Family Comes First, Pt. 3

“What’s this group meeting about, Mr. Craig?” Maddy asks the group.

You’re all sitting in the private dining area at Viv’s restaurant, the same one you guys used back when Stella and Cassie brought Paige with them for lunch. Stella, Cassie, Tanya, Viv, and Brooke are with you physically in the room, while Becca and Maddy are joining in via video chat. Cassie and Sylvie have had their talk, and Sylvie already told her story with Mr. Hoffman to the three of you. The same story you’re about to tell your girlfriends now.

As per your call with Becca, you warned Sylvie that Mr. Hoffman was on his way back to the city; and is most likely going to confront Sylvie about her choice to not follow his orders. Sylvie decided it was best to check out of her room at the Hoffman Hotel and get an AirBnB instead, since she wouldn’t want to get confronted by Mr. Hoffman in his home court. It was a convenient way to have her stay busy, while she handled the hotel and started finding a new place, you could have this meeting with the girls without having to explain to her what it is you’re doing.

“Didn’t Stella mention it in the group chat?” You ask.

“She only said ‘important group meeting later’ and asked if we could use this room again for it.” Viv answers you. You look at Stella with reprimanding eyes, that immediately gets her on the defensive.

“I thought it would be better if they heard it in person!” Stella reacts defensively.

“She has a point, papi. It would’ve led to too many questions in the group chat that you couldn’t have answered immediately anyway. They probably wouldn’t have been able to work. If I didn’t have the girls to distract me, I probably would have been on the edge of my seat waiting for this story.” Tanya tells you.

“Oh-ho-ho. I have to say, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.” Viv reacts.

“So, what’s this about?” Brooke asks again, getting the conversation back on track.

“We learned who my father is.” Cassie tells them without waiting any longer, to the gasps of Viv, Brooke, and Maddy.

“We also learned why my father had me leave with him so suddenly last night.” Becca chimes in, to a lesser reaction from the others, as they seem less interested in the answer to that mystery.

“Most importantly, we learned that those two things are connected.” You add on, to a louder gasp from those who don’t know.

“Jesus Christ, did you guys practice that?” Viv reacts jokingly, getting everyone to chuckle; as you all realize how much more dramatic you’re making the news sound.

“How are they connected?” Maddy asks.

“My mom… she-uh… she came by earlier to take me away from Jay.” Cassie tells the others.

“Which is the same thing my father is doing to me. He’s keeping me here in Las Vegas in order to prevent me from seeing Jay any further.” Becca adds on, and Maddy seems to connect the dots in her head as she gasps in realization.

“What? Did you get it already, M?” Viv asks Maddy.

“I’m not sure yet, but it sounds like…” Maddy tries to explain, but pauses as her eyes dart from side-to-side on the screen.

“My father’s—” Cassie starts to say to confirm Maddy’s theory, but Becca cuts her off.

“My father.” Becca says, to the silent looks of those who don’t know. “We mean, Cassie and I have the same father. We are half-siblings.” Becca continues, and the girls who didn’t know let out another shocked gasp in reaction.

“NO~” Viv immediately reacts with the long drawn out ‘No’. “NO FUCKING WAY!” Viv adds. “That’s fucking insane!” Viv adds some more.

“Uh~, what Viv said.” Brooke reacts in a calmer manner, but her eyes are wide in shock.

“I’d like to hear how your mom met my father, Cassie. Jay told me during our call earlier that you’ll talk to her about their history together.” Becca calmly directs the conversation to move forward, and the three of you who heard Sylvie’s story recount to everyone else the story Sylvie told all of you.

Sylvie apparently started working as a ‘performer’ at the Aphrodite right after she finished high school, and before it was raided by the local authorities for offering its VIP patrons under-the-table illicit transactions with its female performers. Mr. Hoffman was one of her regulars during that time.

After the club got raided by the local authorities, Sylvie became Mr. Hoffman’s ‘Sugar Baby’, and they continued their affair for years. Sylvie recounted that she got her concierge job at the Hoffman Hotel so that it made it convenient for them to fool around there. Eventually, the sexual relationship between them ended when Sylvie got pregnant. A pregnancy that, although hurtful to learn for Cassie, Sylvie admitted was something she wanted to abort. It was only due to Mr. Hoffman’s adamant stance that Sylvie keep the baby, that she decided not to do so.

