Religious Wright vs. Amelia Blythe

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

3500 word max per RP

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET WEDNESDAY, June 28, 2023

[Braddock]

Today we find Senior Executive Most Reverend John Wright of The Sword of Joshua Full Gospel Pentecostal Temple of Joy Holiness by way of Mt. Judea, Arknasas in the dining room, a very fancy dining room at that, of their palatial estate (which he calls a “simple parsonage”). He is decked out in his finest polo shirt and khaki pants. The pastor’s wife, Lizzie Wright, emerges behind him wearing a fancy black sequin evening gown. The lovely Lizzie does not appear very pleased at this moment. She is still upset with her beloved husband, who is now attempting to woo her.

Lizzie Wright: I hope you’re not trying to bribe me into falling in line with your pathetic little schemes…

Religious Wright: I would never bribe you into falling in line with my pathetic little schemes. Now I WOULD bribe you into falling in line with amazingly great schemes, schemes that come from the WORD OF THA LAWD!

Lizzie Wright: All I know, Johnny, is that you started this church…and the idiots gave you everything they had…

Religious Wright: OUR BLESSED, GIVING CONGREGATION!

Lizzie Wright: Then you got some wild ass hair up your butt to try and wrestle.

Religious Wright: I can spread the word of THA LAWD into televisions worldwide!

Lizzie Wright: Yeah, and you got off track from…ahem…THA LAWD. Now you seem to be worshipping that James Evans fella. And how the hell has he helped ya? Huh? Has he increased our profit margins any? Has he got me that fancy new luxury convertible you promised me?

Religious Wright: Now slow down, Lizzie. Mr. James Evans is a prophet of THE LAWD, just like me! We must defend him, protect him, we must…

Lizzie Wright: All I wanna do is spread my legs wide open for that hunka hunka man meat!

Religious Wright rolls his eyes.

Religious Wright: Oh come on, Lizzie. You got me for that!

Lizzie Wright: Yes, and you said yourself that scandal is GOOD for our movement. You already having an affair with that idiot cameraman’s whore of a sister. And you were eyeballing Deanna Frost at Taking Hold of the Flame. I bet you talked that Mista Dee character into giving you a match with Amelia Blythe just so you can get your dirty paws on her too, huh?

Religious Wright: No! I want to defend the honor of James Evans!

Lizzie Wight: Bull Manure, Johnny! You want to fuck three women! Its only fair that I can have at least one secret love affair with little Jimmy Evans!

Religious Wright: Uh, Lizzie? It won’t exactly be secret. The cameras are recording all of this.

Lizzie sighs out of frustration.

Lizzie Wright: Which is another thing! Why are we recording everything we do? We’re not the fucking Osbornes!

Religious Wright: But we can be as big as them! And holy too!

He motions for his wife to sit down at the table. Lizzie sighs as she sits down. John Wright sits down next to her.

Religious Wright: I have had your favorite meal prepared for you, my lovely bride!

Lizzie Wright: Iberian ham with monkey brain soup?

Religious Wright: Uh…nooo…

Lizzie Wright: Well that’s my favorite dish you moron. My second favorite is Wagyu beef with Madagascar vanilla pod. Is that what you made, sweetie?

Religious Wright: Uh…no…

Lizzie rolls her eyes.

Lizzie Wright: Ok, then it HAS to be Ayam Cemani Black Chicken.

Religious Wright: Yes! Well…kinda…in the ballpark at least.

Lizzie Wright: What do you mean by… “in the ballpark”, Johnny?

Pastor Wright claps his hands. In walks a fancy dressed butler with a huge silver serving tray with half a dozen bags of chic-fil-et food resting upon it. He places the silver tray on the table in front of Religious Wright and Lizzie Wright.

Religious Wright: See? Your favorite!

Lizzie: That’s your favorite, you idiot! I hate chick-fil-et!

Religious Wright: Buuuuuut I’m the pastor, therefore my favorite is everyone’s favorite! That’s the rules, right?

