More exploring!
I don't own Tomb Raider. All OCs belong to me and Fang.
Chapter 3: Exploration & Reminiscing, Part 2: Finding Amelia
Lara opened up an old box, hoping to find some clues, but all she found was an old cigarette lighter.
"Dad's lighter...I don't remember him ever using it, though," she said before she looked underneath and found the Croft Family Crest, as well as the initials B.C. "I wonder if this belonged to my Grandfather..."
She put the lighter in her pocket, she could use it to light the fireplace in the main hall.
She walked over to the big window sill behind the desk. It was big enough for someone to sit on.
On it was a crayon drawing of a tiger, made by a child,
"Oh, this is my handiwork...!" Lara smiled. "I used to love drawing pictures of tigers."
She then sighed as she put the drawing back down. Sometimes she wished she could go back to those days.
"Spent so many hours in here... reading, dreaming of my own adventures."
She then looked around some more and found an old note on the coffee table.
"One of Winston's notes," she said. "He always left sweets for me to find."
On the desk opposite of the table was a sheet of paper.
It had Egyptian hieroglyphics drawn on it, along with the numbers they stood for.
"I remember now...each district in Ancient Egypt had a symbol and a number," Lara surmised. "I always preferred these symbols in the actual number hieroglyphics."
As she put the paper down, she thought back to when she was with Richard in this very same place.
"Now, let me see...let me see...these two myths are referencing the same source material...but where did I see this image?"
"...Dad, I think it's this one...on the chapter on Egyptian Districts."
"Why...yes. I think you're right, Lara!"
"I remember the page...with the illustration of Ra."
"My goodness...you've been paying attention, haven't you? This could be an important breakthrough."
"Does this mean I'm your research assistant?"
"That and more, my darling girl!"
Lara sighed, "That takes me back... those were good times...the best times..."
She sighed, trying to keep herself from crying.
She went over to the many shelves of books where there was a ladder to climb up.
But the way to get onto the second floor was blocked, so she moved the ladder to another part.
'Took quite a tumble off this old thing when I was a little girl... still feel it in the shoulder from time to time...'
Once she got the ladder to an open space, she climbed up to the upper level, moved the boxes out of the way, climbed back down, and put the ladder back where it was before she climbed up it, again.
Exploring a bit of the second floor, she found a map-sized sheet of paper that was completely blank, except for a small picture of a key.
'Remember this map; it leads to the master key... But we made it with a special kind of invisible ink. I could only be seen with the heat of a fire...'
That's when Lara looked down at the fireplace and got an idea. She climbed down the ladder before she approached the fire, then put the map in front of it, causing it to appear.
"I can see the map!" she exclaimed. "Looks like the key is hidden under a trunk near the bookcase. X marks the spot, as they say."
She went over to the trunk, which had the same sun logo that was on the map. She pushed it out of the way, revealing a small square-shaped hole, with a small metal chest in it.
And inside the chest was the master key,
"This should get into the West Wing, and some other places."
Before she headed out, though, she climbed up the ladder again and unlocked an old chest, in which she found a paper Egyptian Crown.
"The Pharaoh's Crown from my birthday treasure hunt!" she exclaimed, excitedly. "How old was I? Six? Eight?"
That's when she noticed the hieroglyph on the front.
"Hmm...I think this hieroglyph corresponds with a number...but which one?"
She went to the door on her left, and used the key to unlock it. Now she was in the hallway to her Dad's office.
'Okay, Dad's clues mention Mom's paintings and their anniversary,' Lara thought. 'Hopefully I can find some answers in the West Wing...'
She headed into the main hall, over to the door that led to the West Wing. Once there, she took a deep breath, then unlocked it.
She opened the door, revealing that part of a large tree had fallen into the hallway leading to the West Wing!
Lara gasped, "Worse than I thought..."
She made her way past the tree, shielding her face from the rain before she reached another hallway. She looked inside an old cabinet, and that's when she found another tape recorder.
"With Amelia gone, the Manor is a different place. A dimness pervades, a quiet I can't stand. Even though Lara is too young to understand what has happened, she also senses the change. She's asked after her mother only once and I'm afraid my reaction must have terrified her.
I will need Winston more than ever these next few months to help look after her. I never quite realized how much grief can consume a man... but I am utterly consumed. I know I can't escape the pain, but I will try my damnedest to avoid it. I will seal the West Wing, for as long as I live in this place. It will remain exactly as Amelia left it.
