THE MOORE WOMEN
The Moore family was one of the oldest and most powerful aristocratic Families in Tybis.
The Moore family was old-money royalty in Tybis with their legacy carved into the very bones of the country. The family had held influence since the days of royalty in the country but they had evolved over centuries from land barons to shipping moguls and finally to international tycoons.
The Moore family didn't just attend balls—they funded them. They didn't ask for power—they inherited it.
The family business of the Moore's was the Moore family Shipping Conglomerate. They controlled the Moore International Maritime Group, a mega shipping and logistics empire with a rumored side hustle in international arms "consultation". Their ships practically owned the waters of Tybis and beyond.
The family also owned Luxury resorts across the coast of Tybis. A private jet fleet (with a family crest on the tail wings) and had birthed many politicians.
The family was controlled by Gabriel Moore the great grandfather of Catherine. He singlehandedly took the Moore family out of the ways of the old and established the family's name in the modern world when the other Aristotle family died out.
Gabriel had given birth to three sons who in turn birthed their own children. Catherine's father, Eric Moore was the second grandson of Gabriel making him entitled to the Moore family Luxury resorts.
Catherine being Eric's only child meant that she was spoiled from a very young age. She went to the best school ate the the most expensive meals and her daily allowance could change and ordinary workers life. She was money herself.
The Moore family was a rich family but was nothing compared to the Pedro's. This was why Catherine wanted to marry into the family but Janis had stolen her one way ticket to a happy marriage.
The thought of Janis alone irritated Catherine. She couldn't understand how Adrian could move from Vivian Lawrence to Janis, a nobody.
After the incident with Janis, Catherine drove home. Gabriel Moore gifted Catherine's father the "Englantine Hall" a mansion Located on the Crestvale Hills of Tybis, a place for only the rich. Eglantine Hall built over 160 years ago, and was formerly owned by a duke of Tybis. Once the mansion was acquired it the outside was not renovated because "modern" was for people who did not have lineage.
The mansion was agothic-french hybrid palace with tall arched windows, black wrought-iron balconies, cream stone walls with ivy climbing like gossip.
It had marble floors that echoed with money, oil paintings of long-dead ancestors.
The mansion held a private vineyard and two libraries.
The outside of the mansion held a perfectly manicured rose garden and a large fountain in he middle.
Once Catherine entered her home a bunch of maids helped her to carry her shopping bags and quickly squirmed off. Catherine Moore was known for her temper.
"Where's my mother?" Catherine asked a a maid before she could run off.
"Oh... she's in the drawing room", the maid replied and left before she could get into trouble.
Catherine made her way to the drawing room and saw her mother Elizabeth Moore sitted elegantly while sipping a glass of wine.
Elizabeth Moore looked like the future version of Catherine—only sharper, colder, and far more strategic. She was a tall and elegant woman who moved like she was born on a stage.
The older woman wore floor-length silk robes, pearls she never tookoff, and her hair was in a perfect twist.
Catherine was her mother's twin in youth. She had golden-blonde hair swept into soft curls just like her mother and emerald eyes like shattered glass, a beauty so sharp it stung.
"Catherine you're back. Come sit with me", Elizabeth said to her daughter.
Catherine left the door post where she stood and sat with her mother on a vintage chaise lounge under a massive oil painting of her great-grandmother fencing a man in a corset. The air around the room was rich with the scent of peonies and quiet resentment.
"What is the problem darling?" Elisabeth asked when she saw the sad look on her daughter's face.
"Today I went to Adrian's company..."
"Adrian Pedro? When did the two of you become close?"
"Oh mother have you forgotten? I used to follow him around with Vivian"
"Oh... That uncultured woman that stole Adrian from you", Elizabeth said and Catherine nodded.
"Okay so what were you doing in Adrian's company?"
"I went to visit him. I wanted to rekindle our old relationship but... But... His wife was there and she... She insulted me in front of all the employees ", Catherine complained and her mother was furious.
"How dare she insult you? Does she know who you are?"
"Mother I was so embarrassed..." Catherine explained everything that happened in Dynamic motors and her mother listened with rapt attention.
"She walks in like she owns the place—like she's earned it. I should've had Adrian.I was supposed to be the one", Catherine cried when she was done explaining.
"But you hesitated, darling.
While she… simply walked into the fire barefoot and smiled", Elizabeth said as she calmly sipped her wine. This Janis sounded like trouble.
"She's not even one of us, Mother. She came from nowhere... She's just an ordinary Wyatt", Catherine said bitterly.
"That's why she's dangerous.
People with nothing to lose will always bite harder than those with crowns", Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth rose from where she sat and crossed to her daughter, and brushed a loose curl from Catherine's face.
"You're beautiful, brilliant… and born to rule.But rage makes your diamonds look like glass."
"Then teach me how to destroy her", Catherine snarled.
"First, darling… we find out what she's hiding... Poor people always have something to hide and once we find it we'll use it to destroy her", Elizabeth with a soft smile.
A storm brewed silently outside, lightning then struck casting gold across their sharp features—two women, one legacy, and a grudge that could scorch an empire.