Sylvie admitted that the only reason she did what he asked was because of Mr. Hoffman’s promise to send her more than enough money every month to take care of the child and raise her… provided that Cassie was really his.

After Becca hears that part of the story, she corroborates the idea that her father would most likely have had a paternity test to ensure that Sylvie wasn’t swindling him. She concludes that Sylvie is most likely telling the truth about Cassie’s blood relation to her father.

“Wait, so the reason he doesn’t want both of you to date Jay is because he doesn’t… what? He doesn’t want an incestuous lesbian relationship between his daughters?” Viv crudely asks.

“It would seem so.” Becca answers her.

“It’s not like you guys are going to… Oh~... Right. He heard that part of our conversation last night.” Tanya begins to question the logic of Mr. Hoffman’s fear, before realizing that he may have heard out of context the conversation you had about ‘arrangements’ last night.

“Then shouldn’t Mr. Hoffman just prevent one of you from dating Jay? I mean, no offense Becca, but if he convinces you to stop dating Jay, your dad’s problem is basically solved.” Maddy points out.

“I would assume it’s because of his deep fear that if I can no longer pursue a relationship with Jay, I’ll revert back to my homosexual ‘tendencies’.” Becca explains, a hint of frustration in her tone.

“Why does your father even think that? Have you only ever dated women before?” Brooke asks.

“No, but I’ve been cold to all of the men he’s set me up with. Add the malicious rumors that are spread around the office, his assumption of my sexuality is that I prefer dating the same sex.” Becca explains.

“With that in mind, he probably looks at Jay as a gift from God for having converted his only capable offspring to bear him grandchildren back into heterosexuality.” Becca adds, still very much in annoyance and frustration.

“Pretty sure Cassie can give him that too.” Viv points out.

“I’m not a Hoffman.” Cassie declares defiantly.

“Sadly, he probably thinks that too.” Becca confirms.

“He thinks she’s enough of a Hoffman to not want you guys to date though.” Tanya points out.

“But not enough of a Hoffman to be the heir to his empire.” Cassie points out, and you can see Becca silently nod on the screen.

“So-um… your dad would rather break up Jay and Cassie so you can continue dating him?” Maddy asks.

“He probably thought it would be an easier route to take, yes.” Becca answers.

“Then why take you away to Vegas?” Tanya asks.

“As a contingency.” Becca succinctly answers.

“Jeez~, that’s cold.” Viv reacts. No one dares to add anything more, as they wait for Becca or Cassie to continue the conversation.

…

“I believe now’s the part where we discuss how we take care of my father.” Becca finally breaks the silence.

“You make it sound like we’re the mafia.” Stella jokes.

“Also, have you guys even talked about… you know, this? You’re sisters!?” Viv asks Becca on the screen while gesturing with her hands towards Cassie.

“We’ll talk when she’s back here with us. Until her dad’s threat of her career isn’t over, we have more important things to deal with.” Cassie confidently answers Viv.

“Indeed.” Becca confirms.

“That’s the part where Dad asked us all to join this meeting. We need Mr. Hoffman to accept both their relationships with my dad to be okay. Dad says he can buy a trait to help solve this, but it’s going to affect everybody, and he needs our approval.” Stella chimes in.

“What’s the trait?” Tanya asks, and you proceed to read it out loud for all of them to answer her.

[Advanced Trait] Family Comes First (200 Love Points and 200 Lust Points): Everyone will not be bothered if you pursue romantic and/or sexual relationships between immediate family members or those who are of closely related kin. Through your relationship with either family member, your related partners will not be bothered to have a sexual relationship with each other when with you.

As you finish reading it, everyone shifts their looks to one person in particular— Tanya.

“¿Por qué me miráis todos?” Tanya asks the group.

Nobody answers her as the answer dawns on her before anyone who understood what she asked could.

“Oh. Mierda. Sofia and Nelly.”

Author's Edit: The trait has been edited from its previous wording to better convey its intended effects. Apologies for the confusion!

Previous wording: Your romantic and/or sexual partners will not be bothered if you pursue a romantic and/or sexual relationship with any one of their immediate family members or closely related kin. Through your relationship with either family member, your related partners will not be bothered to have a sexual relationship with each other when with you.