Perhaps someday Lara can find her own answers there."
"...Dad was right," Lara said, sadly. "I could sense the change. And now I'm going to find my own answers."
She went to the double doors at the end and unlocked them, going into the master bedroom.
She'd never been in it, so it was quite a sight.
She found a journal entry from her mother,
"I believe it took this trip to push me over the edge. I've been able to see Richard in his element... seeing him at his best, and his worst. I've experienced the purity and chaos of his passion. And I came to realize... I want his passion in my life... every day. So... it's done. Richard wanted to wait ANOTHER 4 DAYS TILL MY BIRTHDAY but I wouldn't have it. Once I make a decision, I prefer to get on with it.
We found a small chapel in Luxor that was just right. And with Roth and the others at our side, we married as the sun set over this remarkable land. Mother will never forgive me. Atlas will forever resent me. But I don't care anymore. I'm free of de Mornay obligations. Free to pursue my own passions and live my life surrounded by those who will encourage and challenge me. I'm excited for the future, whatever it may bring.
Tomorrow Richard and I return home to London as The Crofts. Forging our path together."
'Marrying in Luxor was Mom's idea... I never knew!' Lara thought. 'I'm lucky to have this glimpse of her so many years later.'
She sniffled a bit before she wiped her eyes, trying to fight back her tears.
She checked the lower doors on one dresser, and found another recording from her father,
"Amelia would not have approved. That alone should have been the end of it. But I am as God made me - a stubborn fool. I locked all the West Wing's doors, and I shall not open them again until either my life or my obstinacy comes to an end.
The night before, Roth told me I would someday change my mind. Like a broken are cast in plaster, he said, the wound would heal, and we would someday shed the bandages to be whole again. The metaphor made me furious, the clumsy way he'd cast our loss of as nothing more than an inconvenience. There is wisdom in his rough words, but... I've done what I must.
Perhaps someday Lara will throw back the doors to let the sun shine in again. Maybe she will find her own sense of peace in this place."
'I know Dad couldn't deal with what happened, but it's time to open up the West Wing,' Lara thought. 'It's time to move on...'
Even though she was the last person that should be talking about that.
"At least that old thing still works..." Lara said before she went to check the wardrobe and found yet another tape recorder.
"I am bursting with pride! Amelia is with child! It is amazing how everything in life can change with such a simple event. Obviously, we don't know the gender... but already we've discussed possible names. Perhaps Benjamin, after my grandfather. Or maybe Griffin? He was more infamous a Croft than even me!
No, Amelia wouldn't have it. Besides, she's certain it's a girl. She favors a classic such as Scarlett or Kate, though I've made some headway with Lara, a subtle nod to the Sun God, Ra, and our days in Egypt where certainly this child was conceived."
Lara momentarily paused to blush at that. She didn't really need to know THAT much.
"I find myself thinking about this new life we've created... of how much she might be like us. For all my research into myths of immortality, I may have ignored the most obvious answer to the question that plagues me. We live on through our progeny... our genes, DNA, experiences... passed through the generations. Perhaps this is the simple truth of eternal life, and I've just been too stubborn to accept it."
"In a way Dad found the secret of immortality and didn't even realize it," said Lara. "And I'm glad they went with Lara."
She looked at the bed and gasped, picking up an old silver ring with three blue gemstones.
"Mom's wedding ring...I always wondered what happened to it. It's very similar to the one Owen gave me."
She felt a pang of guilt in her chest, but then she sighed as she went to look around some more.
She went over to another dresser and picked up a perfume bottle,
"My mother's perfume... The smell, so familiar. I can almost remember her..."
Then she checked a table beside the bed, which had a jewelry box with a pearl necklace in it,
"I remember this... Dad gave it to Mom on her birthday." She turned to case over, revealing a metal plaque with a date. "October 13... Mom's birthday. Hmm, pretty sure my parents were married in October. I think it was close to her birthday..."
She walked over to the other side of the room and had another flashback. Except, her parents were arguing,
"After everything Atlas has done! How could you tell him about the expedition?!"
"It's just... all been too much. I needed to talk to someone. He's still my brother."
"I don't trust him!"
"You don't have to, Richard...but please, trust me."
"I'm sorry, my dear...but I know him! He'll take it to the papers! The investors will pull out!"
"Then go...without me! Tonight! I will take care of Atlas, and then meet you in Tibet next week."
