Sierra McCoy was standing next to Cheryl, watching the sea of redheads argue amongst themselves. Everyone already had something to say about what Cecilia had just announced. She reached a comforting hand out and rubbed Cheryl's back gently.

"Are you alright, Cheryl?" Sierra whispered.

Cheryl did her best to breathe evenly. "I think so?"

     Sierra nodded. "Just know that there is nothing within the contract they can bind you to. Now, it's just a matter of having everyone be okay with that."

     One young man in his mid twenties pushed forward towards Cheryl. "Dear cousin, how can we trust that you'd be an asset to the company? Just because daddy sat you on his lap and told you you were his princess doesn't make you the right heiress."

    Cheryl wanted to roll her eyes to the back of her head. Her most pretentious cousin, Victor, of course had to be the one to make such a stupid statement.

     "Victor, everyone knows you used unorthodox methods to pool in money for your portion to keep it from going bankrupt. Luckily, I'm not so full of pride; I have an entire family of businesspeople that will help me."

     Victor cleared his throat uncomfortably as everyone turned their heads towards him. He kept his chin up and readied another jab. "What makes you think this family will help you when most of them don't even want you seated?"

     Cheryl stepped forward, her glare blazing into his already weak demeanor. "Because they'll soon realize that I'm an asset, not a liability. They'll back me up because I may be new to the game, but I will be its best player."

      "You'll lose."

     "Speak for yourself, Victor. If I were you, I'd call your lawyer. Get ready to be burned."

      Victor looked around and realized he had no supporters. He gave Cheryl one last defeated look before leaving. Cecilia and Reginald approached Cheryl to stand on either side of her.

     "Anyone else want to question Cheryl's right to the seat?" Reginald asked.

     Cheryl's great uncle Thomas stepped forward. He walked slowly and haggardly, but everyone was patient; he was one of the senior presidents of their entire company, so no one was about to disrupt anything he had to say.

     "Cheryl, I'd like to personally congratulate you into the seat. I'm happy to see that you take after your grandmother instead of your mother. Penelope always had spite for the Blossom family, but Rose? Rose had the fire and the courage to reform this family, to make it better. I applaud you." He turned to face the rest of the crowd. "I, for one, will happily take her side when she needs us. We forget that we were a family before we were a business. Let's start remembering our true roots again."

    A lot of them seemed taken aback, but they slowly realized he was right. They started coming up and shaking Cheryl's hands, welcoming her. At last, Cecilia handed Cheryl the pen, and Reginald handed her the file once more.

    Cheryl took a deep breath before claiming herself as Recipient of Property. She was now a part of the Blossom legacy.

* * *

    "I own a portion of Blossom Maple Farms."

     Betty sat up from her stool at Pop's and ran towards her cousin, beaming. "Congratulations, Cheryl!"

     Once Betty was done hugging her, Veronica hugged Cheryl. The girls led Cheryl to a stool and sat her down.

    "How do you feel?" Veronica asked, grabbing Cheryl a mug for coffee.

    "Honestly? Terrified. But also a little excited."

      Betty smiled and Veronica leaned closer. "What do you want to do now?"

    Cheryl raised a brow at Veronica. "What do you mean?" She sipped at her coffee as Veronica rubbed her hands together mischievously.

     "We should celebrate. What do you want to do?"

     Cheryl thought about it. She looked to Betty for suggestions, but her cousin only shrugged in response. Cheryl drank some more coffee before a devious smile crept across her face. Betty and Veronica shared a look.

    "What, Cheryl?" Betty asked cautiously.

     "How about a party this weekend?"

     Betty and Veronica shared another look before equally devious smirks appeared on their faces.

    "Count me in," Veronica said.

    "Me, too," Betty added, placing a hand on Cheryl's.

     The girls giggled happily, and none were the wiser when Toni Topaz, a few booths away, glanced over her shoulder at Cheryl with a look of concern.

     "What is it, Toni?" Sweet Pea asked, getting her attention towards him again.

    Toni shrugged. "It's just ... every time Cheryl throws a party, something bad tends to happen."

     Sweet Pea nodded, eating his fries. "Wanna crash it?"

    "What on earth for?"

     "To keep an eye on your girl?"

     Toni shook her head. "Cheryl's not my girl. I don't think she's been my girl for a long time."

     Sweet Pea nodded. "You mean because of David?"

    Toni rolled her eyes. "Okay, what is it about him? Who the hell is he to her?"

    Sweet Pea scoffed. "You're asking the wrong guy. All I know is they've got this weird energy between them."

    Toni chuckled and raised her brow at him. "A weird energy?"

    Sweet Pea rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, you just haven't seen it." Sweet Pea chewed on another fry in thought. "Tell you what, you should crash her party. There's a very likely chance he'd take the opportunity to be there — because he's like obsessed with getting her attention — and you'll see for yourself what I'm talking about. Trust me."

     Toni sipped at her Coke in thought. "Maybe I will go."

    "Awesome! Serpents are crashing the party at Thistlehouse!"

     "Whoa, it should just be me."

     "No way am I passing up a chance to go to a Cheryl Blossom party! I heard those things are epic."

     Toni sighed. "Fine, do what you want. Just ask Jughead."

     Sweet Pea gave her a look. "Why do I need to ask Jughead?"

     Toni sipped from her drink again. "He's coming back to Riverdale soon."

* * *

David was eating ice cream in the living room while watching reruns of some old show he already forgot the title to. It was something about three friends that were roommates. He was angry all day, thanks to Archie, and since he didn't have basketball to let off steam he decided a binge of unhealthy things might be a good coping mechanism. It seemed to be helping, since he actually found himself enjoying the show.

David heard the couch creak slightly as someone sat in it. Without looking, he said, "Have you seen this show before?"

"Yeah."

David bristled. He expected it to be his uncle, since Fred told him he was going to join in, but it was Archie instead.

"Good. Go to sleep and leave me alone."

"David—"

"You said you've already seen it, no point in staying up and watching it with me."

"David—"

"Shh. I don't like people talking while I'm trying to watch something."

Archie sighed. "I'm trying to tell you I'm sorry, and that I'm an idiot. I'm not going to start trusting you because, honestly, you still seem like a stranger. But ... you're my cousin. Despite it all, I want to get to know you. You don't have to forgive me, and I probably don't deserve it anyway. I just ..." Archie trailed off.

David swallowed his last spoonful of ice cream. "Just what?"

"I don't know. I guess I just want us to be on better terms eventually."

David picked at the half melted ice cream still left in the bowl with his spoon. "I can't promise anything, but I appreciate you admitting you're an idiot."

Archie scoffed. "I guess I deserved that, too. Goodnight David." The couch creaked again, but the footsteps stopped. "Cheryl's having a party this weekend at Thistlehouse."

David furrowed his brows and finally looked over his shoulder at Archie, who was most likely viewing the invitation while looking at his phone. "I thought her house was called Thornhill."

"Nah, Thornhill burned down. Thistlehouse is their second home."

David barely heard the second sentence, since his mouth gaped open at the first.

"What do you mean burned down?"

Archie looked at David's confused face. "Yeah, Cheryl left a candle burning, and her mom got burned dragging Cheryl out of it. The whole thing was pretty scary."

David faced the TV screen again. "I bet it was," David mumbled.

"Anyways ... goodnight."

"Yeah, you too."

Archie finally left, and David sat with his ice cream melting and his thoughts running. One thing David knew for sure, Thornhill burning down was definitely not the freak accident everyone probably thought it was. There was something else responsible. More like someone else, and David knew exactly who it was.

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Lots of set up for drama this chapter! Comment your reactions!