Veronica Bentley
INTRO
name: Veronica Bentley
faceclaim: Jenna Coleman
gender & pronouns: cis female, she/her/hers
age: 35
birthday: February 12, 1990
place of birth: London, England
occupation: None currently, will eventually become the curator of the Kismet Harbor Museum
neighborhood: Emerald Mist (staying with her brother Owen and his family)
time since arriving in kismet harbor: Since May 1, 2025
town activities: None currently, in future art of photography, equine emporium, game on, the renegades, and vino spell
biography: (tw divorce, cheating, family conflict/abandonment)
Nearly seven years to the day after Owen’s birth, the Bentley’s welcomed a daughter, Veronica Jane Bentley. From the moment she entered the world, Veronica had everything she could possibly need, at least that money could buy. Tobias Bentley was a bit of a business magnate, often away from home due to work which the young girl found difficult. As much as she loved Owen and their mother, Arabella, the brunette was born a daddy’s girl. Only ten when her parents’ marriage broke down and ended in divorce, Veronica struggled, especially with going from seeing her father infrequently to almost never. His choice to abandon his children rather than be a good co-parent was her first heartbreak. Although Arabella was not to blame for the separation, she was the only parent around and thus Veronica took her frustrations out on her mother, damaging their relationship in her pre-teen years. While this subsided for a time and they grew closer, Veronica acted out often while away at boarding school, careful not to do so in ways that would get back to her mother, but enough to have become a significant irritation to her headmistress and faculty. Although she wasn’t particularly happy, Veronica was managing.
The second shock of her young life hit when Arabella forced her to relocate from the U.K to the small coastal town of Kismet Harbor. The teenage girl was devastated and her resentment for her mother returned with a vengeance. To say she was less than thrilled to be gaining a stepfather and step sister would be a notable understatement. Veronica and Aarin managed to form a decent relationship, especially as the latter helped the former adjust to high school in the states, but she still held a strong grudge against her mother and made little effort to get to know her new father figure. By the time high school was over a few merciful years later, Veronica fled back to London for university and never gave Kismet Harbor a second thought for almost a decade and a half. Although Veronica never said anything of it to her mother or brother, she made several attempts over the years to reconnect with Tobias only to be disappointed repeatedly. After graduating from college, Veronica traveled far and wide, eventually returning to her birthplace to try and settle down.
This attempt came in the form of working at Sotheby’s and cavorting around with British high society. For a while, Veronica believed herself to be happy. So much so in fact that she believed she’d met the man of her dreams. The Earl of Derby, Rufus Stanley, was a very handsome and charismatic gentleman, and Veronica allowed herself to be swept off her feet. After a year of courtship, she was delighted to say yes to his proposal. But once the earl felt he had her in his back pocket, the fairytale began to fade. Much like her father, Rufus traveled frequently for work and while in the beginning Veronica would often accompany him, there began to be reasons and excuses that prevented her from joining, leaving her alone at times for months on end. When they were together, he lavished her in attention and gifts, pretty words making her forget all the loneliness.
Two years stretched on, the distance grew worse and his attentiveness even when they were together began to wane. In spite of this, Veronica was determined not to let the relationship fail. So much so, that on one fateful day in March of this year, she traveled to Paris to surprise the earl on his business trip…only to find him in the intimate company of a colleague. Humiliated, Veronica fled, not answering any calls and refusing to see her fiance. Terrified of the embarrassment she would face among high society, she quietly quit her job and fell off the face of the earth, retreating into travel for a bit until she felt strong enough to rejoin the world. Not wanting to return to the place she had called home for many years, Veronica returned to Kismet Harbor making excuses about seeing her mother, brother, stepsister, new siblings-in-law, and nieces and has been staying with Owen and his family ever since.