Lizzie slaps him across the face.

Religious Wright: Guess not…

Lizzie Wright: You don’t want me to have an illicit affair with that sexy stud James Evans, meanwhile you’re oggling the likes of Deanna Frost and Amelia Blythe…

Religious Wright: In fairness that’s gonna be AFTER I kick Amelia’s rear end on Breakdown.

Lizzie Wright: Shut up! You’re filandering around and you try to woo me with chick-fil-et? That’s not what I want.

Religious Wright: Well what DO you want, love?

Lizzie Wright: I think you know what I want.

Religious Wright sighs and shakes his head.

Religious Wright: You want to have wild animalistic sex right here and now, don’t you?

Lizzie Wright: Take off those pants you hunka hunka holy love!

[Wisteria Waltz]

We open up to find ourselves in what looks like a good-sized home gym, a familiar setup for those who have a keen eye from past videos. It doesn't take us long to find one of the owners of this home gym, Amelia Blythe, dressed in purple shorts and a white tanktop as she lays on as mat stretching out her knee. We can see some noticeable wincing on her face, but it's nowhere near what we've seen from her in the aftermath of her U.S. Title opportunity at Taking Hold of the Flame, which feels like a good sign. Her focus, however, is not on us or even the knee she's stretching out at the moment. Rather, it's on the two giant flags that decorate the wall beside her, the one directly above her that she's locked eyes with being the lesbian pride flag while the bisexual pride flag hangs next to it. She finally finishes stretching and rolls up to a seated position, facing away from us while continuing to stare at the flags. For a moment, the only sounds we can hear give an indication that La Pequeña Luz is also working out somewhere else in the room, close enough that she can stop what she's doing in case Amelia needs her but far enough away to let her have the space she needs for this. Perhaps that's why it might catch a few people off-guard when Amelia suddenly starts speaking without turning or acknowledging our presence at all.

“Pride... for the longest time, that word in any context was a foreign one to me. Growing up I always knew there were some things different about me when compared to many other girls out there. The obvious was the fact that while they would talk about boys and how they looked, I just never saw the appeal. But even going back to what that word means as defined by the dictionary, the small achievements that many around me could feel proud of... they weren't enough. It was one of the many things I was forced to believe was a fact as my parents raised me... a perfect score on a test, while a noteworthy achievement to be proud of to you, was the bare minimum expected of me. Win a championship as a wrestler? The proudest moment of your career up to that point, while expected to be just another night in the ring for me. And as for the fact that I liked girls and only girls? Forget it... my parents were the kind who believed that God hated anyone who proudly waved the rainbow flag and would not stand for their 'precious, perfect daughter' loving anyone who wasn't a man... granted, said man also had to be just as perfect as they tried to force me to be, but that just gives you an idea of what I had to endure growing up.

I suppose that also gives you some insight as to how I got to this point... 'never show weakness' has long been the mantra of the Blythe family because we are supposed to be seen by all of you as, bar none, the greatest pure wrestlers to ever walk the Earth. I, in particular, was meant to be the lump of coal forged into the most brilliant diamond you'd ever seen, the perfect wrestler... being conditioned to believe in that for most of my life means it's not an easy mindset to completely abandon. That was what drove me to keep fighting against Bree even when my knee reached a point where I could have been hurt a lot worse than I was, all because the U.S. Title was within my grasp. That was why I kept my place in the battle royal when I should have done the smart thing and given my number to someone else after the number Bree did on me. I know full well it was always a toxic and self-destructive mindset, but for the first 19 years of my life... it was all I knew.

