Alfred Diamant was a wealthy billionaire, unfortunately he was a cruel man and a serial divorcee--he married women in order to produce male heirs, grew bored with them and divorced them. He had two sons: Marius and Ralph. Marius was the eldest who was a media mogul: blond, brooding and asocial who owned a house in LA. His mother, Elizabeth, divorced Alfred when he was only 5. Ralph Diamant was the second son who ran a successful business law firm in NYC: he was brunette, olive skinned and a social butterfly by nature, yet boastful and had a bit of a gambling problem. His mother, Belinda, had divorced Alfred when Ralph was only 9.

His third wife, Renee, had a baby girl named Maxine--or Max for short. She had red hair, dark green eyes. Her skin was dotted with freckles. As a child she was tall, skinny and plain looking (one could say she had an uncanny appearance to Anne Shirley from Anne of Green Gables.) Yet as she got older, she blossomed into a beauty with an athletic body.

Alfred was displeased that he had a daughter. His wife begged him to at least give her a chance. Reluctantly, he decided to accept this heir--on the condition that Renee raised her as a lady. A woman of good breeding. For he intended to marry her off once he found a suitable husband for her.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard Renee tried, Max was a wild thing: a free-spirited, independent tomboy, preferring sports to proper things. She swore like a sailor (much to Renee's displeasure). She loved to ride horses, archery, playing field hockey and climbing trees. Max was an overachiever all throughout her youth--wanting to prove to everyone that she could do everything and anything. She won trophies in field hockey, archery, martial arts and horseback riding. Her greatest achievement was mounted archery.

Growing up, Max had endured the worst of Alfred's cruelty. He made her feel like nothing she did was good enough for him. While Renee was a loving mother to her, she was next to useless when it came to her Dad's abuse. She would numb herself with a dry martini.

Her older brothers were her only allies as they completely understood since they too had endured their Dad's vicious behavior as well. They would stand up for Max and even took her beatings when they could. This didn't make her feel better as she felt sorry for her brothers having to do that all because she was the only girl in the family.

Alfred Diamant and Harlan Thrombey were best friends. They always spent time together. Max always hated going there because the Thrombeys were a bunch of snobby assholes. The way they talked was just disgusting especially when Marta was there. Max usually had said something scathing to say to them. She always treated Marta like she was a person, often apologizing for Alfred's lecherous behavior--that dirty old bastard. She couldn't believe that Alfred would do that especially being married to her mother. It was disgusting and embarrassing.

One of the biggest assholes in the Thrombey family was none other than Hugh Ransom Drysdale. They had known each other since they were children--they attended Dieu Le Veult Academy, went to summer camp and spent a lot of family events together.

Ransom was a vicious bully: pulling her pigtails, pinching her, kicking her, teasing her for being skinny and plain, playing cruel pranks on her, blaming her for things she didn't even do, he even tried to look up her skirt a few times as teenagers. He did whatever he could to make her cry.

On Harlan's 85th birthday, she attended the party with her family. Johann, the chauffeur, drove them to the party. They were greeted by the Thrombeys with handshakes and kisses, the staff had taken their coats to hang them up in the closets. Johann came inside once he had parked the car followed by Louise, the English maid.

"Maxine Diamant!" chirped Joni. "Look at you! You've really grown up."

Max didn't really like Joni much, but she was tolerable compared to the rest of the Thrombeys. Her whole bohemian hippie dippie bullshit annoyed her sometimes.

"Thank you, Joni," Max responded politely. "How is Meg?"

"She's fine. She is in the living room."

The Diamants made their way inside for the party, greeting more guests with handshakes, half hugs and air cheek kisses. Renee made her way to the bar to get herself her usual dry martini. Alfred talked to Harlan about his business and Harlan about his latest novel. Marius sat in the corner, brooding away while sipping a whiskey sour while Ralph flitted from each member of the Thrombeys, bragging about his successful law firm.

Max observed the rest of the family at the party: Linda, the oldest and self-made real estate mogul with her husband, Richard. The two of them were sitting together on a couch, enjoying a glass of wine and Richard with bourbon on rocks. Walt, the youngest and CEO of Harlan's publishing company, sitting on the opposite sofa with Glendalough whiskey. His family was Donna, a housewife, and their son, Jacob, a quiet weirdo who spent most of his time glued to his phone (according to Meg, he was an alt-right troll dipshit). Joni, the bohemian widow of Neil, ran her own skin care business called Flam. Her daughter, Meg, was liberal college student.

As Max approached the bar, she spotted Ransom standing there. That fucking asshole. That handsome, spoiled prick. She felt physically sick to be near him.

Ransom Drysdale was tall, lean with broad shoulders. His porcelain skin was flawless. His face had sharp, perfect angles with a strong jawline and a slightly crooked nose. His blue eyes were full of arrogance. His chestnut hair was swept away from his face. He was clad in a gray cardigan with a white thermal shirt, a pair of black pinstripe slacks and worn Gucci grey leather loafers. His gold pinky ring glinted in the light.

