Europe / Britain / London (Crystal Corporation Private Estate): March 12th, 1993.
It was a beautiful night for the world.
The moon was still hanging above london like a nosy old woman with a church fan, the stars were still sparkling like god had accidentally spilled rich people jewelry across the sky, and the city itself was still pretending that nothing evil was moving underneath all the wine, perfume, cameras and polite british smiles.
Yet if you were to look closely at london.
To be more specific, inside of a private estate rented under crystal corporation's name, you would see something very strange happening.
A party dying.
Not dramatically.
Not with gunshots, screaming, police sirens or somebody's wife finding out about the mistress in the coat room.
No.
It died the way rich parties usually died.
Slowly.
With fake hugs, air kisses, drunk promises, stolen silver spoons, bad breath, expensive coats and people saying they simply must do this again while praying silently they never had too.
(Crystalline's POV)
The last guest finally left at 2:17 in the morning.
The black cars rolled away from the front courtyard one by one until the estate gates closed behind them with a deep metal sound.
*CLANK*
The music stopped.
The laughter disappeared.
The champagne towers stood half empty like rich people had sucked the joy out of them and left the glass to mourn.
The ballroom looked like a battlefield for people with too much money and not enough home training.
Flowers were bent.
Napkins were abandoned.
One duke had left his cane by the fireplace.
A french actress had left one diamond earring in the powder room.
And somebody had somehow dropped a shrimp inside of a piano.
I stared at the piano for a long moment and said calmly with a sigh "I don't even want to know."
Selena walked past me in her robe with her heels in one hand and said "That's why rich people need jesus and supervision sometimes."
Berry stood near the bar with his tie loosened and a glass of water in his hand like alcohol had just personally betrayed him sometime around midnight.
Big mama sat in her mobility chair near the fireplace with her oxygen tubes in her nose, a blanket over her lap and a look on her face like she was disappointed the party ended without anybody being slapped.
Emma stood beside me with jonathan's folded note in her hand.
Edward stood near the door.
Still.
Silent.
Waiting.
The warmth was gone now.
The party had left.
Only the family, the money, the warning and the war remained.
I looked around the empty ballroom and said calmly with a serious look on my face "Lock the estate."
Edward nodded once and said "Already done, ma'am."
"Dose that include all staff." I said calmly with squinted eyes.
"Checked, separated and reassigned by clearance level. No one leaves the property until morning without my approval." Said edward calmly with a serious look on his face.
Berry looked at me with a serious look on his face and asked "What exactly did that note say."
Emma handed it back to me.
I unfolded it again even though I already knew every word by now.
Alfred is moving against your family. He does not want to beat you anymore. He wants to hurt what you love. Do not trust quiet rooms, new staff, gifts, drivers, doctors, or invitations. Jasmine made me send this. I am sorry.
I read it once.
Then twice.
Then folded it again.
Selena stared at me.
Big mama stared at me.
Berry stared at me.
The room was silent.
I smiled softly and said "So the old racist bastard wants to play in my house."
Selena's face hardened.
Big mama's fingers tightened slightly on the armrest of her chair.
Berry set his glass down very carefully.
Emma opened her black folder and said "Ma'am, after receiving the note I ordered a secondary review of every scheduled service, delivery and staff movement for the next forty eight hours."
I looked at her and said simply "And…"
Emma's eyes sharpened as she said "And there was a medical service request made under big mama's oxygen supplier. It was scheduled for tomorrow morning at nine."
The room went cold.
Big mama's eyes narrowed.
"I didn't request nobody." Said big nama calmly.
"I know." Said emma while glancing at her subtly.
Selena slowly turned her head toward me.
My smile did not move.
"The company has no record of the appointment. The number attached to the confirmation belongs to a dead man in Liverpool. The van plate was forged." Said emma with a sigh as she rubbed her forehead.
The room became silent.
Berry had widened eyes and said with a whisper "Jesus."
"Wrong office." I said calmly with a sigh.
Emma flipped to another page and said with a sigh "There was also a temporary driver assigned to selena for a supposed shopping appointment tomorrow afternoon."
Selena blinked and chuckled and said with a snicker "Shopping appointment."
I looked at her.
Selena looked offended and said "Bitch I shop myself. I don't need a temporary anything unless it's a temporary man with permanent money. I also do social security checks by the way."
I nodded slowly and said "Valid but I could give less of a shit what you want right now unless it's cleaning up anything related to blood and survival."
"The original driver was told by phone that you personally approved the change." Said emma with confusion.
"I did not." I said calmly.
"Correct." Said emma with a nod.
Edward stepped forward slightly and said "The replacement driver has already been found."
Selena tilted her head and asked "Found where."
Edward looked at me first.
I smiled and waved my right hand for him to continue.
"Three blocks away from the estate. He was waiting in a black car with diplomatic plates that do not exist." Said edward with a cold look in his eyes.
The room was silent.
"And now." Asked berry carefully.
Edward's face did not change for a moment and he said with cold eyes "Now he is answering questions."
Selena sipped cold tea out of a champagne glass and said "Good."
Big mama looked at me and asked "What else."
Emma hesitated for the first time.
I noticed.
So did edward.
So did selena.
"Speak." I said calmly with a sigh.
Emma took one breath and opened the folder fully and said "There was a gift delivered during the party. It was addressed to you from a royal admirer. The outer packaging passed initial inspection because it came through a legitimate floral house."
