"let's have a toast for the douchebags
let's have a toast for the assholes
let's have a toast for the scumbags
every one of them that I know
let's have a toast for the jerk offs
that'll never take work off
baby I got a plan, runaway fast as you can".

roman arrived at the warehouse and went right up to his office. when he walked in, he saw that there was an envelope on his desk. at first he assumed that it was a check from paul or one of the other entrepreneurs he works with, but it wasn't.

he grabbed the envelope and opened it. instead of a check, it was an invitation. tomorrow a man named adam weston was hosting an investor gala at his home in staten island. this investor gala was for many different entrepreneurs around the new york boroughs and their business partners. for example, roman was invited because he was a business partner of paul's, who was an entrepreneur.

a lot of important people were gonna be attending, aka people roman would have to become associates with. it's always beneficial considering that becoming cool with these people will mean that he could get more partnerships and of course, more money. tomorrow will be another opportunity for that.

"good morning roman" shiny said to him as he walked into his office.

"morning" roman said to him.

"I see you got your invitation, it's been here since yesterday" he told him.

"and why didn't anyone give it to me yesterday?" roman wondered, now a bit annoyed that he's finding out about it last minute.

"because you left early and never came back?" shiny said.

"oh... yeah" roman remembered. "anyways while I was gone yesterday, did the twins ever come?".

"nope" shiny told him.

jimmy and jey haven't been showing up to the warehouse ever since the intense argument between roman and jey. they told shiny and terrence that it's better that they stay away from him to avoid any problems. while that was halfway true, they also weren't showing up because they were considering leaving the cartel. they were fed up and they wanted some change. change was gonna come real soon for the two.

"bunch of babies" roman scoffed. "can't stand the truth so they wanna be pussies and not show up. shit, I didn't even say anything to jimmy and yet he wants to be a follower and do whatever jey does. some bullshit forreal".

"they're twins roman so it's a pack mentality. if you do something to one, you affect the other one too" shiny told him.

"you think I give a fuck about that?!" roman exclaimed. "I don't care about no pack. these muthafuckers had a pack with ME by being my lieutenants but they can't stand the truth and now don't wanna come to shit. they won't even talk to me!".

"maybe if you weren't an asshole they would..." shiny said in his head.

"that's y'all family business so i'm gonna stay out of it. I just wanted to know if you got your invitation to that gala" shiny said. "i'll catch you later man".

shiny walked out of the office and roman rolled his eyes. he then grabbed his phone and texted iman to tell her that she would be his plus one to yet another event regarding his endeavors. he was gonna go on about his business and not give a shit about how his cousins are feeling, as he usually did...

"so just because roman's going to the gala, I can't?" jey asked paul while they were speaking on the phone. jey was asking him why he didn't get an invite to adam weston's investor gala. he knew adam and even thought that they were cool, and yet the invite snub.

"jey you can't be at that gala while roman is there... he's gonna know about our little deal" paul told him.

"I don't even care if he finds out at this point" jey scoffed.

"weren't you the one that wanted this to be a secret in the first place? what's with the change now?" paul wondered.

"i'm not scared of that man paul. if he finds out, he finds out. I don't care what he's gonna do to me because i'm not gonna regret a damn thing" jey told him.

"well that's you but what about me?! he's gonna get you and then he'll probably get me after!" paul said. "bottom line, you just can't come this time. too much drama and nothing needs to blow up in front of all of our colleagues".

"I bet you ain't preventing anyone else from going to this shit" jey mumbled.

"well i'm not doing secret business with anyone else now am I?!" paul lied. he was doing secret business with jey and the worse one of all victor. thank god victor wasn't gonna be able to attend the gala, or even get turned down for it. he had a prior commitment to attend.

"look jey, you're a cool guy. I like you, adam likes you, we all like you. but business comes first and I do business with roman first. he's the don and he runs everything, and that includes you".

"roman don't run shit with me! what the fuck paul?! roman is not my damn boss!" jey exclaimed, pissed at how he was being played for a bitch right now.