While most women would have fallen for Ransom's angelic features and charisma, Max knew he was the Devil incarnate. The spoiled trust-fund playboy had gotten so handsome that Max had to mentally remind herself of the things he did to her. Why the hell was she getting all flustered over her childhood bully? This man was despicable. A total asshole.

Taking a deep breath, Max hoped and prayed Ransom wouldn't notice her. She leaned against the bar and put in her order. Ironic, she heard Linda Ronstadt's 'You're No Good' playing on the stereo while at the bar.

Ugh! Please don't notice me! she prayed silently.

"Cosmopolitan, please," she said.

Ransom heard the female voice beside him, turning his gaze to the redheaded Diamant heiress. Grinning, he remembered Max when she was a tall, gangly, freckled redhead that he used to torment when they were children--it still amused him that he had played all those jokes on her. She deserved it because she was such a tattling little snitch. They hadn't seen each other since the last gathering about four years ago. He was stunned to see how Max had grown from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan. Her freckles had faded a bit, her body filled out nicely in that green Ralph Lauren dress she wore with a pearl necklace. Regardless, he'd still tease her. He approached her at the bar and put on his most charming smile.

"Well, well," Ransom drawled. "Long time no see, Ms Diamant. Last time I saw you, you were wearing those frilly white panties. I will say you sure had strong thighs for a beanpole."

Max gave a death glare at the playboy prick when he laughed at his last comment. That day was still fresh in her memory.

****

16-year-old Max sat stiffly with the other women during lunch--Linda, Joni, Donna and Renee were having a mindless conversation. Some of the things they said were just stupid and boring. She wondered what the hell she was supposed to learn from all of this. They mostly complained about their husbands, gossiped about others or bragged about their achievements. Sighing in boredom, she wished she could just go horseback riding and practice archery.

She froze as she felt something soft brush the inside of her legs. She let out a slight gasp, jumping in her seat a bit.

"Max, are you alright?" Renee asked.

"I-I'm fine, mother," she assured, feeling flustered.

She could feel the sensation getting higher between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together and there was a cry of pain and a crunching noise. Donna let out a startled yelp, spilling her martini. Max kicked and stomped on whoever was hiding under the table as hard as she could. There was a series of 'ows' and cursing coming under the table. The figure crawled out from under the table. It was none other than 17-year-old Ransom Drysdale on his hands and knees. Max slapped him in the head and back with vicious fury.

"What the hell?" Joni exclaimed.

"Max...what's going on?" Renee asked completely clueless.

Ransom crawled out from under the table, clutching a bloody nose as he stood up, shooting Max a glare.

"Oh my God! Ransom!" Linda exclaimed. "You're bleeding! What happened?"

"It was an accident, Mom," he said, putting on a fake innocent face. "She broke my nose!"

"Bullshit!" Max said, slapping him viciously. "You were looking up my skirt, you FUCKING pervert!"

Renee kept the angry girl from attacking Ransom any further as Linda escorted her son out of the parlor. Donna was a screaming, hysterical mess at the whole scene. Joni was shaking her head in disgust at Linda's son. She muttered how disgusting he was.

"Max! Stop it!" Renee said weakly.

"Unbelievable, Renee! Didn't you raise your daughter better than that?" Linda remarked.

Renee was about to speak when Joni cut her off. She knew how spoiled Ransom was--she was glad that Max did something.

"Oh stop it, Linda!" Joni defended. "Your son is a fucking pervert! You need to teach him to treat women with some respect."

"Oh shut UP, Joni!" Linda argued. "He said it was an accident."

"No, it wasn't!" Joni argued. "Why would he be hiding under there in the first place? He could've been looking up all of our dresses for all we know."

While the women were arguing among themselves, the redhead heiress huffed, leaving the room. She found Ransom leaning against the hallway with a devilish expression on his face while pinching his nose with a tissue.

"Why would you do that?" she demanded.

"Hey, I got you out of there so you wouldn't die of boredom, Princess," he said with a shrug.

"Am I supposed to thank you?" Max snapped.

"You're welcome," Ransom said smugly.

"You're an asshole."

"Sue me, Princess."

****

"You're such an asshole," Max hissed.

Ransom chuckled. Max hadn't changed one little bit since he last saw her. She was still a spitfire with that sharp tongue of hers.

"C'mon, princess," he said. "We're all grown up now. Forgive and forget?"

"Go to hell, Hugh."

Ransom pouted mockingly. Fuck! Even when he did that, it made her heart flutter and her cheeks warm. That fucking prick!

"Sounds a lot nicer than coming to these get-togethers," he laughed.

"Fucking prick," she muttered, storming away.