The moment Vinoria heard those words, it felt like the fearful child that she had hidden away a long time ago had resurfaced. Her perspective of her uncle, though much older now, still looked huge and menacing in front of her. She knew he was not above using violence behind closed doors to get his way. The fear paralyzed her. She stood there, feeling voiceless and vulnerable, with only her frown to express the tip of the iceberg of what she was feeling right now. 

“Let us in.” He then growled, and the frown on Vinoria’s face deepened. 

“You owe us!” Proclaimed one of the daughters, backing her father up. “Don’t be a selfish asshole. Let us in.” She had three large luggages stacked near the car, ready to be unpacked. The woman wore pretty makeup and had a beautiful long dress. She was around the same age as Vinoria, but she looked way older. This daughter was always the loud mouth of the family and always threw her own mistakes onto Vinoria whenever she could. 

“Yeah! You owe us!” The other daughter also spoke up with a mocking voice towards Vinoria. “Give us the house!” The younger girl, almost reaching her 20s, was tightly holding on to a big and expensive bear plush doll. She swayed her body from side to side as she spoke, acting as if she was still a sweet, innocent child. It was how she managed to get what she demanded, all the time.

Vinoria’s eyes slowly shifted towards the younger daughter as she spoke with that annoying tone of voice. The more the woman talked, the more menacing Vinoria’s stare became. These spoiled little brats. Dependent weaklings that leech off of other people. With the glare alone, she forced the two daughters to back down and shut their mouths. 

“Take some responsibility for the family and be grateful for once, ah?” The uncle quickly cut in and Vinoria’s stare softened a bit, once again thrown back into the fear of being harmed. “We’re moving in.” He forced himself past Curtis and stomped right up to Vinoria. “You should be happy that we even want to live with you. You should be grateful that we took care of you when you were small. Don’t be selfish.” His words hit hard, and it was getting more and more difficult for Vinoria to fight back. A part of her knew this was wrong, but her inner child was just screaming at her to just say ‘yes’ so she can avoid another beating session. 

“I think-” Before Vinoria could even form a proper sentence, the man shut her down right away. 

“You think? What more is there to think about?” He threw his hands in the air, as if he was dealt bad customer service and no one was willing to listen to his victimhood. “We are your family.” He gestured to himself. “You are going to let us in.” He then pointed to Vinoria, with a commanding manner. He was very determined to not let Vinoria express her own opinions and just saw her as a pawn for his own gain.

The two daughters waited for their father to do the usual and talk his way into the house to claim it as theirs. They’ve always known Vinoria to be a pushover, and they couldn’t wait to rush into the house to pick the largest rooms for themselves. They wore a smile on their faces to show their false-friendliness, as if this was just how things should be.

Vinoria’s mind was racing, wondering what she should do. On one hand, they are indeed family, and she is grateful that they’ve given her a home when she was young. But her gut was completely against letting them even take one more step closer to the house. 

Curtis notices Vinoria’s discomfort and along with Thomas, they try to escort the family off of the land, but then her uncle started to act as if he was being assaulted and threatened to sue. Vinoria is familiar with these mean tactics, she has witnessed him pull such tricks in the past. Now that she has grown, she realized how much her uncle acted just like the scammers, just with a different method. 

Once she was able to see that, Vinoria had no problems putting her foot down. She made a promise to the staff, and to herself, that she would take care of the mansion and honor what Frederick had built up for the Redcrown legacy. 

“No.” With a stern face and tone, she dismissed the family. “I lived with you, but you were never my family.” She then gestured to Curtis and Thomas, the two people that were there with her. “These people,” then gesturing to the mansion, “And those who help me manage the house, they are family. They are the family that you never were.” 

“Listen, you selfish, glorified animal slave!” The uncle lost his temper and raised his voice as well as his hand, ready to slap the woman on the face. Vinoria flinched and backed off, raising her arms to protect her head. “You don’t deserve all of this! If it weren’t for us, you wouldn’t even be here! You’d be starved to death in the streets as a child!” 

