The Sweethearts of Truffle Manor Valentine's Serial Day 5, Danica Favorite

Adette shot a glare at the trespasser. She didn’t owe him any answers. And yet… “If you were at all familiar with my grandmother and Nougat Peak, you’d know that they don’t allow visitors this late.”

She took a step forward, wincing at the pain as she rose to her full height. “Which tells me that you’re the one who doesn’t belong here. I’d heard that there was some charlatan sniffing around Grandma, trying to milk her for what she had left.”

Pointing to the ring, she said, “you just couldn’t wait until she was dead, could you? The director at Nougat Peak said she only has days left, but that wasn’t good enough for you, was it? You had to get your finger on her money now. Well, the joke’s on you. There’s no money. There’s a reason Dunkleman Chocolates and Confections has been closed all these years. Surely you heard about that kid who fell into the chocolate vat? Our very own Augustus Gloop, only the reality was far worse than Roald Dahl could have written it. They sued for millions, and won.”

Casting a scornful look at him, she looked past him to the field beyond, to the land where a condo development had been built over where the factory had once stood. “My grandparents lost everything. And my parents…”

Adette tried to ignore the way her chest tightened every time they came up in conversation. People always assumed that there’d been enough insurance to cover everything. Enough to set her up living the good life. But that was another one of those jokes that wasn’t funny.

“Let’s just say there’s no money, and leave it at that. Go away. Give me my grandmother’s ring, and I won’t press charges.”

Instead of looking disappointed at being confronted with the truth, he stared at her like she was an idiot. “I told you, I own this house. Your grandmother sold it to me a month ago.”

Her heart thudded to the bottom of her stomach. “She would never…”

Then Adette closed her eyes. Remembered. The student loan people had stopped hounding her about a month ago. Oh, grandmother, why??

“She did. Said you weren’t interested.”  Devon gave her a look of contempt that would have frozen just about anyone. 

But it only made Adette sad. How many times had her grandmother asked her to come visit? And how many times had Adette told her that she couldn’t take the time off work?  Between working two jobs to pay the rent and the time she spent auditioning for roles, she couldn’t afford it. Obviously she hadn’t been able to keep up on the student loans. Even now, her credit card had barely had enough room on it for the plane ticket. 

“She misunderstood,” Adette said quietly. “Now may I please have her ring? Don’t tell me she sold that to you too. I don’t think I could bear it.”