Little Dolly Zest-Kattan has just grown up, and she’s already the queen of facial expressions.
The Landgraab genes certainly seem to be strong in this one.
One evening, Nancy took Gianico to dinner to ‘discuss’ Dolly’s future. He thought it was an odd request, but he agreed to go along with it out of curiosity.
“She has huge potential, not like my other granddaughter. They may just be toddlers, but I know a Landgraab heir when I see one.”
“Umm, I don’t feel comfortable discussing such things without Johnny…”
“Shh, now. I need you onside. Johnny is determined to raise this child as a Zest, but I can’t have that.”
Gianico was at last starting to glimpse the cutthroat Nancy he’d always heard stories of…
Gianico was troubled after his talk with Nancy, and little Dolly could tell something was wrong with her usually chirpy and playful daddy.
“Sorry sweetheart, but we might need to keep your Grandma away from the house for a while.”
“But I wuvs Gwamma Nancy the mostest! Pwease no!”
Oh dear… her claws have seemingly already been dug into this poor child.
Delphin and Dolly - the cutest cousins!
They see each other often enough that they pretty much view one another as siblings.
Seeing these two cousins together brought the Watcher back to when their dads were kids.
The nostalgia!
Now, try and remember these warm and happy feelings before the next picture pops up on your screen…
Yes. The Watcher was in shock, too. Apologies to all the Dadi & Nalani stans out there .
The truth is this has bubbling up for a while though, and it has to be said that Nancy was NOT the initiator, though she had no qualms in going ahead with it.
Context: Dadi was rolling endless Wants to flirt with Nancy, & would RELENTLESSLY show up at her house).
A flood of guilt swept through Dadi the moment he and Nancy emerged from the hot tub.
What in the Plum had he just done?
“Nalani, I’ve… done something terrible. I’m coming home now to tell you everything. I can only pray you’ll be able to forgive me for this one day.”
“Wait, what…?''
Nancy isn’t one to have loose ends though. She couldn’t have Dadi spilling on their little rendezvous. If it came out that she’d destroyed Johnny’s brother-in-law’s marriage, she’d never see little Dolly again.
(Yeah, the Watcher was feeling particularly chaotic that day… meh, Gianico was always the favourite anyway. Shrugs.)
Greta, Malcolm’s wife, came hurrying out shortly after Dadi was swallowed whole by the cowplant.
Nancy denied any involvement, of course.
“I had no idea he was even on the lot,” lied Nancy. “If only I was out here… I could’ve warned him to stay away from this damned thing.”
Lying comes so frighteningly naturally to her.
Malcolm soon returned from work, and was more abrupt in his approach with Nancy.
“Mum, who the Plum is in that urn?! Please tell me it’s just the maid.”
“Uhhh…”
“You promised the Watcher you’d behave when he gave you that Potion of Youth!”
Malcolm drew the short straw and had to be the one to return Dadi’s grave to Nalani the following day…
Nalani was in equal parts shocked and devastated.
She’d been waiting with great trepidation for Dadi to return home after his strange call to her the night before… and now this. What was she to think?
“So, uh, yeah. I’m dreadfully sorry about this. The Landgraabs send their regards. We’ll aim to keep the cowplant on a shorter leash going forwards…”
“I can’t believe this has happened… my husband.. Delphin’s dad… the legacy…”
“As I said, really sorry about all of this.”
Nancy, for one, didn’t seem to be taking Dadi’s death too hard.
She really has adopted evil queen status at this point.
Side note: With any other Sim this would look playful, but with Nancy… it feels sinister.
It was soon little Betsy Landgraab’s birthday (the other grandchild), & Johnny sought to use the occasion to gather clues on what went down the night of Dadi’s demise. He’d promised Gianico and Nalani that he would.
“Do you remember much about that night, Betsy?”
“Well, Grandma told me not to talk about that… and she’s sat right next to me.”
Great job, Johnny…
Johnny also spoke with Greta, who was much more sympathetic as Nalani’s best friend.
“All I saw that night was Nancy hovering over Dadi’s freshly spawned urn. I didn’t even know he was visiting. He must’ve been out in the yard the whole time, I can’t imagine doing what though…”
The morning of Dadi’s funeral arrived, and with it came the first rain Sulani had seen all year.
Nalani was grief-stricken by the loss of her husband, yet also continue to be plagued by the call he’d made to her in the final hours before his suspicious and untimely death.
The funeral itself was a pretty sombre affair, though at least the rain began to clear away.
Gianico & Johnny did their best to support Nalani.
Despite all the suspicions & unanswered questions, she’d still lost her husband & best friend.
With the funeral over, Nalani checked in on Delphin.
Legacy arrangements had been finalised that day too. Delphin would remain Heir, with Gianico & Nalani joint stewards of the family until his Young Adult birthday.
These things sorted, Nalani could focus on the job at hand - uncovering the truth behind what happened.
Nalani spent the following days combing through all she knew of Dadi’s death.
His call to her had come moments before a sudden cowplant devouring. There had to be a link. It was no coincidence this had happened at the Landgraab residence, where a certain freshly released cougar dwelled. It all began to become clear…
With things crystal clear in her mind now, Nalani invited Nancy over the next day.
She did so under a supposedly friendly guise. Nancy was too big-headed to suspect it was anything other than a friendly meet-up.
With some false niceties out of the way, Nalani lured Nancy into the ocean…
One of the many benefits of Sulani is that there is rarely anyone else around.
Nalani began to sing like only mermaids know how. This wasn’t a side of her powers that she used often, but she was still skilled enough in it.
Nancy felt her throat begin to close up.
She wouldn’t be doing any of the talking here.
“I may never know specifics of what you did with my husband, but if you EVER step foot near me or my son again, I will personally drag your saggy butt all the way to Grim myself.”
Nancy felt a sudden tug upon her feet, and a powerful force began to drag her beneath the water.
Her throat was sealed so tight that she couldn’t even scream.
Nalani felt immeasurable relief as she emerged from the ocean. Nancy would never bother her again.
She’d also find herself too scared to enter water again after today. Sadly for her, that would also include the hot tub where she enjoyed entertaining the husbands of other Sims.
It was just the two of them now.
(The Watcher started to feel ever so slightly bad at this point).