"I didn't mean it like that jey I just meant that- that he's in charge of the cartel. y'know you're a lieutenant and he's a lord, he's in charge" paul corrected.

"nah I know exactly what you meant. forget it" jey said. "I won't show where i'm clearly not welcomed".

jey hung up the phone furiously and slammed it back in the ringer. even when he feels like he has some power, roman still stops it in a way. roman doesn't even like these people jey thought and yet he was the one that gets invited to the fancy events all the time. just the principle of it all made him mad, especially when he was actually cool with some of them!

however this was all just an example of not letting power go to your head like jey has. he may have been cool with these people, but he still wasn't on the same level as them in the way he thought he was.

he was still just another "wealthy for nothing" guy.

"which shoes babydoll?" iman asked jianni as she was getting ready for the gala, holding up two pairs of gold heels that go with her outfit.

it was now the next day and it was getting to the time that iman and roman had to head out. jianni was currently playing stylist, helping iman find an outfit to wear since she was already in the wardrobe room playing dress up with her clothes.

"that one!" jianni told her mom, picking the sophia webster heels with the silver rings hooked onto the heel.

"good choice jianni" iman smiled. she wanted to wear them anyways.

then roman walked into the wardrobe room after he finished his shower and saw his wife and daughter in there.

"hi daddy!" jianni exclaimed as she saw her father.

"hey babygirl... what are you doing?" roman wondered. he really was wondering why jianni was in there.

"helping momma" she told him.

"she's my stylist for tonight, she picked out my outfit!" iman added. she was wearing a gold jumpsuit from house of cb with the sophia webster heels.

"i'm glad she did...." roman smirked, peeping that the jumpsuit iman was wearing was showing off her cleavage. he always loved to see that.

"oh please roman" iman chuckled as she realized what he was looking at.

"daddy can I help you too?!" jianni asked him.

"you know what, since you did such a good job with your mother.... sure!" roman agreed.

"yay!" she smiled.

"i'm gonna pick out two suits and you're gonna tell me which one to wear okay?" roman told her.

"okay" she said.

roman went to his side of the wardrobe room and went through his suits until he picked out two candidates, suits that went with iman's jumpsuit. one was a plain dark gray versace suit and the other was a more elaborate shiny silver dolce and gabbana suit.

"I like that one!" jianni said, pointing to the dolce and gabbana suit.

"I like it too... good job babydoll!" iman exclaimed.

"my babygirl's a stylist" roman smiled as he kissed her cheek.

"what's that?" jianni asked.

"that's when you help someone find an outfit, like what you did for us" iman explained. "you help me and daddy find an outfit for our date".

"ooooh!" jianni smiled.

iman and roman finished getting ready and once they were ready, they left out for the gala.

"so what's the purpose of this gala?" iman asked roman as they were driving on their way.

"meeting up with colleagues and other entrepreneurs around the boroughs. I got invited because I work with paul" roman explained. "paul and the man that's hosting this are friends".

"so all these so called entrepreneurs work with drug lords and cartels?" iman wondered, which caused roman to shoot her a glare.

"yes iman, some of them do. you're acting like it's so far fetched" roman scoffed. "like these dudes don't do the shit I sell".

"well shit roman I didn't think it was still the 80s where people openly work with drug dealers" iman said, rolling her eyes in the process.

"well now you know they do" roman said back.

"whatever, I just hope that this event is interesting" iman said. "oooh hopefully they'll have some caviar there or something, i'd like that".

"trust me, there will be caviar" roman chuckled.

"then maybe this will be the best event yet!" iman fake smiled which made roman laugh at her clear sarcasm.

about thirty five minutes later, they arrived at adam weston's house in staten island. the house was huge and it was very reminiscent to the banks' residence from the fresh prince of bel air. the fresh prince of staten island this time.

a chauffeur arrived to the front of roman's bentley to take it and park it. this man had a whole chauffeur at his own house, and even if it was just for tonight's event it was still fascinating.

once the chauffeur took the car, iman and roman walked to the entrance of the house where a doorman opened the door and let them in. they were greeted by the opening foyer which had a huge double staircase in the middle and an open space to lead to the rest of the bottom floor of the house.

