A Final Request Before Saying Goodbye | #RELIGIOUS | RomePi™

♡17♡ (UPDATED 10/23/2022)

Ruthanne stared at the intricately hand-carved oval-shaped mirror as she made her way towards her bed. The beautifully crafted gift from her cousin spoke of the women they had both become.

At one time, she could clearly see herself as a conflicted individual hellbent on never speaking to her cousin ever again. Ruthanne remembered the day she and Rhys were invited to a family function and her selfish cousin made a pass at her then-boyfriend. Though she had no desire to believe that her own flesh and blood could be so cruel, it was only due to the fact that she witnessed it firsthand that she was forced to deal with the temptress once and for all.

Rhys had only just asked for her hand in marriage in front of their family and friends. Only a few hours had passed when her cousin had somehow managed to corner him in the kitchen determined to make her move.

"So, you and my dear sweet cousin are getting married?" Rose purred as if she hadn't been in the room listening and watching when he kneeled down in front of Ruthanne with the most breathtaking engagement ring. The look on Rhys' face was one of shocked dismay as he searched for a place to disappear with the lively redhead closing the space between them. The moment she placed her elegant long fingers on his arm, Ruthanne burst through the door forcing the guilty woman to jump back what seemed like ten feet.

"There you are. I was just trying to keep this good... looking gentleman of yours company." Rose chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, I just bet you were," Ruthanne replied with a piercing glare of disgust.

"What the heck is wrong with you? You act like I did something wrong." Rose hurled a pitiful frown at her cousin.

"If I had given you just a few more minutes, you would have crossed a line you would never have been able to come back from. Rhys is my fiancé. I don't need your help to keep him entertained. If you want to put on a show for someone, go find your own man and stop trying to move in on mine. You're too old to keep acting like a whore." Ruthanne held no punches as she spoke her peace once and for all.

The newly engaged couple excused themselves to prevent a terrible scene before everyone else.

As she walked out of her aunt and uncle's home with her future husband in tow, Rose stormed out of the kitchen hurling daggers from her eyes as if they were grenades and she was ready to blow up the house along with everyone in it.

Never in her life had anyone put her in her squarely in her place until the one time Ruthanne finally gave her a piece of her mind.

Standing before the wood crafted mirror, Ruthanne recalled a letter she received from Rose not long after it had made the rounds in the family.

When Rose was disinvited from her wedding, it didn't take long word to reach each family member. Being the spoiled little princess that she was, Rose refused to be honest with anyone regarding the reason for the fallout.

It wasn't until she made the mistake of telling her cousin Heather about the incident, while insisting that she had done nothing wrong, that the family learned the truth.

Heather had once fallen victim to Rose's proclivity for stealing other women's men. Even though her cousin was fully aware of Heather and her boyfriend Kelly's long-time relationship, her feigned ignorance after dating and sleeping with the man for a few months.