Once again, those words stabbed deep into the woman’s mind, where a part of her was agreeing but the other part still refuses to say ‘yes’ to all this.

“You’re a coward!” The man started to throw insults at her face as much as he could. Attempted to force her into submission, as he did so many times in the past. “You’re selfish! You won’t survive on your own! You’re just as dumb as your father, and as careless as your mother!”

“Alright, that’s enough!” Curtis stepped in and blocked the man from reaching Vinoria. Thomas also rushed to pull the man back, because now he was really trying to swing punches at the woman. He was yelling at the top of his lungs while he fought back.

Robin and Adam, who were observers just a moment ago, saw the man starting to become violent, and both charged in to help restrain the uncle.

Once the man was restrained, his violent behavior turned into a sobbing one. He still kept insisting to be let in, all while crying his eyes out, talking about how little the family had and how poor they were, with no idea where their next meal was. Curtis then went back to the booth, threatening to call the police. This finally caused the man to stop, as he got up and rushed back to the car, wiping his tears in the process before driving off. 

The only one hurt during all of this was Thomas. But he insisted he was fine, and that the bruise made him look heroic. Curtis then went up to Vinoria to comfort her once more, and expressed how proud he was. Proud to see her stand up to her uncle.

Vinoria wanted to feel proud, she wished to tell everyone that she was okay. But once the whole thing was over, she found herself once again frozen with fear. Unable to process what had just happened, and what are the consequences of rejecting her uncle’s demands. A successful rejection, even a slight one, had never happened before. So she could only imagine a greater punishment just waiting to strike at her tenfold. 

Vinoria was escorted back into her room. The staff gave her time and space to be alone, but she didn’t feel alone at all. She instead felt crowded with the memories of her past. Trembling from the experience, her breathing was short and sharp. She hugged herself, grasping onto her arms tightly as she tried to suppress her whimpering noises. Good thing the door to her room was closed and no one will see her in this state.

When the next day arrived, and Vinoria was told that another visitor had come to the mansion, she thought it was someone from her past, once again trying to get their hands on the land and legacy of Redcrown. She was ready to go out and shoo the person away, but the frown very quickly turned into a subtle and soft smile when she saw that Tucker was the one that came. 

Tucker Furuk was one of the younger professors who frequently visited the mansion, usually to pick up Frederick’s papers and lesson plans for the university. He wore a white shirt with navy blue suit coat, and in his hands was a fedora that matched his outfit. His beard was short and well kept, with his hair pulled straight back, and a pair of square framed glasses.

“Good morning, Vinoria. Hope I am not disrupting anything important, and I do apologize for not letting you know ahead of time.” Tucker spoke politely, his face was apologetic, but was delighted to see the owner nonetheless. “I wanted to ask a question regarding Frederick’s research papers. Would you be willing to donate his notes to the university? Me and some of the professors hoped to carry on his hard work, and help finish his theories.”

Vinoria’s expression lit up right away when she heard the mention of Frederick’s work. “Yes, I agree that would be the course of action.” She replied right away, her smile was slightly wider than usual. “But under one condition, if it’s not asking too much…”

“Of course, Vinoria, what can I do for you?” The man was curious about what the request was. “I know how close you were to him, and I am willing to help any way I can to continue his legacy.”

“Teach me.” The woman asked, shyly. “Teach me about his work. I’d love to understand them.” Though she spoke in a timid way, she also sounded curious and very eager to learn. 

The professor was shocked, but was absolutely delighted to hear her interest in such things. “W-Well, of course, it would be an honor to teach you more about his work!” A smile grew on Tucker’s face, as he got excited to teach the new owner. Vinoria’s desire to learn is something he wished Frederick could see right now. This made him hopeful, not only for the old man’s legacy, but for the future of the Redcrown mansion itself.