"welcome to the 2020 weston investor gala! we are so glad to have you here! name?!" the man introduced as he saw the couple.

"roman anoa'i" roman said to him.

".... oooh yes! right here, you may go to the main ballroom area which is straight ahead. enjoy!" he said.

roman and iman headed to the main ballroom area and when they arrived, many were talking amongst themselves drinking and enjoying the finger food appetizers which included the caviar iman was craving.

"they do have caviar here!" iman smiled.

the entrepreneurs and business partners were all here right now, soaking in all of their wealth and riches amongst their fellow colleagues. many people were meeting each other for the first time and were getting along well with how much in common they had. soon roman would be doing the same.

"I don't care what we do first, I just need to get the caviar" iman said.

"you and this damn caviar" roman laughed.

"I told you if they had it this would be the best event yet. they do have it, and now it's officially the best event yet! so now, you'll have a happy iman that will progress and mingle with anyone you want me too" iman told him.

"then in that case, get all the caviar you want!" roman smiled, kissing iman on her forehead being happy that for once iman wasn't complaining about going to events like this.

"roman! there you are!" a voice called out from behind the two. when they turned around, they saw paul and his wife linda.

"hey paul" roman said as they shook hands to greet each other. the wives did the same.

"glad to see that you made it, have you met anyone yet?" paul asked him.

"we actually just got here so we haven't gotten around yet" roman told him.

"oh that's great! there's so many people you need to meet, they're some good folks" paul said. "you really need to meet adam".

"I want too, this is his event after all" roman chuckled.

"cmon let me show you to some of the people" paul smiled as the two left to speak to the other entrepreneurs.

"iman it's been a while since i've seen you, let's catch up!" linda said to her.

"i'd love that" iman said. "but first.... I need to get some caviar".

"that's perfect because I would also like some" linda chuckled. "let's find a waiter that's serving it". 

iman nodded and the two women went to get some caviar, drink some champagne, and have a good time as their husbands went to talk business.

the gala was running pretty smoothly at this point. roman was meeting many different men and iman was under linda and some other women as well. they were both enjoying themselves and iman was especially happy that she was genuinely enjoying herself.

roman and paul reunited with their wives at this point and there was one more person that paul wanted to introduce roman too. adam weston.

adam was an investment banker and has been for over twenty years. he's been friends with paul since paul began his strip club chain and he's also a stakeholder in the company. adam was a very wealthy man and obviously the house and the huge gala showed for it. he was worth more than paul, and mostly likely roman.

adam weston appeared behind the four with a glass of whiskey in his hand and a woman by his side. many of the people here either respected adam or considered adam a colleague. he was very important, and so many considered him a great.

"paul! buddy! how are ya?!" adam exclaimed as he saw his friend of twenty one years, giving him a hug.

"adam! buddy! nice job on another great gala, you really outdid yourself" paul said mocking him.

"I know... my assistant did a great job" adam grinned.

"ah yes, may I always remember that maya the assistant carries everything" paul chuckled.

"she don't carry my money though" adam said with a laugh.

"oh adam, this is who I wanted you to meet" paul said segwaying into roman. "adam this is roman anoa'i, roman this is adam weston".

"ah THE roman anoa'i" adam said. "i've heard some things about you...".

"i've heard some things about you too" roman said back.

"then I guess we're both infamous huh?" adam chuckled.

"we sure are" roman smirked.

"mhm I like you already, personality wise and business wise" adam told him. "especially the business.... i've heard you be making big money off of your "products"".

"I sure do, and I hear you're one of the biggest investors in the city" roman said.

"I am... over twenty years in the game, i've worked hard for what I got" adam said back.

"and so have I" roman said. "self made and it paid off".

the two were just having a casual back and forth of how good and powerful they were. it was a back and forth of the egos basically, both of them had huge egos but had the money, power, and respect to back it up.

"so... who's this lady by your side?" adam asked him.

"my wife iman" roman told him.

"nice to meet you iman" adam said with a smile.

"you too" iman said.

"since we're introducing ladies now... this is mine, elena" adam said to them.

