The Goliath heiress

Chapter 1- January 1st 1921

Chapter 1- January 1st, 1921.

Juniper Goliath had a very distasteful view of the giant house she was standing in. She was frightened of the endless hallways and earey feeling she would get when she was left alone. She was raised at another one of her grandfather's many houses that the family had made into an academy for the Goliath children to be sent away to focus on studying while simultaneously keeping them out of their parents' ways. Juniper's father was Emmit Goliath, the next heir of the Goliath family's fortune and head of the family name. Her mother was from another wealthy powerful family, they married to boost both family's businesses and power, not for love. The couple was extremely good looking but also extremely cunning and cold hearted towards everyone, including their own daughter. Juniper had no warm loving memories from her mother or father and only saw them on holidays and special events when all the children would go back to the manor for a week or two to celebrate. Her cousins were nothing like their parents, they were kind and caring for each other. But eventually they would be taught to be cold and emotionless just like Juniper, Clause and many generations of Goliath children before them. Juniper had many cousins, 13 to be exact. She was the second oldest, Clause being the oldest cousin by less than a year. And even though she wasn't the oldest cousin, she was in the best position possible out of every child in the Goliath family. Her father was the heir to the family's fortune, which meant she was next after her father being her parents' only child. All the family's fortune and power would go to her one day. Most people would love to know they're going to inherit power and money, however, Juniper hated the idea of everything going to her. She thought her oldest cousin, Clause, deserved the title of head of the family far more than her. He was the smartest and the best option out of every child in the family and everyone knew it. It wasn't that Juniper was sloppy and unfit, in fact she was extremely well mannered and qualified to run a family, but Clause was just better. He was about to age out of being considered a child and be allowed to live in the Goliath manor, he would also eventually, follow in his father and mothers footsteps in taking care of the family's "Problems", rather than what he would be best at, which was being the next heir of the Goliath name.

Juniper was a spitting image of her mother at her age. She was short but lanky, and had fair skin. Her cheek bones were extremely defined and collar bones always sticking out. Her hair was a very light blonde and eyes as dark as the night. Juniper hated how thin she was and could not wait until she began to look more like her mother now.... Less boney and more handsome.
No one could ever catch Juniper smiling, she always had a solemn and unimpressed look on her face. She had a hard time feeling any emotion other than numbness due to her years of conditioning by her father and grandfather. You could never know what she was truly thinking or feeling, just as she was trained. But that wasn't unusual for the Goliath's. They either looked cold and cruel or confident and boastful to show the power and control they had over their family and other families.
She had met children other than her cousins at events at the Goliath manor but they were always so immature and unbearable for her to be interested in talking with them. She never understood why other parents couldn't teach their children to be socially acceptable when in a place of business. Her and her oldest cousin would always find each other during the events and observe everything around them, trying to find out what had changed in the time that they were gone.

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"Great Uncle Robert has another mistress I think", Clause observed.
"And how did you come to that conclusion, cousin?"Juniper questioned.
"His wife is over in the corner drinking her 6th drink tonight, that's 3 more than last time" Clause said, looking at the sad drunk woman in the corner trying to move the cherry in her drink out of the way of the last drops of alcohol.
"Hmm I suppose so. And i believe That our fathers are in another fight by the way they have been swearing threats at each other all holiday" Replied Juniper.
"Juniper, it wouldn't be a holiday if our fathers were not in some tiff or at each other's throats about power or money" Clause said, waving over one of the servants handing out drinks.
The Goliath children were back at the manor for Christmas and the new year. This party was the last one of many during the holiday which meant the children would be going back to the next day to start their studies back up. Juniper hated Christmas and new years because of how long she would have to stay at the drab manor with her family. She despised being there not only because of the creepiness of the giant house but also because of the pressure she was under when she was there. She was always being watched by everyone to see if she was on the right track to take the head of the family one day. People would watch the way she eats, the way she would walk, and the way she would talk. Many of those people were hoping she would mess up badly enough to be proven unfit of being an heir and their own child would be chosen to be renamed the next heir. Clauses parents especially.
Clause's father and Juniper's father were twin brothers who had never gotten along due to jealousy and favoritism. Juniper's father was born four minutes before Clause's father, making him the heir to the family by less than five minutes. Clause and Juniper became very close over the hatred of both of their fathers and dislike of their fighting and foolishness. They would constantly be together studying or walking around the yard. They used to be out riding and racing their horses until one day Juniper's horse got severely injured and had to be put down right in front of her. That was the first time she had ever cried and she was later "reprimanded" for it.