Prolonge
If there was one thing everyone agreed on, it was this:
The Brownstone family was exhausting.
They were rich.
Famous.
Powerful.
And completely incapable of spending five minutes together without creating a disaster.
At the center of every argument was usually one person.
Veronica Brownstone.
The youngest Brownstone daughter had a special gift.
Not singing.
Not dancing.
Not business.
Not academics.
Chaos.
Pure, concentrated chaos.
If Veronica cried, people ran.
If Veronica screamed, people panicked.
If Veronica pointed at someone and said they did something, entire investigations started.
And Veronica loved every second of it.
"Mommy, she's doing it again!"
The voice echoed through the massive Brownstone mansion.
A crash sounded from somewhere upstairs.
A maid sighed.
A security guard sighed.
A butler sighed.
Everyone already knew who was responsible.
Veronica.
Again.
The Brownstone family immediately rushed upstairs.
Well...
Almost everyone.
Because one daughter remained downstairs.
Sitting peacefully on a sofa.
Eating a strawberry pastry.
Reading a fashion magazine.
Completely unbothered.
That daughter was Ellauna Brownstone.
The fourth Brownstone child.
The forgotten child.
The peaceful child.
The daughter who never caused problems.
The daughter who never asked for attention.
The daughter who somehow became one of the most successful fashion designers in the world before turning thirty.
And yet...
Nobody talked about that.
They talked about Veronica.
Always Veronica.
Ellauna turned a page.
Took another bite of her pastry.
And continued reading.
A loud scream erupted upstairs.
She didn't even look up.
She already knew it wasn't life-threatening.
If it was truly serious, someone would tell her.
Probably.
Hopefully.
Maybe.
A few minutes later, her older brother rushed downstairs.
"Ella!"
Ellauna looked up.
"Hm?"
"Veronica locked herself in the bathroom and says she's being held hostage."
Ellauna blinked.
"By who?"
"Nobody."
"Oh."
"She locked herself in there."
"Oh."
"On purpose."
"Oh."
Her brother groaned.
Ellauna returned to her magazine.
This happened so often that she had developed emotional immunity.
Meanwhile, across the city, another powerful family was having problems of their own.
The Blackwells.
One of the wealthiest and most feared families in the country.
Business empires.
Private jets.
Luxury mansions.
International influence.
And enough family drama to power an entire television network.
At the head of the family stood Blackwell Patriarch.
A terrifying old man with a gold-plated walking stick and absolutely no patience.
Especially for his sons.
His eldest son, Tyrez Blackwell, was considered the future of the family.
Handsome.
Successful.
Brilliant.
Respected.
And unfortunately...
Still emotionally stuck in the past.
Years ago, he had fallen in love with Veronica Brownstone.
Years ago, Veronica Brownstone had left him standing alone at the altar.
The humiliation became national news.
Tyrez never fully recovered from it.
The entire Blackwell family remembered that day.
Especially Richie Blackwell.
Tyrez's younger brother.
Because Richie eventually married Veronica himself.
A decision he questioned almost every morning.
Sometimes before breakfast.
Sometimes during breakfast.
Sometimes immediately after breakfast.
The point was—
He questioned it often.
Very often.
Meanwhile, life had other plans.
To repair relations between the Brownstones and the Blackwells after the wedding scandal, another marriage had been arranged.
A quieter marriage.
A simpler marriage.
A marriage nobody expected much from.
Tyrez Blackwell.
And Ellauna Brownstone.
The forgotten daughter.
The forgotten wife.
The woman who somehow spent years quietly holding everything together.
Without anyone noticing.
Well...
Almost anyone.
Because lately, Tyrez had started noticing.
The way Ellauna always listened.
The way she never judged people.
The way she smiled at him after difficult days.
The way she could sit beside him in complete silence and somehow make everything feel peaceful.
It confused him.
It worried him.
And it was about to become a very big problem.
Because Veronica Brownstone had recently returned to the Blackwell family's daily life.
And wherever Veronica went...
Disaster followed.
As for Ellauna?
She simply continued living her life.
Designing clothes.
Supporting her husband.
Eating snacks.
Avoiding drama.
And waddling away from every explosion life threw at her.
Unfortunately for her...
Life was preparing its biggest explosion yet.
And this time?
The entire family was going down with it.
Including one very pregnant billionaire wife.
Who still hadn't realized she was the main character of the story.
And so our story begins.
With one forgotten woman.
One confused husband.
One chaotic sister.
One exhausted mafia family.
And enough drama to make the stars themselves look away.
Welcome to the Blackwell family.
May God help them all.