"is this your wife?" iman asked him, squinting her eyes as she was trying to guess hold old this "elena" was. she looked like she was in her twenties, meanwhile adam was probably pushing fifty or over fifty.

"no.... girlfriend" he said.

iman stayed silent after that. the fact that adam was a middle aged man dating someone that was probably over twenty years younger than him (the same year span he's been an investment banker) was just plain weird and gross. she wanted to say something shady so badly about his r kelly tendencies but she couldn't so she just took a sip of her champagne and gave them both (specifically adam) a look.

"anyways, i'm about to make a toast to the people. excuse me" adam said as he walked away with elena by his side.

"excuse me if I ask but.... how old is adam?" iman asked paul.

"fifty three" paul told her.

"what about elena?" iman asked again.

"iman...." roman groaned as he felt iman was being invasive.

"she's the ripe age of twenty five!" linda told her. "adam likes them young.... twenty eight years old young!".

"that's just....." iman said, scrunching her face up to make a facial expression.

"trust me, I know" linda chuckled. "just wrong. i'm glad paul doesn't do that though".

oh linda..... too bad he does do that! one of paul's stripper girlies would love to have a word. paul knew it too as he fixed his collar, and roman looked at him cause he remembers the woman he saw come out of his office when he first went to the brownsville club and how paul was fixing up his lower region when he arrived...

before any other talk could be spoken, adam stepped up to the mic at the front so he could do his "cheers to the rich" type toast that he always does.

"hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying yourselves at the 2020 weston investor gala!" adam said to everyone, prompting applause.

"these nights are always special to me as I always love to see the many entrepreneurs and their business partners from the boroughs. some even beyond! everyone here has earned their place as being some of the richest people in this great state with their business endeavors and companies and I am glad to have had shared my home with you all".

the crowd of people applauded again in how great they were, along with adam.

"I would like to propose a quick toast. a toast to being successful, wealthy, happy, and continuing their strides as new york's finest" adam said holding up his glass. "so everyone raise their glasses and let's cheers to wealth and success.... TO WEALTH AND SUCCESS!".

"TO WEALTH AND SUCCESS!" everyone said in unison.

the people drunk their drinks down and applauded adam's speech of how good they all were. they were all so blessed and grateful to be living the lifestyle that many craved. throughout the whole night these people were talking about how good their lives were or how good their businesses were doing, just boasting about how amazing they were. they loved it. roman also loved it. all he ever wanted was to have money and be powerful, and canoodling with these people fueled his ego more and more.

"let's all eat dinner!" adam cheered out. "please take a seat everyone!".

this was truly the sweet life.

the gala continued as after dinner, everyone went back to their conversing. roman was currently conversing with a man named thomas atcker who owned some restaurants in queens. he was a nice man and him and roman were getting along exceptionally well, having a lot in common actually.

"you really like the 49ers man? sheesh" thomas chuckled.

"i'm not listening to no giants fan" roman said.

"at least we didn't flop at our rare chance at a super bowl" thomas teased.

"and when was the last time your team made it? matter of fact when was the last time your team was good cause y'all have been ass for as long as I can remember" roman shot back.

"aye man ease up" thomas chuckled.

"oh now it's "ease up", yeah ight" roman said which prompted thomas to laugh.

"you know roman.... you're a pretty cool guy" thomas said to him.

"thank you, so are you. your loyalty to new york sports teams are questionable but overall you're a great guy!" roman added.

"yeah... y'know, not gonna lie I didn't think you'd be this open. i've heard some things but you are very opposite from those things" thomas blurted out.

"what things have you heard?" roman wondered, very confused as to what was now going on.

"y'know like little things, it's not that serious though especially when you are not those things" thomas continued to spill out.

"no it is serious when someone trying to paint false narratives about me" roman said sternly. "so who's been talking?".

"roman it's really not that serious trust me you'll laugh at it yourself consider how wrong it ended up being" thomas nervously laughed.

"thomas i'm going to ask you again... who has been talking about me?!" roman exclaimed, getting close to thomas's airspace.

