Chapter Twenty-One
Looks Like I'm Finally On My Way

[Weiss]

Date: April 5th


Weiss takes a deep breath and stops in front of the oak door leading towards the dining room. She knows that her father and her brother are already inside, and he has an idea of what her father wants to talk to her about, but one can never be too safe.

The heiress gently grabs the knob and opens the door, walking inside elegantly with her head held high and her gaze condescending, but reserved as she looks at her father and his business partner. She glances towards her twin sitting across her chair and they offer a silent, understanding nod as Weiss takes her seat at the long table.

"Good morning, Miss Schnee." The middle-aged man greets warmly, "We were just talking about you." Weiss' eyes shift back to her brother, who scowls at him with an expression of annoyance. "Your father and I are thinking about expanding his business into my side of Vale, I'm offering my own company as an alliance."

Oh no.

"I have a son around your age, I think you two would get along splendidly!"

Without missing a beat, Whitley interrupts. "Absolutely not," his voice is calm, yet threatening. Weiss can see the ire in her father's eyes when she looks at him, "my sister does not like men, I would appreciate it if you would respect that."

The man's eyes widen in incredulity and he turns back to Weiss, frantic. "My apologies, Miss Schnee!" He apologizes sincerely, "I didn't mean to overstep, I was unaware!"

Weiss offers a small smile as an attempt to reassure him, "It's okay, I understand," she says kindly, ignoring her father's judgmental glare, "but," Whitley sits back down as she speaks, "I don't believe expanding into Vale is such a good idea… It could run other people out of business."

"Why," Jacques laughs boisterously and Weiss' knuckles turn white as she grips the edge of the table, "that's the entire point, daughter! Destroy the competition!"

"But what about-"

He waves his hand dismissively, "Our decision is final; Mr. Agate, Whitley will accompany you to my office so that we can complete the paperwork." Jacques stands up and Whitley exits the room behind the young man, leaving only Weiss and her father at the table.

She knows that her father called the meeting to a close rather quickly for a reason, but what that reason was, she couldn't seem to figure out. She should return to her bedroom before he confronts her.

Weiss rises to her feet to leave, feeling fear and uneasiness gnawing at her chest. She swiftly makes to leave the room, wanting to avoid communication with her father.

"Weiss."

She pauses and turns to Jacques just as his hand grabs her wrist and he snatches her back to face him. "You insolent little brat," he hisses between gritted teeth, "reconsidering our business expanding into Vale? I will not have such a disobedient daughter!"

There's that word. Daughter.

"Well," she sneers, "it's a good thing that I am not your daughter!" She forcefully pulls her arm back.

Rage forms on his face and his eyes widen with unadulterated ire. The world slows down as his spare hand lifts into the air and time speeds up into a blur, a sharp pain erupts through the side of her face and she briefly stumbles in shock. Weiss grimaces as a bright red mark starts to bloom on her cheek, the stinging pain nearly brings tears to the edges of her eyes.

"You do not speak to me that way, Weiss!"

Annoyance snaps through her like a whip. She was sick of him speaking to her this way, she was tired of him acting as though he had a collar around her neck, snatching the leash back with great strength to represent punishment when she does not act as he wishes for her to. She was nearly twenty-three years old, she had a new purpose for living, a new idea of how she wanted to live her life.

It does not involve her father.

Weiss lifts her head again, brewing with a confidence she hadn't possessed before. She keeps her features neutral and her shoulders lay flat. Her gaze, however, burns indigently with an undescribed passion. "If you strike me again," Weiss says with a cool, yet menacing tone, "I will not hesitate to contact the authorities."

Jacques scoffs in disbelief and with a roll of his eyes, he brushes past her and strolls towards the table. "You believe you are ready to inherit the company?" He asks condescendingly.

"Allow me to correct you, Weiss," her father narrows his brows as she turns to face him, keeping her expression unfazed, "you have been so busy gallivanting with your dear sweetheart that you have missed vital lessons concerning your inheritance. You cannot do anything to me, unless you want your grandfather's company to fall."

"Watch me." Weiss answers emotionlessly, "Whilst you rot behind bars, I will be taking over and repairing the damage that you have done to my family's name, with Ruby beside me. This is one thing that you cannot control."

'I'll make sure of it.'

"Foolish child!"