Berry rubbed his forehead.
"What was inside." I asked with squinted eyes.
"A silver music box." Said emma with eyes that looked a little unsure.
The room went quiet.
"It had a camera inside the lid and a needle mechanism beneath the handle." Said edward calmly adding in the background.
Selena stood up so fast her robe almost fell open as she said sharply "Needle."
Edward nodded slowly and said "Likely coated. We are testing it now."
I stared at the floor for a moment.
Not angry.
Not yet.
Anger was too small for what I felt.
This was cleaner.
Colder.
A thing with no screaming in it.
I thought about aelena getting into a car that would never bring her back.
I thought about big mama letting a fake nurse touch her oxygen.
I thought about my hand opening a pretty little music box and feeling a needle kiss my skin.
I thought about alfred samwell sitting somewhere in his ugly london office, smiling like love was a weakness and family was a door he could walk through.
My fingers curled slowly as I thought with a smile "Alfred"
The fireplace cracked.
No one else spoke.
Berry looked at me and said carefully "Crystal, we need to be smart."
I lifted my eyes slightly to him.
He swallowed.
"I am smart. I just need to learn how to be the dirty type of smart instead of the impulsive kind type." I said calmly with a gentle smile.
"That is not what I meant." Said berry with a sigh.
"I know what you meant. You meant don't get emotional. Don't make a mess. Don't turn london into a obituary with better architecture." I said while walking toward the fireplace.
Berry said nothing.
I turned and looked at all of them.
Selena.
Big mama.
Berry.
Emma.
Edward.
The people who had stayed after the room emptied.
The people close enough to see the monster without pretending it was just someone with good lighting.
"I let the party finish because they deserved one good night." I said calmly to myself with a sigh.
Selena's face softened for half a second.
Then hardened again.
"Mia died. John died. The grammys played in my face. Alfred sent spies. The eye opened its little door. Project starfish is breathing somewhere underneath the world like a disease with excellent funding. And now this old decomposing corpse in a suit thinks he can touch my family because he is too scared to touch me himself" I thought while laughing softly.
Nobody else did.
"He thinks love makes people careless when he doesn't know what it is himself." I said with cold eyes.
Big mama's mouth twisted slightly with unknown meaning.
Selena sighed and said with a whisper "Fool."
"Exactly." I said calmly as I walked to the bar, picked up a clean glass and poured myself water because alcohol would have made this too poetic and I was trying to remain professional.
I took one sip and looked at emma and said calmly "Call every attorney tied to crystal corporation, mia media, and the west coast holdings. Wake them up. If they complain, buy their law firm and fire them from it."
Emma nodded immediately and said with a serious look on her face "Yes, ma'am."
I looked at berry and asked "Do you still have old favors in radio, television, publishing, motown, gossip press and scared executives who owe you too much."
Berry sighed slowly and said reluctantly "I do."
"Good. Tomorrow morning I want whispers in every room alfred thinks he owns. Not accusations. Questions. Questions are more dangerous because cowards answer them in public without realizing they confessed." I said with a chuckle as I raised my water glass in the air and drunk the rest of it.
Berry's eyes narrowed slowly.
He nodded.
I looked at edward and said calmly "Find every man alfred sent tonight. Not just the ones holding the tools. The ones who called. The ones who paid. The ones who watched. The ones who stood far enough away to believe distance is innocence."
Edward's face went darker and he said with a cold look in his eyes "Understood."
I looked at selena.
She was staring at me with a face I could not read.
"What." I asked with squinted eyes.
Selena walked toward me slowly and touched my cheek with her warm hand.
For a second I was five again.
For a second I was not rich.
For a second I was just hers.
"Don't let him turn you stupid." Said selena softly as both of her hands landed on both of my shoulders and squeezed for a second.
The room was silent.
I stared at her.
Then I smiled.
"I was born smarter than men like alfred and prettier than their wives. I will be fine." I said calmly.
Selena rolled her eyes, but her hand stayed there for one second longer before she let go.
Big mama leaned back in her chair and said "Kill the name first."
I looked at her.
She adjusted her oxygen tube and said "Men like him don't die when the body stops. They die when people stop bowing and worshipping the name."
The room went still.
I smiled slowly and said softly "Now that…was useful."
Big mama scoffed and said "Everything I say is useful. Y'all just slow."
I turned toward the tall windows.
London glittered beyond the glass.
Cold.
Old.
Proud.
Full of rooms where men like alfred samwell believed power was inherited forever.
How adorable.
Just like a baby begging for breast milk but throws a tantrum when he gets no attention.
I lifted the folded note in my hand and held it over the candle flame on the table.
The paper caught fire.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Beautifully.
I watched jonathan's warning turn black at the edges.
Then ash.
"Alfred samwell made one mistake tonight." I said calmly.
The flame reflected in the window, touching my face like a crown made of hell.
Berry was silent and asked quietly "What mistake."
I turned back toward them with a soft smile and said "He touched the house. Now I take the name."
The room was silent.
Then emma closed her folder.
*Bak*
Edward straightened.
Berry picked up his phone.
Selena sat back down.
Big mama smiled like history had just finally realized what was about to happen.
And somewhere across london, alfred samwell was still breathing.
Poor thing.
My name is Clcrystalline alina onowles.
And this is my story of how I died and became beyoncé's half sister.
…
THE END…