had told Joanna to inform Lois about the situation with Ember in the morning.

“I hope Ember will be okay,” Lois thought out loud. Joanna smiled. She was touched by Lois’s forgiving nature. Despite how discourteous Ember was towards her, Lois would always find a way to overlook it and forgive her little sister.


“You’re a good sister,” Joanna told Lois.

“Too bad she doesn’t think so,” Lois said sadly.

“She’s still young, she will learn. Just have your arms wide open when she comes to her senses, darling,”


“She will always be my sister,” Lois promised.

Joanna exhaled; she was glad that Lois was such an understanding person. Then, the smile faded as a burning question popped into her mind. It slipped off her lips before she could think of how to phrase it. “How are you and James, dear?”


As if on cue, the expression on Lois’s face changed. She looked into the computer and typed something into it, “We are fine.”

Joanna leaned back into her chair. “If you think you can fool me with that answer, you’re wrong, Lois.”

Lois was silent for a moment before answering her mother, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”


Joanna shook her head. She couldn’t understand why Lois was still in denial at this stage. It was too obvious. Last night, at the show, Joanna had noticed that the couple did not spoke a single word to each other nor were they even bothered to try. It was as if an invisible barrier had separated the two into two different worlds and they couldn’t care less. And it wasn’t one night only.


The unmistakable change in their relationship happened a few months after Lois took over Aces. First, they were always angry at each other then the rows stopped and they just stopped talking all together. Even when they did, the bitter tones in their conversations were distinguishable. Their marriage had deteriorated so severely, the only thing connecting them both was the wedding ring on their fingers. “I can help you, Lois,” Joanna tried again.


Lois clicked her tongue. She was annoyed that Joanna could see through her. Joanna could see through anything! “Ma, don’t. Why fix something that isn’t broken in the first place?”


“Why are you still lying to yourself?” Joanna raised her voice, desperation ringing at the edge of her tone. She doesn’t want her daughter to go through the pain of a divorcement. “You and James are having problems. Just step back and see for yourself. Do it before it is too late, child!”


“I’m not a child anymore, Ma!” Lois burst out, “This is my family, my marriage and my problem, so stay out of this,” she told Joanna off. Then continued to mutter heatedly, “Whatever I do to work out this… phase in my marriage is none of your business. And for your information, I prefer to just let it pass than making it more messed up than it already is,” she paused as her voice started cracking and fought back the tears, “so just leave us alone.”


“Good, at least you admit you’re having problems.”


Note: I realised that I made a really silly mistake by not putting the title to my post. That was why the update was not shown. Sorry!

I'm glad you got your computer fixed.
(Sometimes I #$%&! hate computers!)
I remember when I first read this story, I felt a bit of sympathy for James.
Hopefully, Lois will realise she needs to work on her relationship if she wants to stay married...then again you might have other plans. LOL!
I *heart* drama.

Montridge, i totally agree with you! I LOVE DRAMA! And yes, do you have other plans for Lois and James, Lisang? I wonder, I wonder!

Hey Montridge and BonnyLove,you guys will jst have to read o t find out what will happen to them =D

Lois read the hands on the clock; thirty minutes had passed since Joanna left. The meeting with the board of directors was scheduled at eleven o’clock. “We will have to find a way to obstruct Ronald’s plan,” Lois told William Brown.


William was Lois’s accountant and most trustworthy friend.

“This will not be easy,” William thought out loud and then gave a sigh, thinking of the long hours this meeting will take. “Ronald Vander’ woods is like cockroach! You can’t kill it no matter how many times or how hard you step on it… ”


Lois laughed for the first time this morning, “You are absolutely right. He is like a cockroach.”

“One big, fat one…” William added, remembering Ronald Vander’ woods weight. “Just relax, Lois. I’m sure the brilliant brains of the board of directors can come up with something…”


Lois walked towards the window she exhaled, “I really do hope so. It’s a real can of worms. Oh, I can’t think right now!" She gazed blankly out the window, her mother’s words ringing at the back of her head. Before it’s too late, child!


“Did you forget to drink coffee?” William asked. Lois cracked up hearing that. William smiled, hiding his concern for his dear friend. Lois was usually the mastermind behind all plans. She was trained to be a lawyer thus she has the ability to identify loopholes in a plan. She was a genius at it, but today, she seemed a little disoriented.


Her body was here but her mind elsewhere, William concluded as he read the hollowness in her eyes. He didn’t ask her what was bothering her; it was unlikely of her to tell anyway.


The voice cracking out from the phone interrupted their silence, “Lois, Ms. Debateau is here, and she says she needs to see you, should I...” Lois’s assistant, Bernice’s voice spoke.


“Let her in,” Lois pressed the red button and replied. William got up, acknowledging his cue to leave.




A few seconds later, the sound of Ember’s high heels tapping on the ground echoed in the hallway. The door to Lois’s office flung opened and in step a broken spirited Ember.


Her face was pale and fear flooded her dark green eyes when she glanced up at her sister, lips trembling, “I screwed up, sis,” she announced. Then, her shoulders starting shaking violently as she broke down into uncontrollable sobs, “I’m so sorry… “

Lois's heart ached.


She studied Ember, whose walls were no longer guarded, her defense system switched off, no longer being obnoxious, nor was she being confident and cold hearted, but simply her vulnerable self.


Ember tries desperately to portray a persona that told the world she was independent and self-sufficient, to hide the fact that she was afraid. Afraid of being unwanted, afraid of rejection… but Lois always knew. And that was the reason to why Lois was so forgiving of Ember. Lois knew how hard Ember tries to prove herself to the world; too hard in fact that everything she does backfired. No one would recognize Ember now, but Lois had seen this side of her many times before.


When Ember broke her wrist when trying to do a cartwheel to impress her friends,


she only cried when she was alone with Lois in their room;


when Ember wasn't good enough to be a part in her school play;


when she failed in Algebra…


“I didn’t mean it…” Ember told her sister as Lois wrapped her arms over her and allowed her to cry on her shoulders.

"Hush now, Em, I know, I know,"


And when Ember had screwed up trying to make her father proud…

Never thought I would see this side of Ember. Lois is like the only person she could go to... Poor Ember!

Keep up the good work!

awesome keep up the good work and do update as often as possible!

BonnyLove, Ember is a rather complicated character. And the sisters' relationship is like a roller coaster ride, full of ups and downs.

Yls, I will update more often! But it takes time to get the right pictures and write my post. Thanks for reading!



Lisang

This is a great story. Just read it all the way through. Oh, and I agree. What other way to describe the sisters other than a roller coaster ride? they remind me of me and my own sister. Except our watches aren't stuck to out arms! :thumb: