For the next few nights, Cyril was spending more time with Rita, and less time at home. Cedric was becoming a little worried. He couldn't shake this uneasy feeling he had about Rita. He was talking to Bert about it one day while the two of them were out fishing.
"I don't know why, but I just don't like this Rita Ritzley," he admitted. "But Pop sure seems to like her!"
"He's in love with something other than money?" Bert asked, a little surprised. "I find that hard to believe!"
"I know. I find it a little surprising, too. But I'm still uneasy about it."
"Well, from what I've heard about Rita Ritzley, she's young. Right?"
"Yeah, she's about my age."
"That's why you're uneasy. Who wants a stepmother who's the same age as you are?"
"I guess that's it. But there's something else I don't like. And Forest doesn't like her, either."
"Maybe you oughta keep your eye on ol' Cyril whenever he's around Rita."
Cedric nodded. Unfortunately, keeping an eye on Cyril when he was with Rita was easier said than done. Most of the time, the two of them were on the town, and Cyril kept telling Cedric to manage the business while he was out. He didn't trust the Pigs with it. Cedric was starting to do more business than Cyril was! At one point, Cedric fell asleep in one of the books he was going over, since he was working so hard.
"Cedric?" Sophia asked.
"Huh? What?" Cedric asked, jolting to attention.
"Daddy go night-night?" Forest asked.
"Just for a little bit, Forest," Cedric said, tussling his son's hair. "It's like Pop's spending more time with Rita Ritzley than he is with his business!"
"I know," Sophia said with a sigh. "He's been out with her every night for two whole weeks! I think he's starting to get serious about this relationship with her."
"And that makes me nervous."
Sophia nodded. Before they could go any further in the conversation, Cyril came into the office just then, humming. Cedric and Sophia stared at him as if he had lost his mind completely.
"Good morning, good morning," he said. He took Forest from Sophia, and set him on his shoulders. "Wonderful day, isn't it, Forest?"
"You're certainly in a good mood. Mr. Sneer," Sophia said.
"That's right, my dear, that's right," Cyril replied. "At this point, nothing can spoil my mood!"
"Not even if the Pigs lost you a fortune?" Cedric asked. "Like say three million dollars and fifty-six cents?"
Cyril turned towards Cedric, and his eyes glazed over. He started to look pale, and just stared at his son, like he couldn't believe what he just said.
"THEY WHAAAAT!" Cyril shrieked. With that, Forest burst into tears and began wailing at the top of his voice. He normally laughed when Cyril lost it, but he was never sitting on Cyril's shoulders whenever he lost it before!
"Take it easy, Pop!" Cedric shouted, taking the baby from Cyril's shoulders. "I was just making it up!"
"Never kid about my money, Cedric," Cyril said. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
"Sorry, Pop," Cedric said. Then he and Sophia took the baby out of the room so Cyril could go back to work.
"So how serious could it be?" Sophia asked. "He's still hooked on making money."
"Yeah," Cedric said with a nod. "But I'm still not so sure . . . . ."
That night, Cyril told the Pigs to make plans for a huge dinner party. He even let Cedric and Sophia invite the Raccoons and Schafer over to the mansion for it.
"He's inviting us to a party?!" Bert shouted, incredulously.
"What's gotten into your father, Cedric?" Melissa asked.
"Rita Ritzley," Cedric answered. "I think Pop's fallen head over heels for her. He also wants you guys to bring a camera, and take notes about it. He says he has something planned that will make front page news."
"What's that?" Ralph asked.
"I don't know," Cedric shrugged. "All I caught was something about a merger. Maybe he's going to merge with Miss Ritzley's business or something."
"Probably," Melissa said. "Well, Cedric, we'll be there."
Cedric nodded, and left the Evergreen Standard's headquarters.
That night, everyone showed up at the Sneer mansion for Cyril's dinner party. He had made it a formal affair, much to Bert's dismay. He didn't particularly care for dressing up. And he knew at these formal engagements, there wasn't going to be any peanut butter in the near vicinity.
"Psst!" he hissed. "Hey Cedric! Where's the peanut butter?"
"In the kitchen," Cedric said. "But I wouldn't advise going in there."
"How come?" Bert asked.
"Because the cooks will chase you out with a carving knife," Lloyd said, coming over. "So you'll either have to do without peanut butter, or risk becoming a coon skin cap if you want to go get some!"
"But how can you have a party without any peanut butter?" Bert asked.
Cedric took off his glasses for a minute, rubbed his eyes, and sighed. He could tell that this was going to be a long night.
After a little while, Cyril had everyone gathered around the dining room table to make an announcement. Rita was sitting next to him, smiling.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Cyril said. "And I use the term as loosely as possible . . . . ."
"Oh brother," Ralph muttered under his breath.
"I'd like to make an important announcement," Cyril, not having heard Ralph, continued. "And I'd like to get this in that paper of yours if I can, so get that camera ready. Just so long as it's not the one with the ultra bright flash bulb."
"You're never gonna let me live that one down, are ya, Cyril?" Bert asked.
Cyril just glared at Bert, and didn't respond. Instead, he turned towards Rita.
"I want all of you to be the first to know," he said. "That Miss Rita Ritzley has consented to merge."
"Great, Pop," Cedric said.
"That's what this is all about?" Bert asked. "A crummy business merger? I gave up a peanut butter casserole for this?!"
"Not that kind of merger, you idiot!" Cyril shouted.
"What do you expect from a raccoon?" Rita asked, rolling her eyes. "They've got brains the size of peanuts!"
"Hey!" Bert shouted. "You're right, Cedric, there is something about her!"
"What I meant by merge," Cyril said, ignoring Bert. "Is that we're getting married!"
"MARRIED!" everyone shouted at once.
"That's right," Rita said, holding up her hand to reveal a diamond engagement ring. "Cyril proposed this afternoon, and I agreed to become Mrs. Cyril Sneer."
Cedric felt a little faint upon hearing the news. The others were a bit shocked as well. Nobody could believe what had just happened, but there was nothing anyone could do about it.
A few days went by. Cedric was still recovering from the initial shock. He and Sophia still agreed that there was something funny about Cyril's relationship with Rita. The Pigs were beginning to suspect something as well.
"I don't like it," Lloyd said. "I don't like it one bit!"
"But how are we going to talk the boss out of it?" Floyd asked.
"I don't think we can talk him out of it," Cedric said with a sigh. "We might have to just grin and bear it."
"I'll bear it," Boyd said. "But I refuse to grin."
"Here comes Miss Ritzley now," Sophia said. "And she's talking to her driver over the wedding."
The Pigs immediately ran to the doorway to eavesdrop on the conversation.
"Move over, Lloyd!" Floyd shouted, pushing his brother. "I want to hear this!"
"Guys!" Cedric shouted. "I don't think Pop will like it if he knew you were eavesdropping."
"Don't you two want to know what she's up to?" Lloyd asked.
"I rank eavesdropping up there with reading someone's diary," Sophia said. "It's an invasion of privacy. But in this case, I'm willing to make an exception. Move over!"
"Hey wait for me!" Cedric shouted.
And with that, Cedric and Sophia raced to the doorway to listen in on the conversation. They wouldn't normally stoop this low, but they wanted to know everything about Rita Ritzley and what she was planning once she married Cyril, and this would probably be the only way they could do that.
"You know Stames, once I marry Cyril, there are going to be a lot of changes around here," Rita said. "First of all those Pigs. They'll be the first things to go! I'll convince Cyril to give them the boot, and use my servants!"
The Pigs drew in a breath, and began to shudder. They didn't like the sound of that.
"As far as Cedric goes," Rita continued. "I'll send him to military academy, so he can toughen up. I can't have a wimp taking control of business, now can I? And I'll send Sophia to finishing school, so she can learn to be a socialite. She can not continue this newspaper job of hers, or ice skating when she has this much money!"
Cedric and Sophia glanced at each other. They didn't like the sound of that!
"As for that snot nosed little brat of theirs . . . ." Rita continued. "The minute he's old enough, off he goes to a boarding school in Switzerland! I know Cyril won't mind. I have him wrapped around my little finger. He'll do anything I tell him! I can give you at least a million reasons why I love Cyril Sneer, and they're all in the bank!"
With that, Rita began to laugh hysterically. Cedric, Sophia, and the Pigs looked at each other, nervously.
"I knew it," Cedric said. "I just knew she was only interested in Pop's money!"
"Poor Mr. Sneer," Sophia said. "He'll be so hurt when he finds out."
"Someone's got to tell him," Lloyd said.
Everyone was silent. None of them was going to come forward and volunteer to tell Cyril that his fiancé was only interested in him for his money. After awhile, the quintet just decided to go in and tell him. The question was, would Cyril believe them?