Sweet Twins
Chapter 58 Fannie The Actress

However, Jay didn't buy it. He stared at her in suspicion and wondered what she was really up to or hiding. He made a show of leisurely making his way up the stairs.

Doris tried to wait patiently in the living room but a sense of unease settled heavily in the pit of her stomach.

Almost immediately, she could hear a clamor and Jay shouting angrily from upstairs, "Doris, how dare you? I'll show you!"

Doris was so scared at the outburst that her hands shot up and hid her face. What did she do that was so wrong? Did men not like that one? She thought for sure most would.

She had especially thought Jay would of all people. He was a bit of a playboy, after all.

The noise upstairs continued until she saw Jay sprinting down the stairs with the now destroyed doll in his hands.

"Jay, that cost me a good amount of money. If you didn't want it, you could have just said so and given it back. Why destroy it? You're too much sometimes," Doris said this with tears threatening to pour down her face at the sight of the mindless destruction. "Give it back to you? I'd love to. Here! Take it! It's yours!" Jay threw the now broken doll at her. Then, he grabbed her roughly by the arm, yanking her towards the door. "Get out of this house and go as far away as you can so I never have to look at you again." His speech was punctuated by the slamming of the door in her face.

Doris stood there, unmoving, on his doorstep for what felt like hours. That whole scene had been such a whirlwind; she could barely process it.

Jay hadn't seemed at all upset today and now she was here.

Was she really thrown out? All because he was mad at her gift?

Honestly, she was pleased. She found herself thinking she would have done this earlier had she known his reaction.

"Is this not what I have been wanting? I can finally leave,' she thought to herself.

"All right, Jay. I'll leave if that's what you want. I still wish you happiness. Good bye," she said out loud. With that, Doris hopped into her second-hand VW Bug and drove away.

"Damn, woman, what the fuck? What must you think of me to think I would want such a gift?" Jay yelled in the empty house. "Unbelievable!" Jay found himself pacing and unable to shake his anger until he finally clicked open an app on his phone and invited a few women to accompany him to the beach.

Fannie was released from jail finally, but she wasn't thankful to Nancy for it.

"Sure, Nancy may have had me released, but only so that she could require me to make a public apology on TV. She did it on purpose with the sole intention of humiliating me and the entire family," Fannie said, raging. "I hate her." Fannie gritted her teeth and said this with a deep-seated ire. She was dramatic, after all.

"Never mind all that. You're out. That's all that matters. All's well that ends well. Stop doing anything similar again," Clark mumbled.

"You always side with Nancy, Dad," Fannie whined. "Haven't you noticed that all of our issues have stemmed from her being back? Now, she's going so far as to take revenge on the entire family. If we continue to let things slide, soon she will own us and our namesake company. Casper and I have worked so hard, and now we could lose it all." Fannie began to cry as she spoke.

"I have to say, I am also worried about the shares of the company that Jade owns." Jill sighed as she admitted this. "Now that she has Charles' support, Ning's future is truly uncertain."

"Why can't you try to make peace with Nancy then, Fannie? She is so soft hearted. I don't even think it would be difficult," Clark suggested.

It was not until after Clark had gotten sick that he noticed that Jill and Fannie had pulled away from him. He began to also realize that he had turned and done the same to Jade and Nancy. He intended to at least seek forgiveness from Nancy, but his ultimate hopes were that her and Fannie could reconcile as well and it would bridge some of the gaps he had created.

The problem was that he often forgot the kind of people Jill and Fannie were at their core. They only cared about work and making a profit, not something as soft as repairing relationships.

Jill turned to Fannie and winked. She hoped that would signal to Fannie that she should pretend to agree with him about making up with Nancy.

"I guess as long as Nancy is willing to accept me as her sister, I am willing to try to get along with her, Dad. For your sake." Fannie poured as much charm into her words as she could and then went back to playing the victim as dramatically as ever. With another bout of tears, Fannie muttered pathetically, "I just hope once she acknowledges me as her sister, she will stop trying to hurt me."

"If you are as willing as you say, call your sister and convince her to come home for a meal with us." Clark honestly believed Fannie might be telling the truth and he would live to see the two sisters getting along soon.

"Okay, if that's what you want, Dad. Of course." Clark heard this as Fannie genuinely compromising with him and his heart felt hopeful.

As Fannie pulled her cell phone out to call Nancy, the phone rang in her hand.

Speak of the devil, it was Nancy.

Fannie answered the phone through her tears and said as sweetly as she could muster, "Hello, sister."

Fannie was born to be an actress and she could both start and stop her tears at will.

This was a skill Nancy did not share with her sister.

Because of this, Nancy was shocked. Fannie seemed almost sweet in calling her sister, not at all said in the vicious tone Nancy had grown to expect.

Had hell frozen over?

"You shouldn't call me sister. I'm flattered," Nancy said coldly. "I know you are home now because it was me how had them let you out. As much as I want to see you stay in jail for the rest of your life over what you have done, I can't for my daughter's sake. I'm only calling to appeal to what little conscience you may have. Please, tell me where my daughter is, now."

Fannie's mouth turned up in a sinister smile, but the voice that came out of it was still sweet. "Sister, what I said before was a lie. I said out of anger. How could you think me so cruel that I would be capable of killing my niece and feeding her to the dogs? However, it has been so many years. I do not know where she is now." Fannie continued sadly, "But sister, rest assured, I will help you replace her."

"Really?" Nancy was afraid to let herself hope and even more cautious about letting it seep into her voice for Fannie to hear.

"Sister, trust me. I love you very much, even if you don't know it. I will start asking around and looking for your daughter immediately. When I have news, you will be the first to know." This time, Fannie tried to convey a sense of deep affection with her lines.

"I wish I could believe you. I hope what you say is true, for my daughter's sake." On that note, Nancy ended the call.

Fannie watched the call go black and she fiddled with her phone, smiling proudly.

"You actually know where her daughter is, don't you? Jill asked this with disbelief.

Fannie glanced wearily at Clark before answering Jill. She was afraid to say too much because Clark could still side with Nancy and help her steal the company.

She whispered to Jill, "Of course I know, but don't worry. I would never just turn the child over to Nancy so easily. She is just another piece of leverage to use against Nancy."

"Oh..." Jill considered this. After a long pause, she continued, "I guess, I see where you are coming from. I want out from under Nancy just as badly as you do. So, as your mother, I will support you." She emphasized the last point with a, "Humph," and crossed her arms over her chest. Jill was not a dumb woman. However, when it came to Fannie, she had a blind spot, and she often failed to consider the long game.

She might have thought she was simply protecting her daughter, but her indulgence would later cause Fannie to go too far. Some might even say it was what triggered her spiral into insanity.

Since the day that Fannie had promised to help replace her daughter, Nancy had been waiting anxiously for news.

She came to the house to see Fannie several times, though she claimed to just be visiting her father. If she thought she could gather a shred of information of her daughter this way, it was worth it to her.

Each time, Fannie and Jill were polite, even welcoming, and maintained their charade perfectly.000000