Welcome to the Empire

Burn through the Struggles

"Finally decided to join your family Jamal?"Cookie sneered over the crowd chanting 'Tiana'

Jamal pursed his lips and rolled his eyes as he sat next to Storm,who was currently fanning herself on the velvet couch-specifically reserved for the Lyons on a balcony of one of the suites,where they could get a perfect view.

"You know pregnant women get hot flashes?"He said into her ear.

Storm's eyes shifted from the reflexive building that had a countdown currently projected onto it,to give 'Mal the stank-iest side-eye she could muster.

"What?"He chuckled."I'm just saying."

"Well you're saying what a million other strangers are saying-"

"Who's saying what?"Cookie leaned closer.

"Noth-

"That Storm's pregnant."

Jamal non-chalantly responded while fixing his colar,earning him a kick from his sister-in-law at the sound of his mother's gasp.

Cookie's eyes lit up."You're pregnant?"

Lucious head snapped in the direction of his family on the other side of the couch.

He leaned forward,to look past his 'wife'."You're pregnant?"

"Why you sayin' it like it's a bad thing Lucious?"Cookie looked him up and down.

"Not at all.It's exciting!"He cleared his throat."But Diamond,with the album and all-"

Cookie rolled her eyes.

"Your morning sickness and pregnancy stuff shouldn't get in the way.It's a blessing but we still need to deliver."

"Why are you always like this?Huh?"

"Like what?"

Storm drowned out their bickering and turned to Jamal."See what you did?"

He smiled as she sucked her teeth.The countown was coming to an end,causing a louder roar to emit from the crowd gathered on the large ground of the hotel.

She managed to steal one last glance of Hakeem,standing in the front row with Prince on his shoulders,before the lights went off.

Replaced by ones that flickered all at once,making Storm squint her eyes.Until the spread projection came to focus on one specific spot.
The letters T.I.A.N.A were individually plastered on the building one after the other,accompanied by strong bullet sounds

The crowd went wild.

"Sistas and brothers!"The spotlight landed on Tiana who hung onto a ladder in the sky,being lowered by an helicopter."I'm back!"She smirked at the reaction."Welcome to the Paradox Hotel!"

From 4ft,she dropped onto a tall podium in a Black Widow pose, effortlessly standing up.

"Let's go!"

A band was revealed on the actual stage.They started playing the instrumental for Double Life.

'Double Life!"Drum beats"Double Life!"Drum beats"Double Life!"

Everyone scram with their phones pointed at Tiana as the podium got lowered into the stage,forming an extension.

Storm bobbed her head along to songs that she hadn't heard in years.She would probably be able to tell you where she was and what she was doing when she first heard them.

She considered herself a big fan of Tiana's,her whole family was.But no one rode for T like Ciara.She was a real superfan,which is why Storm Instagram live'ed the whole thing.

She'd always played it nice and friendly in public but she'd be straight up lying if she said that Tiana welcomed her warmly.

Yes,she was sighed to Bossy when Storm signed with Empire,but as it's former princess,Storm expected a little more guidance and kindness from her in the early stages of her career.

Treasure told her all kinds of stories about Tiana...Maya did too.But Storm preferred drawing own conclusions from own experiences.

But yeah,Tiana never liked her.More so now than ever.Ofcourse Storm didn't like the side-eyes or harshly being treated as though invisible when they were right next to eachother,but...she had to take her own advice.As hard as it was.

She had to take the higher road.

The stakes were much higher now that there were kids between them.

"Nobody loves me like me!"

Storm switched the live to selfie mode,the faces of her and Jamal happily singing along filling the screen with her head rested on his shoulder.

Over the course of the performance,the pair had progressed from sitting to standing by the glass of the balcony,singing and dancing together.

Tiana hadn't released a song in a while,justifying the reaction of everyone watching when an unfamiliar beat dropped.

After tonight,her new song;'Fan Mail',would definetly be hard to escape.

It was the perfect combination of R&B and Pop,with the signature Tiana sound no one could get enough of.

Storm was vibing,her comments were going crazy with comments like;'Hold the camera straight chile';'Is this about you?';Is it out' etc.

Tiana turned to them,making Jamal cheer louder.Looked her dead in the eyes and sang,

"All these girlies tryna take my mans.All his wifeys are my biggest fans."