Lara sighed. "I was so young...but I still remember that terrible argument. It wasn't always an easy road for my parents...just like how it's not being an easy road for me and Owen."
She left the room and went to another hallway. During a flash of thunder and lightning, she saw her mother, then she disappeared!
Lara gasped, but then took a deep breath, "Okay Lara, keep it together...you're starting to see things."
She then found another letter from Winston,
"My Lord,
We all hope your work was well received at the conference and look forward to your return. As is so often the case with these missives, I wanted to call your attention to an incident involving our little angel.
It seems that Lara has been the subject of some ridicule amongst the other girls at school. From what I can gather, some of the other young ladies were teasing her for being too much of a 'tom boy.'
You know how Lara can get when pushed into a corner. Let's just say, they won't be bothering her again. But I do think their words have had an effect. I believe Lara has been missing her mother lately. She's begun to worry that she isn't like the other girls. And having grown up with only a father, it shouldn't come as a surprise that she has trouble relating to them. I wonder if this new friend of yours, Ana is it? Perhaps she might prove a welcome influence. It might be worth bringing her to the manor to meet Lara. In any case, I'll let you decide the proper time to do that - please travel home safely.
Yours, Winston"
'Oh, Winston,' Lara thought, smiling. 'He really did look out for me.'
She went over to the next double doors,
'Mom's Atelier... Dad sealed it soon after she died. He probably couldn't bear the idea of removing any of her belongings...' She unlocked the doors and opened them, sighing when she saw it. 'Untouched for years...exactly as she left it.'
First thing she saw was another journal entry from her mother,
"I stood up to my family's criticism, stood in defense of Richard and our love. But as my new life began in Croft Manor, doubt set in. How could love flourish in these cavernous halls and endless passageways? Had I made a terrible mistake?
I have never been more delighted to be wrong. Richard welcomed me to the Manor - my new home - with a game. It was a clue, written in jumbled words from five different languages, but it pointed the way forward. The next clue was seemingly blank piece of parchment in the kitchen, where the heat of a candle revealed a message written in lemon juice.
I followed each step, grinning like a child as I solved his riddles and chased the trail to its end: a white cloth stretched on the lawn where a picnic was laid out. We laughed and ate, and my doubt vanished with the last of the morning mist.
Love can, and will, endure."
'Good job, Dad,' Lara thought. 'You knew how hard this decision was for her and you made it easy.'
She then went to the corner of the room and saw all the paintings that her mother had made.
"Mom's paintings," she said. "Which one was Dad's favorite?"
There was another journal by the window, from her mother,
"I returned home this afternoon to collect the last of my paintings. I suppose I should say, I returned to my family's home.
Atlas was there, in one of his foul moods, and even as he dripped venom for Richard with his cruel barbs, I could only laugh. To think that I once listened to my bitter brother in matters of my own happiness! My dismissal only served to infuriate him more.
I left him there in father's study, muttering to himself. On the drive back, as Winston took a longer route through the country, I looked through my paintings, Richard's favorite one among them - a simple abstract with BLOCKS OF RED. I smiled thinking about giving it to him. I was happy and I was going home."
'It must have been so hard for her to give up her family,' Lara thought. 'Hmm, blocks of red. Dad's favorite painting. Maybe something about that painting will help me figure out the combination.' She saw the painting, it had four red blocks.
She could've headed back to the safe, but she decided to look around a bit more.
She found an old picture of her and Amelia, painting on the floor together...and it looked like Lara was about at least 3 years old.
"...I don't have any memory of this," said Lara before she sighed sadly. "...I wish I could remember doing this. Mom died too young."
Then she found another picture of her and Amelia; Lara was a baby and Amelia was holding her close,
"Mom with me as a baby... I've never seen this. Hard to believe I was ever that small."
Seeing this made her think about having a child of her own...with Owen...
Pulling herself together, she went over to a piano and had another flashback; of her mother teaching her how to play,
"You've almost got it darling...here...let me show you. Like this, see? Well done, Lara! Well done..."
'I wonder how my life would've been different had she lived...' Lara thought sadly.
She sighed and shook her head again, still trying her hardest not to cry.
She climbed up a ladder to the upper level of the Atelier, finding another journal entry from her mother,
"Lara arrived tonight, though not without a bit of drama. But all is well. She's a healthy, beautiful baby. I've never seen Richard so happy. I'm sure he'll be celebrating with his favorite whisky tonight.
It's calm and peaceful now... just the gentle sound of the rain, and the small, sleeping breaths of this new life I hold in my arms. Lara... Lara Croft.
My darling daughter. It's hard to put into words this feeling I have. We share a connection... something I never expected. A love so powerful and pure, someday you'll feel it too.
No matter where you go, or where you find your place in this world... we will always have this connection."
"I still feel that connection to you, Mom," Lara said, not able to hold back her tears anymore.
She went back down the ladder and headed out of the west wing,
'I'm glad I still have so much of Mom's work.'
She went up to the fireplace and lit it up with the lighter she found, then went to go look somewhere else.
She unlocked one of the rooms downstairs and went in, finding another living room.
On one of the tables was a letter from Winston,
"Mistress Lara,
I took the liberty of preparing a tray, as dinner did not go according to plans. I've included, in addition to your meal, a few treats. I would appreciate it if you kept this between us, but I felt tonight called for something special.
If you will forgive the indulgence, your rapid exit from the dinner table had me concerned, and I wanted to impart something that I hope sets your mind at ease. I have known your father for quite some time. There is an intensity to his passion that can be frightening. But I recognize that same passion in you. You're more like him than you know.
Never doubt that he loves you more than his research... more than his artifacts. More than anything in this world. Storms pass, and tomorrow will be clear and blue again.
When you have finished, please leave the tray outside. Be well.
Yours. Winston"
'I don't even remember this letter,' Lara thought. 'I'm sure I wasn't able to read it at the time. Did he write this more for himself than me?'
She headed back up to her Dad's office, having another flashback as she returned to it,
"Dad, what do you keep in there?"
"Nothing too important, Lara. Estate business and such."
"If it's not important, then why bother putting it in a safe?"
Richard chuckled, "I should know better than to try and pull one over on you. There is something important in here, and it's for you, should you need it someday."
Lara went over to the safe, "Well, let's hope you came through for me, Dad..." She entered in keypad "5-4-9", which opened it! "Yes!"
Looking inside, she found a clay imprint of her own hand from when she was little,
"It makes me happy to know Dad kept this safe...but it's not what I'm looking for."
Next thing inside was a tape recorder, from her father,
"I am numb... it is taking all my willpower to hold back the overwhelming grief.
Amelia's plane... crashed in the mountains. She died alone in the snow, waiting for me to find her. Oh god, not her, not now! I cannot accept it.
Life without her is too painful to imagine. I know what must be done... and I am resolved. I am going to bring her back. Perhaps this is why I am here. Perhaps this is fate - a test of my faith in the truth I've sought for so long.
Roth will fight me on this, but... I can't face Lara... I can't look into her eyes unless I try- I must try to bring Amelia back. The Monks are preparing the Elixir now... and then we will see if all my years of hunting this truth was for naught."
"Dad... oh no," Lara gasped a bit. "What did you do?" The next thing inside was a portfolio. "Dad's sequel to his first book on immortality...he never got a chance to publish it." Taking a closer look, she discovered it was... "Handwritten...this is the only copy. e on, there has to be a will in here!" The last thing in the safe was a blank piece of paper, "Blank...? Dad must have left this for me! It must be important!"
She ran back outside and climbed down to the fireplace, where she held the paper to the fire, revealing another map.
"It's a hidden message!" she looked on the back and saw some hieroglyphs and symbols. "What are these strange symbols? ...Some kind of clue. ...Wait, this is a map! And these hieroglyphs might be a code!"
Following the map, she headed back into the cellar and pushed a shelf out of the way, revealing a keypad. Following the hieroglyph symbols she'd found, she entered "1-4-2". This caused one of the brick walls to crack open, revealing a hidden hallway.
She walked inside, the flashlight lighting her way.
As she did, some lights inside the tunnel turned on, and the wall closed behind her,
"Damn, locked in."
She went down the tunnel, finding a secret lab!
'Did Dad build all this just to keep his research safe?'
One of the first things she found was another tape recording from her father,
"It's over. I have done all that I could, and my Amelia is still cold and dead. Roth first scowled at my designs, then he pleaded with me not to go through with the ritual. Not because he feared it might work, but because he feared what I might do when it failed.
And it has failed, there is no doubt in that. I prepared everything according to my research. When I dropped the stone into the elixir and held it to her lips, I thought, for the barest moment, that it had worked. The hour was midnight, and my pocket watch stopped inexplicably... there was a charge in the air, like the moment before a lightning strike.