When I say that crossing paths with Luz was the best thing that ever happened to me, I mean that with all of my heart and soul. She was the opposite of everything I was built up to be: a high-flyer as opposed to a grappler, a reckless risk-taker and not a calculated strategist, a vibrant and outgoing person as opposed to a closed-off machine. And yet, beneath the surface, we weren't so different after all. We both struggled with being second-generation talent, we both had our own issues within our families... we were both so alone. And yet, in spite of that, she was never ashamed of who she truly was and never afraid to proudly tell the whole world exactly who La Pequeña Luz truly is and always will be. She inspired me to stop hiding and fight anyone who tried to tell me who I was supposed to be, because at the end of the day who I am is my decision to make and mine alone. I am proud to be a wrestler, I am proud of what I have accomplished in this business so far even if it's not perfect or defines me as the greatest wrestler who ever lived, I am proud to call Luz not only the best tag team partner I could ever ask for but also the best girlfriend I could ever have...

I am proud to be a lesbian, just as Luz is proud to be bisexual, and it's only fitting that I use my first match since my knee was cleared by doctors to close out Pride Month by proudly taking a man who's been trying to rally his own little senseless crusade against us and turning him into a human pretzel.”

Amelia slowly stands up and turns to face us finally, and it's clear right away just how annoyed she looks by everything she, and Luz by association, have had to endure from her Breakdown opponent for the past month or so all because of one little accident She takes a deep breath to compose herself before she continues.

“Religious Wright... isn't that name quite a representation of the man who awaits me in Buffalo this week for Breakdown? Now, I want to be clear about something: I do believe in God, and I have no problem with anyone out there who is truly religious because I know all of you actually learn from those Sunday church services that we are all God's children regardless of things like our race, gender, birthplace or sexual and romantic orientation. What I do have a problem with are people like Mr. Wright, who blindly quote Bible passages as though it's the only thing they need to back up their side of an argument and do everything they can to scam and deceive honest people into believing whatever version of God's word they're trying to preach because they think it gives them some sort of 'moral high ground' over everyone else.

Yes, Mr. Wright, I know full well the kind of scam you're running and it's on the long list of reasons why I'm putting an end to this come Thursday night. Consider that my donation to a worthwhile cause.

Now, what exactly is the reason you have such a problem with me? Surprisingly, it's not the fact that I'm a lesbian, though you're not doing a very good job of hiding that considering you apparently have an interest in me... not happening, though, and nothing you could possibly do will ever interest me in whatever you think you have to offer. Luz is the one who bats for both teams-”

“Absolutely not! You're the only one I have eyes for cariño, and even if we weren't in a relationship, I'd want nothing to do with that gilipollas!”

Amelia chuckles as she turns her attention to wherever Luz is out of our view and blows her a kiss. We can hear the sound of Luz returning the gesture before Amelia turns back to us with a smile, though it fades pretty quickly.

“Anyway, the issue you've had with me for the past month was the fact that I injured James Evans when we faced off in the first round of the U.S. Title tournament... completely ignorant of the fact that what happened to James was a freak accident that could've happened to anybody out there. There's a reason those disclaimers telling people not to try this at home exist, after all, especially when you can never predict if or when something will go wrong. I vaulted him over the top rope, like I planned to do to anyone in the battle royal at Taking Hold of the Flame, and his arm ended up getting caught and bent in an unnatural way. It wasn't planned in any way, I had no intention of hurting him... I walked into the ring that night looking to make him put his money where his mouth was about his pure wrestling skills and defend the honor of my girlfriend after he took issue with her honoring an opportunity she rightfully earned for a title we know he doesn't care for.

Let me ask you something, Mr. Wright: if I truly had malicious intentions towards James on that night, then why did I feel so guilty immediately afterward that it happened at all and our match had to be called because of it? Why was I so shaken up by it that I almost psyched myself out and cost myself my semi-final match with Deanna Frost the very next week? Her, Luz, Bree... they all reassured me that it wasn't my fault and that it was the accident it truly was, and yet week after week you continue acting as though James was the second coming of Jesus Christ and I proceeded to kill him. Do you even comprehend just how ridiculous all of that sounds? We're talking about a wrestler who spent the past several months crusading to rid the wrestling business of violence and proved how quickly his opinion can change on anyone he thought was following 'his example.'