".... one of my colleagues, jey fatu" thomas finally told him.

and the cat was officially out of the bag.

"what? my cousin?! your colleague?!" roman said in shock, as each question made his voice get louder. his anger was slowly building up.

"he's a new stakeholder in paul's company. he's been hanging around us lately and he's been talking about you. talking about your attitude and how you can be standoffish and an.... overall asshole" thomas explained.

forget the attitude talk, the minute thomas said that jey was a stakeholder in paul's company roman was livid. he finally realized that this was what jey was hiding from him, this is why jey has had a boost of confidence lately. this is why he was able to afford such a lucrative penthouse. all of these things that roman has peeped throughout the week have finally came to the light.

jey was a snake and he went behind his back to try and be like him.

he knew it too, it was probably why he was so persistent when it came to that stake deal. the entire time roman was debating on it jey was pressuring him about it over and over again. he only cared so that he could take it for himself, he wanted to be powerful so he went behind roman's back to get it.

roman was infuriated, he wanted to break someone or something. he could've just confronted paul on this but he knew that jey was the real mastermind. jey's been plotting for a while, so he knew that he convinced paul to allow him to have the stake. his anger was getting to the highest level, and it wasn't gonna stop at all.

"I have to go" roman simply said. he didn't want to cause a scene at this place, so he decided to leave the gala as a whole.

roman quickly walked away from thomas to get iman and go. iman was talking with linda and some other women and once he saw her, he grabbed her arm and walked out of the house letting no one speak to him.

"roman what the hell are you doing?! grabbing my arm like this while i'm talking to people!" iman exclaimed.

"get in the car" roman said to her as they were walking to their parking spot. he wasn't even gonna let the chauffeurs bring the car around.

"not until you tell me what's going on. why are you so mad?" iman wondered.

"iman, i'm telling you.... get in the car" roman demanded.

"what is HAPPENING?!" iman said raising her voice this time.

"GET IN THE DAMN CAR IMAN! I'M NOT ANSWERING NO FUCKING QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW JUST GET IN THE CAR!" roman yelled out.

iman was startled, but to avoid any more problems out in public she just got in the bentley. she slammed the door shut and sat in the passenger seat not facing roman. roman got in the car as well, and drove out of adam's house and back home.

roman was speeding down the road furiously. he was so angry with the fact that his own cousin was going behind his back and basically plotting on his downfall. his anger was getting the best of him right now as he was going way beyond the miles per hour. he didn't want to stop because he could snap at any minute.

"roman you're speeding really fast right now.... slow down" iman told him.

roman ignored her and continued to speed down the highway.

"you're literally going so many miles per hour right now are you okay? you're gonna hit something, you're gonna get us hit" iman said.

"I wanna hit something, I wanna hit someone. I wanna hit jey, I want him to feel my wrath and I want to fuck him up so bad that he never makes it out again" roman said, gritting his teeth at every word.

iman leaned over to the wheel and pulled the car over to the side of the road. roman was clearly too mad to drive, and it could've lead to an accident.

"what happened with jey?" iman asked him.

"what happened?! WHAT HAPPENED?! jey's a fucking snake THAT'S what happened" roman snapped. "he's a dirty piece of fucking shit that went behind my back. like holy shit iman, i'm in rage. I want to hurt him. I want to strangle him with my own hands, maybe even something else".

"you don't mean that roman don't say that" iman said trying to calm him down.

"no fuck that shit, I meant what I just said!" roman spat back at her.

"look roman how about.... how about I just drive the rest of the way home okay? you're clearly upset and I don't want you to hurt yourself while we're still on the road" iman told him. "so just get in the passenger seat and i'll take over okay?".

roman actually listened to her so they switched their seats in the car and iman began to drive back to manhattan. roman was in the passenger seat still upset and still fuming. his emotions were on a rollercoaster right now and the next time he would see jey he wouldn't know if he was gonna be able to control them.

jey crossed a line that would never be forgiven, going behind roman's back is one thing you do not do. lying to him is what you never do. jey did all of those things and more, and roman couldn't take it.

the family feud has officially begun.