For a heartbeat, I imagined that my life was being drawn from me as one empties a glass, in order to be poured back into Amelia. I would have welcomed death if the last thing I saw were her eyes, clear and alive again.
But the moment passed. Amelia is still dead, and I was no Orpheus. We will return to the manor, and lay her to rest. I own her that much."
'Oh Dad... part of me wishes you had succeeded,' Lara thought sadly. 'He brought her home. She's here...somewhere.'
Next, she found a letter, from her uncle,
"Richard,
I tried to see you in person, last week, but your manservant hustled me away like some common tout peddling silverware. He told me you are heartbroken, and you are not yet ready to see visitors. He tells me you blame yourself for her loss. Well, to that I say: You had damn well better.
I hope it hurts. I hope every moment of your life from this day forward is a ringing echo of loss. I hope you live just long enough to feel that pain grow when you hoped it would diminish, because you earned it. You stole Amelia from us. You ruined her reputation and poisoned her mind with a fantasy for children. In the end, you might as well have chocked the life from her with your own hands.
Do not contact me again, ever, but you must make arrangements for the future of your daughter. Have you considered perhaps it would be better if you followed Amelia sooner rather than later? As Lara's legal guardian, perhaps I could erase some of the damage you've already done to the poor girl. If not, I will do everything in my power to see to it that the Croft name is forgotten.
Lara deserves better than you. So did Amelia, and so do we all.
Atlas."
Lara was already angry at her uncle. From everything he'd been doing to cut her out of the mansion, to the letters and journal entries she'd read that revealed he'd hated her parents being together, and now this?!
Now, she was beyond pissed!
In her anger, she crumpled up the letter into a ball, threw it to the floor, and stomped it into the dust!
"That piece of shit! He wants to ruin the Croft name just to spite my father! I have to get him out of my life!"
She went over to a metal chest and opened it, finding a crowbar,
"Might be able to use this to access other parts of the manor..."
There was another letter, from her mother,
"My love,
It is silent. So peacefully silent now. Even after the madness and chaos of the crash, I can't help but still wonder at the beauty of these mountains. I understand the magic that drew you here. Please know that... I feel no pain in this moment. Only immense sadness. Sadness that I couldn't see your smiling face once more... that I'll never meet the wonderful woman that our daughter will become.
There is so much to say, but I'm tired. The sun is setting. The cold of night will overwhelm me. I know I will fall asleep soon, and likely never again awaken in this world. I'm... scared, Richard. What lies beyond? You know I've always struggled with faith. So... I'm holding on to yours for now. I'm holding on as best I can, my love. Become the father Lara deserves. Know that I will live on in her."
'I can't imagine what Dad felt reading this letter from Mom,' Lara thought. 'I can barely read it without bursting into tears. I hope he came to eventually see Mom in me.'
She then sniffled as she wiped her eyes again...but the tears just kept falling.
She opened one of the cabinet doors, finding another tape recording from her father,
"The renovations are proceeding in secret. The work crew Roth hired for the job have been paid handsomely to keep the details of the job out of the records, so I'm fairly confident no word will get out about what I'm doing.
I've been careless with presenting my findings - attracting all the wrong sorts of attention. Roth thinks I'm being paranoid by building this secret vault, but I know I'm being watched. My work is too important... and potentially too dangerous... it can't fall into the wrong hands.
I need a secure place to keep it all safe."
'Dad must have seemed paranoid to Roth,' Lara thought. 'But I understand why he built this vault.'
Then, Lara looked around before she went over to a light switch, but when she did, the lights went out and turned a deep blue.
"Amazing," she said. "Even in here, Dad went out of his way to hide his findings."
Then she went over to some sort of sundial.
"There's an inscription," she said. "This is the Croft universe...our knowledge is to the east; our respite is to the west. Our future is to the south, our past to the North. ...Past to the North, could there be something else beneath the manor?"
Removing the sundial from the wall revealed it had a large crack in it, so Lara broke it more with her crowbar, opening a hole she could squeeze through.
She was back in the cellar, then she used the crowbar to pry open a green locker, finding another letter, from herself,
"Hi Dad!
So... I know I only just returned to school, but when can I come out to the dig site again? It's just so boring here! We're doing all the stuff I already read last summer. I always end up staring out the window and thinking about our expeditions. And then I'm yelled at for daydreaming.