You never even acknowledged that James existed until you happened to catch the little exchange between us that I mentioned earlier, which is funny when you realize how highly that man sang the praises of The Light In The Darkness up until that night.

Mr. Wright, you are no different from everyone else just like you that I had to deal with throughout my life, starting with my own parents. Everything you do has an ulterior motive in mind that only benefits you and you've convinced yourself of your own intelligence just because you know how to talk people into buying what you're selling. I've seen you in the ring though, and I think, deep down, you know as well as I do that this is a fight you really didn't want to pick. The problem is, The Light In The Darkness has always stood for solving wrestling problems in a wrestling ring, and considering I needed an opponent to test how well my knee can hold up being back in action again after having to rest it for the past several weeks, now feels like the perfect time to give you exactly what you've been asking for over the past month.

You think I'm some demon and you're the great savior who's going to purge SCW of me? Well, it's time to put your embezzled church money where your mouth is because the only way I'm going to know for sure how well my knee's going to hold up is to give you my very best come Breakdown. You can talk a big game, Mr. Wright, but you're about to find out that not only was it no fluke that I came as close as I did to becoming the new United States Champion at Taking Hold of the Flame, but I'm no demon or monster... I am one-half of the light that hopes to guides SCW into a brighter future and give those fans the kinds of matches they deserve to see each and every week from a roster as talented as this. Maybe after this Breakdown you'll finally understand all of this and leave us alone once and for all.

That... that is something I can gladly take Pride in.”

With a nod to us, Amelia begins to walk away. The camera lingers on the large pride flags a little longer before turning just in time to catch Amelia talking with Luz, the latter excitedly praising her girlfriend before the two exchange a tender and loving kiss before we finally fade out.

[Wisteria Waltz]

Patience was a virtue.

That was a lesson Amelia had to learn growing up, not because she was impatient by any stretch of the imagination, but because her parents always drilled into her head the value of jumping at an opportunity the second the opening became available. The only patience she 'needed' according to her father was waiting for that opening to strike, and even then his definition of patience leaned away from what the word actually meant and more towards trying to forcibly steer events in the direction that would make that opening appear before her. It was the way both of her parents had operated in the ring and how her mother had become the business tycoon she defined herself as now once she retired from active competition. Even still, she taught herself how to be patient the right way, waiting for that moment where she could finally get out from under their thumb and build her life into what she wanted it to become.

It was amusing in hindsight how she finally found that opening thanks to someone who used to be pretty impatient by her own admission.

Luz's energy never ceased to amaze Amelia, always being fully devoted to the task at hand even if she was prone to going overboard with it. And yet, she fully understood what it meant to be patient, especially since the ever-changing landscape of the wrestling business meant she wasn't always going to get the opportunities she may have wanted. Not once did it ever stop her as she made sure she was as ready as she could be once she did get her moment, and it was simply another entry on the list of things that Amelia admired about her girlfriend.

For the past few weeks, Luz had devoted herself wholeheartedly to helping her recover after the damage her knee had sustained back at Taking Hold of the Flame. Amelia had to show a great deal of patience to ensure she recovered properly, but earlier this week she had finally been cleared by doctors to compete once more. She still had some kinks to work out as there was still healing to be done, but being able to compete again helped put her mind at ease as she could now turn her focus to bouncing back from Taking Hold of the Flame and doing her part to set up whatever awaited her and Luz for their very first Rise to Greatness.

Being able to finally get Religious Wright off her back about what happened to James Evans sounded like the perfect first step to her.

It felt weird at first arriving to Buffalo separate from Luz, but she and Amelia had done a lot of talking after they first opened up to one another back in the locker room after Taking Hold of the Flame and the idea of needing to be apart at some points wasn't as scary as it used to be. After all, it wasn't just the two of them all alone against the world anymore, which in and of itself spoke volumes about how far they'd come over the years to be able to open up enough to not only build new bridges with other people but also rebuild old bridges they thought had been destroyed forever. She knew Luz would join her in Buffalo before Breakdown even got underway... right now she had some business to take care of down in Mexico to set the stage for the gamble she was making in not only ending the charade of her doppelganger once and for all, but also hopefully saving her in case the bad feeling they both had about Caleb was correct.