Weiss flinches as her father's hand slams down on the pristine white table, causing it to tremble under his weight. His dark blue eyes bore holes into Weiss' lighter pair, practically steaming with rage. She hardens her expression as an attempt to mirror her father's, unintimidated by his sudden appearance.

"What is it now?" She greets with a bitterly sweet voice.

He couldn't hurt her Ruby. He cannot harm her, either. She has no reason to fear him anymore.

He scowls at her and straightens his posture with his hands folded behind his back. "What did I tell you about seeing that girl?" He asks scornfully. Her father doesn't allow her to respond, "I seem to recall telling you to stay away from her." His voice becomes harder for a moment before changing into an eerily calm one. "If you want to like… Girls, then I suppose there is nothing I can do about it, but I do not want you gallivanting around some bastard who doesn't know what she has gotten into."

Weiss raises a brow, unfazed. "Curious. You say that as if you know her."

Jacques scoffs and removes his phone from seemingly nowhere, clicking it on and revealing the screen to the young woman. Her stomach plummets, yet her face remains neutral. "Explain to me why one of our servants caught this."

The video starts playing, zooming in on two figures that she quickly recognizes as herself and Ruby.

Out of context, it looked… Wrong.

The video shows Ruby strolling towards Weiss with her hands in her pockets, she almost appears threatening.

Ruby places both hands at Weiss' sides, trapping her in between. Weiss is breathing heavily. The taller woman leans in, pressing her body up against Weiss', seemingly ignoring the startled look on her face.

Suddenly, Weiss shoves Ruby away by the chest and faces away from her, Ruby looks down the alleyway and quickly returns to her car.

The video ends and Jacques slams his phone down on the table, Weiss robotically lifts her head to look at him. He would never believe her if she told him.

"It's not what you think…" She tries to say.

Her father cuts her off, "Starting tomorrow morning, you will have two guards to escort you wherever you need to go," he frowns at her, "you will not be seeing her again."

Well, that's it. She would just need to leave, before the guards arrive in the morning.


That night, Weiss packs several of her belongings into a bag; her father had revoked her apartment as an attempt to force her to remain at the Schnee Manor, being forced out of her apartment caused her to bring some of her personal belongings back to the manor. The Manor's staff was retrieving the rest, under her father's order.

However, in a few hours, it would be relocated to Ruby's place. IT's where most of it had come from, anyway. Iit was hers now, especially the oversized red hoodie that her girlfriend always seemed to love to wear to bed during the cold nights.

Weiss sighs and extends her arms above her head, groaning in relief while her upper back and arm muscles are stretched.

A soft knock pulls her attention and a tiny smile tugs at her lips, she approaches the door and easily opens it to find Klein standing on the other side. "They're all asleep?" She asks quietly.

The man glances up and down the hallway and back to her, his mustache quirks upwards and there's a glint in his eyes. "The only one who remains awake is your brother."

"That's great!" Weiss grins, excitement fluttering in her chest at the thought of seeing her girlfriend again. She has a plan, and she can't wait to tell her. The girl repositions her bag over her shoulder and steps out of her bedroom, "Do you want to meet Ruby?"

Klein looks at her in confusion before softness gathers on his face, he guides her down the hall and she follows in silence, taking his smile as an affirmative answer. He was happy for her, she could tell, and it caused joy and relief to erupt through her. "I truly wish I could, Miss Schnee, but I have other duties to attend to.."

"That's alright." Weiss shakes her head upon hearing the name, "Weiss," she corrects him with a gentle smile, "you can call me Weiss from now on."

The short man nods with a soft grin, "Of course. Weiss." He pauses at the entry of the manor and faces her, "It sounds as though you genuinely care for this woman."

A fluttering feeling erupts through her chest and Weiss bows her head with a tiny lovesick smile. "Yeah… I do." She looks at the man again, the smile never leaving her face, "I love her."

"I'm glad." Klein smiles warmly, pausing at the front doors of the manor and giving a small bow. "This is as far as I can escort you," he informs her with a sad expression, "I wish you the best of luck… Your brother is waiting outside with his car, he will take you there."

Whitley was outside, waiting on her? He was going to help her? She couldn't believe it.

"Thank you, Klein." Weiss sets her suitcase down and steps forward, embracing the shorter man for the last time. She didn't know when she would see him again, if ever, "I appreciate it, really."