I promise I'll be good and not disturb you and just work wherever you tell me. I just miss it, dad... and I miss you."
'I don't remember writing this...I do remember being bored in school though,' Lara thought.
She headed back to the main hall and found a place to set the sundial in the middle of the room.
"Our knowledge is to the east; our respite is to the west. Our future is to the south, our past to the North," she repeated as she looked around before she followed the compass to the north and approached a wall...one that looked dusty and thin. Using the crowbar, she pried it open before she entered a dark tunnel.
When she got to the bottom of the steps, she found an old crypt.
"Incredible...this crypt was here all along."
She found another tape recording from her father,
"I expected a sort of crushing finality to grip me when we returned to the manor, to lay Amelia to rest. Indeed, once the last of my funereal duties were performed, I fully believed that I would crumple to the ground next to her and expire, not from grief, but succumbing to the terrible exhaustion of the last few weeks.
Instead, as the mausoleum stone slid into place, I felt... a sort of peace and energy, one that I confess caught me entirely off guard. This was not the terminus of our story, and I was fool to think so. Her body may be gone, but her spirit still resides here, in the manor, in me, in Lara. Her soul is forever twined with mine, and death is just... a momentary interruption. I walked out of that cold quiet into a sunlight that burned my eyes, and I have ever been more sure.
Death is not the end, and there is work yet to do."
'This is where it all started... our family obsession,' Lara thought. 'Well, now it's time for me to complete our work.'
She went further into the crypt, finding a tomb with a female statue on it, lying against a pillow before an angelic statue.
Lara gasped a bit, "My god, can it be...? Dad, you did bring her home..."
Next to the tomb was a letter, from Amelia,
"My Dearest Lara,
It is difficult to write this, knowing these may only ever be words on a page to you. I wonder if you will remember my voice. Will you remember the way we used to play and laugh. Will you remember me comforting you when you were sad?
Know that I'm still with you Lara...my energy, my love, it's within you. It always will be.
Use that energy to pursue your passions in life. Never let others determine your journey. You become who you are through your choices, through the love you give and promises you keep.
I hope you are happy, that you are loved and successful in whatever it is you choose to do. I am proud of you, my darling.
Remember me.
With all my love, your mother."
Lara fell to her knees, crying, and placed her hand against the tomb,
"I can't believe this... oh Mom... I am happy. I am loved. I'll always remember."
She'd done it! She hadn't found a will from her father, but she found where her mother was buried. Now that she could legally confirm that both her parents were dead; the manor, and all assets concerning the Croft name would be out of her Uncle's filthy hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow...!" Tommy muttered.
"That is pretty cool," Sam said. "But the fact that you were wandering around this place, when it was in shambles, at night, during a storm, all by yourself is more than a little creepy."
"It's still sad, what happened to your mom," said Owen, "But at least she's in a better place."
"She is," Lara said. "That's all I can hope for."
Tsume then got up and began to lick her face, causing her to laugh.
"Wait a minute, Atlas knew she was gone," Tommy said. "He was just trying to keep you away because he wanted to drag the Croft name through the mud."
"He and his family couldn't accept that Amelia loved your father, and now he's out for revenge, in a sense," Sam continued. "What an asshole."
Being reminded about that, Lara stood up and picked up the phone in her office, dialing Atlas's number.
"What are you doing?" asked Owen.
"Telling him to go to hell," Lara said.
Atlas answered the phone, which Lara put on speaker, "Hello Lara, I hope this means you're willing to accept-"
"Shut up," Lara spat. "You've got a lot of nerve asking if I'd need your help managing the estate. I'm keeping your filthy hands as far away from the Croft family as possible!"
Sam and Tommy both looked at each other before they covered their mouths, trying not to laugh.
"I-I beg your pardon?" asked Atlas.
"You heard what I said," said Lara. "You knew the whole time that my mother was dead, you just used legal ways to try and keep me away from the manor. You want to ruin my family name just to spite my father because you and your family couldn't accept that she loved him! Reputation doesn't buy happiness or love. And by the way, Owen and I are back together. I didn't dump him, he left me because I was being stupid. And we're still getting married. Don't, contact me, again!"
She then slammed the phone down on the receiver.
Then she said, calmly, "So, what's first on the wedding plan?"
YEAH, GO TO HELL AND FUCK YOURSELF ATLAS!
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