Luz not only had her mom watching out for her while things fell into place, but also the connections she'd forged both from competing down there and from being the daughter of El Espíritu Angélico.

Amelia had her siblings as well as Ivy with her in Buffalo, and Gage was due to join them at some point after he finished interviewing for a commentary position with a wrestling company who happened to have their headquarters in this city.

In Amelia's mind, this was actually the perfect opportunity she'd been waiting for.

After their talk at Taking Hold of the Flame, Amelia was more certain than ever that she wanted Luz to be the woman she spent the rest of her life with. She didn't care about what her parents wanted of her or that stupid 'Golden Prodigy' of The Empire they had pegged to be the husband she never wanted in the first place, she wanted to propose to Luz. Ivy and Gage had been a big help in keeping Luz occupied at points within the past week alone so she didn't worry about Amelia's recovery while she was out spending time with the twins, who had been a significant help in their own right when it came to procuring the perfect engagement ring. Amelia didn't have a doubt in her mind that Luz would love it... all that remained now was the plan to actually propose to her.

For as certain as she was about wanting to marry Luz, though, the idea of actually proposing it was more nerve-wracking than even the greatest challenge that had been thrown at her so far in her wrestling career.

That was why Amelia was meeting with the others at a little restaurant called Hutch's that she'd heard good things about (and not just because the restaurant was in close proximity to the Buffalo History Museum that she'd been wanting to check out while she was in town). It seemed like a good idea to her to have a good lunch and spend the time together brainstorming ideas that she could use to get herself to go through with this plan, especially since it had been enough of a struggle trying to keep the engagement ring hidden from Luz's prying eyes while she'd been taking care of her during her recovery. As much as she loved her luchadora to death, trying to plan for taking this next step in their relationship was next to impossible while constantly in her presence.

“Surely you knew what you were getting into when you started going out with her, right?” Ivy had asked once they'd gotten their food and Amelia had lamented this to her and the twins.

“I had an idea,” she admitted after taking a bite of the steak she'd ordered, “but I didn't think her going from my friend to my girlfriend would amplify it. I don't hate it though... it's just a little inconvenient when I'm trying to figure out how to ask her the most important question of our lives.”

“You can't really blame her considering she was just following the doctor's orders regarding your knee,” Edward said while pointing his fork at her before he used it to dig into the salmon he'd ordered.

“How has your knee been doing, anyway?” Emily asked, concern evident in her voice. Considering she'd recently started looking into medical training as something to do if and when she no longer wanted to wrestle, she had even more of a reason to worry about her baby sister's injury.

“It's been holding up well, even through a full-speed mock match with Luz before we caught our flights,” Amelia told her. “The true test will be against that Religious Wright creep tomorrow night, but SCW's doctor told me I was all clear and I should be at the point where any remaining pain will work itself out as long as I play it smart in the ring for a little bit.”

She saw her sister nod and breathe a sigh of relief at this before taking a bite of her chicken. Even though they'd been on much better terms for a few years now, it still threw her for a loop just how much her siblings truly cared about her. That thought always ended up giving way to how much she resented her parents for pitting their children against one another all their lives for the prize of attention and affection from them; a prize that never truly existed in the first place for any of them. Amelia quietly growled at the thought, and everyone at the table had an idea of what had prompted that reaction from her.

“Anyways,” Ivy jumped in, trying to steer the conversation back to a happier topic, “do you have any idea about what you might want out of this, at least?”

Amelia thought for a moment as she chewed the next bite of her food. “I know I want it to be something kind of big and elaborate... I know that's not usually my thing, but it's definitely Luz's and I think it would show her just how much spending the rest of eternity with her would mean to me if I pulled a page out of her playbook. Plus, maybe doing so will put me in a position where I can't talk myself out of it if my nerves start trying to win out.”