"It's my pleasure..." Klein returns the hug briefly before stepping away, "Now, you must go before the rest of the staff awakens for their nightly duties."

Weiss bends down and takes her suitcase back, lifting it and pushing the door open with one hand, sneaking out between the small crevice and sparing a single glance over her shoulder to Klein. She offers him one last smile and allows the door to shut quietly, she turns and quickly locates her brother's white Porsche pulling up to the manor's entryway.

He unlocks the door for her from the driver's seat and nudges it open, "You coming?" He asks tiredly, repositioning himself at the steering wheel as Weiss ducks into the vehicle. "You're going to have to guide me to her place, Weiss," Whitley informs her as she slides her belt buckle on and he pulls the car out of the driveway.

"1037 Ivorycrest, the apartment complex towards the left."

"Oh." Whitley taps his fingers against the steering wheel, "That building Winter owns, got it, that makes this so much easier."

Weiss blinks in confusion, "Since when did she own- you know what? Never mind." She shakes her head, dismissing the comment and deciding that she'll learn from Winter herself later.


Ten minutes later, they arrive at the apartment complex and Whitley parks his vehicle in the first parking space he sees, looking up at the building as Weiss gathers her stuff and makes to open the car door; she barely has it cracked open when she hears Whitley mumbling something under his breath.

She turns back to him with a brow raised, "What?" She asks, wanting him to repeat what he'd said. Whitley glances at her and hesitates, he closes his eyes and heaves a heavy breath.

"Having your own place, living with your partner… How does it feel?"

Oh. This was serious.

Weiss withdraws and closes the door, leaning back against the seat. "Well," she starts off quietly, fixing her eyes on the dashboard, "it grants you quite a bit of freedom, that's something I've noticed."

"How?" Whitley pressures.

"You have your own place," Weiss explains, "that means you can decide what your responsibilities are, what your bedtime is, where you go and what you do now that you're not under Father's careful eye, and if anyone comes over, you can decide whether or not you want them being there."

Whitley remains confused, "But, having your own place, doesn't that mean you have a lot of responsibilities? Like Father?"

Weiss smiles, "In a way," she lifts her head to gaze at the apartment building, "but, if you move in with your partner, the two of you can discuss an efficient way to get things done." She raises one hand, "For example, if Ruby is having trouble paying rent, I step in to help her so that she can get other stuff done instead of having to work overtime and stressing herself out to get the rent paid on time."

"Ruby is okay with that?" Whitley asks.

"Ah, not completely…" Weiss laughs nervously, wringing her hands together, "I'm not exactly on the lease, so she fears that if they find out I'm paying rent for her when she has a job, they'll kick her out."

Her brother hums, "I see…"

"Why do you ask?" Weiss looks at him, wondering if she already knew the answer.

Her brother's eyes widen and he stutters momentarily before clearing his voice, his pale face turning red. "My partner moved out and has his own place, I've been thinking about moving to Mistral to be with him."

Her brother was debating leaving their Father?

A surge of pride rushes through Weiss, she smiles. "Well, why don't you?" Whitley looks at her in confusion, "You have plenty of money stashed away, you could easily buy a plane ticket and fly over, no problem! I'm sure he'd be happy to have you there." She softens her voice, "I think it'd be good for you, too."

"What if he gets tired of me?" Whitley asks, insecurely. "I also don't know when I'll be able to see you again."

Weiss lets out a light laugh, "Well, if he gets tired of you, I suppose I'll steal a car, drive to Mistral, and bring you back!" She's probably been around Ruby and her friends too often. "But, seriously, if he loves you, I doubt he'll get tired of you."

The man smiles shyly and rubs his neck, "Yeah, I… I'll ask him about it. Thank you, Weiss."

"You're welcome!" Weiss grins, "Let me know how it goes!"

A light turns on inside of the window directly across from the vehicle; their headlights must've woken up whomever was inside.

"I will," Whitley says as Weiss grabs her stuff and exits the car as quickly as she could, nervously waving to a very irked woman peeking out of the window, "you be careful as well, okay?"

"I'll try my best." Weiss answers, turning back towards the building as Whitley puts the car in reverse. She'd decided all of this on a whim, and there was no telling what lays before her in the future now.

But, she'll be ready.


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An update?
Yeah, I'm tryna get this story rolling again.