“Maybe it should be something fairly public?” Emily pitched. “That way, it also finally puts the nail in the coffin on this bullshit mom and dad are still trying to spread about you being engaged to that golden prick.”

“Not a bad idea, and I'm sure Luz would see that as a bonus since she and I are both about as sick of that nonsense as we are of Wright,” Amelia noted, her tone growing more frustrated when she mentioned the man who'd been a thorn in her side for weeks now in SCW.

“Maybe you could do it during your Rise to Greatness entrance?” Edward offered between bites. “I mean, I figure you and Luz will probably plan something elaborate for your very first one anyway since this is the big pay-per-view where going all out to make a moment for yourself would be the norm. I'm sure slipping a proposal in would really wow her and give you both extra motivation for whatever match you guys have.”

Emily and Ivy both shot looks at Edward that seemed to suggest something they all knew that Amelia didn't, but she didn't seem to pick up on it. She found herself too deep in thought about the idea, weighing the pros and cons of it mentally.

“Tempting,” she said after a moment, drawing all eyes back to her. “The problem is that it's hard to even plan a big entrance when we don't even know what we're doing yet for the show. What if we can't have an elaborate entrance because we're competing on the pre-show or part of some sort of big gauntlet or multi-person match or something? Or what if we aren't even teaming together and have different spots on the card?”

“Well... it wouldn't hurt to plan for the best case scenario and maybe devise a plan B in case one of those ends up being the case,” Ivy reassured her, leaning over the table to put a comforting hand on hers. Amelia took a deep breath and smiled, knowing her best friend had a point. There was no sense in getting too worked up over it right now, and there was plenty of time to figure something out regardless of the scenario.

“Guess who just got a chance to finally live his dream?” Everyone was surprised when Gage suddenly jumped into their conversation, putting his hand on top of Ivy and Amelia's as he wore the widest grin Amelia could ever recall seeing the man wear.

“They gave you the position?” Ivy excitedly asked as he sat down beside her.

“They were impressed with my wrestling knowledge and thought my voice would be a perfect fit for their company!” Gage elaborated with just as much excitement.

“Hey, congrats Gage,” Amelia told him with a sincere smile. “It'll be awesome finally getting to hear your voice calling a show because, honestly, this is something I think you should've been doing several times over by now. You were born for this.”

“Thanks Amelia,” Gage nodded to her before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “That's not the only news I bring with me though. Don't know if Luz got in touch with you yet or not, but this just showed up online.”

After tapping his screen a few times, Gage set his phone in the middle of the table. While he flagged down a member of the wait staff to place his own order, they all watched the video he'd pulled up that showed someone they all immediately recognized as the fake Luz finishing up a match from the show that was going on this afternoon in Luz's old promotion in Mexico. While she was celebrating her win, albeit half-heartedly they all quickly noticed, a familiar song overtook The Empire's theme and everyone was on their feet as the real deal danced her way out onto the stage before making her way down to the ring and confronting her doppelganger, publicly confirming once and for all that The Empire's Luz had been an imposter the entire time. She addressed this fact and what it meant to her to see someone try to steal her identity, really playing up how upset she was by it before she laid down the challenge for a lucha de apuesta, calling for the winner continuing on as the one and only La Pequeña Luz while the loser had to both unmask and give up the name for good.

While Ivy and the twins were stunned by this challenge Luz was making, Amelia carefully noticed her girlfriend mouthing something to Valentina during gaps in her speech, asking for her trust in the plan she was laying out.

As the fans roared at the idea of the high stakes match, “Luz” seemed to ponder the whole thing before she quietly left the ring and tried to retreat to the back, though Amelia noticed her whisper something to Luz as she walked past her before stepping out. She ended up being stopped on the stage by the Golden Prodigy himself, and Henry wasted no time in accepting the challenge on the fake Luz's behalf. Amelia just quietly nodded to herself as the clip ended while her friends were all trying to make sense of what they'd just witnessed. Gage filled in Ivy and the twins about what a lucha de apuesta was and why this challenge was such a big deal, but it was clear all of them were wondering if Luz had lost her marbles. It was only when they saw Amelia barely reacting to the clip beyond a small smile that something seemed to click for them.

“Amelia, did you already know about this?” Gage asked her.

Amelia nodded and took one final bite to finish off her steak before she filled them in. “Before we left the arena after Taking Hold of the Flame, I filled Luz in on what we learned from eavesdropping on that one call Lily set us up with. She was just as concerned as we were about what exactly Caleb would do to that girl he's 'raised' solely to imitate her, so she's spent the past few weeks getting everything together to allow her to resume her bookings pretending to be Luz just so she could reveal the truth and make this challenge. It's a huge risk for sure, but it's the only bait we thought Caleb and his goons would bite on after all the curveballs we'd already thrown into their plans.”

“Do you think she can win, though?” Ivy asked in concern. “No offense to her because we all know how good Luz truly is, but that girl who's been pretending to be her is just as good.”

“I wouldn't put it past those clowns to try anything just to be sure they get the outcome they want,” Edward chimed in.

“That's why, regardless of when this match is happening, I plan on being in her corner supporting her,” Amelia firmly told them. “Plus, all of Luz's father's friends plan on hanging around to make sure they don't try anything, especially since this will be Luz's first time wagering her mask in a match and that alone means a great deal in lucha libre. As for her actual opponent... well, a lot of the style Valentina's been using has been a result of training with mom and dad, and not only did she hand me my first loss when they trained me for most of my life up to that point, but she knows some of it herself now through training with me. She's got this.”

“But what about...?” Emily started to say, aiming to bring up the unsettling implications they'd overheard from Caleb weeks ago, but Amelia quickly silenced her by pulling out her phone and pulling something up to show her and everyone else.

“Ryan sent me an e-mail yesterday,” Amelia explained. “It's not much because he's been really tied up with this other case and he says it's going a lot deeper than he thought it would, but he did at least send everything he could find regarding our doppelganger and Luz and I already looked over all of it. We knew her name was Valentina because she slipped that to us the night we had that big confrontation, but whatever her original last name was seems to have been lost. She was orphaned at a young age but kept running away from where she was supposed to be staying and trying to just live on the streets, something about that orphanage that's giving Ryan a reason all his own to start digging. She's roughly the same age Luz is and looks close enough to her that she could be her twin, which Caleb picked up on when he apparently found her near the beginning of last year while touring through Mexico. He officially adopted her and up until this whole “Empire Luz” stunt she basically disappeared without a trace... also Caleb apparently used some sort of alias to adopt her because her current legal name is 'Valentina Cinco' which also explains why no one even knew he's resurfaced in public and thought the first time was when The Empire debuted back in England. The last thing he found on her was evidence that she might've been physically abused both in that orphanage and by Caleb while he was trying to adopt her...”

“Jesus...” was Edward's response to that, and everyone else at the table could only nod in agreement with him. They all hated Caleb already, but this was starting to put him in a light that made them afraid not just for the likes of Valentina, but perhaps many in their stable pending how this man tolerated their failure behind closed doors.

“We may not know why Caleb's so interested in us still,” Amelia told them as she put her phone away, “but Luz and I are hellbent on dismantling his Empire and being rid of him whatever it takes. Between this gamble Luz is making and whatever we decide to do so I can pop the question to her, we're going to undermine all of his plans and finally be able to just live our lives the way we've always wanted to together. Not only do we deserve it after everything we've both been through, but it's the least we could give to Valentina as well once she's unmasked and out of his clutches.”

“You sure you're going to be able to help this poor girl?” Ivy nervously asked.

“At this point... we owe it to her for our mere existence getting her caught up in a situation she didn't deserve to be in because of this lunatic,” Amelia responded.

The sheer conviction in her voice told them all they needed to know, and they were all in on this latest plan to strike a major blow against The Empire, hopefully bringing all of them one step closer to being free of this threat once and for all.