Third Person
After the harrowing experience of listening to Sadie’s murder-for-hire plot against her, Annika herself could not contain the maniacal laugh that burst out of her mouth, exacerbating the tense atmosphere in Hunter’s office. Her cheeks were now saturated with hot tears overflowing with profound, unadulterated hatred towards the woman who was making her life utterly miserable. Not only did Sadie Galloway steal her husband and crush her long-lived dream of starting a family with Jeffrey by already conceiving his child, but she also wanted to twist the knife by taking away Annika’s right to breathe.
“Murder … That pathetic excuse for a human being, that treacherous w***e has the audacity to try to murder me!? Me, Annika Silverton!? Does this b***h have any f*****g idea just WHO THE f**k I AM!?” Annika was now breathing fire while screaming at the top of her lungs. Droplets of sweat trickled down Hunter’s and Leon’s backs in unison as they remained rooted to their spots, for they had never seen Annika so distraught. At a loss for words, the two men entered a temporary vow of silence while she continued her full-on rampage in Hunter’s office.
After what felt like a lifetime of screaming and cursing, Annika regained enough of her composure to sit down on the couch in Hunter’s office; however, what came next was not a sigh of relief but one of resignation and pure heartache. Annika had fully grasped just how serious the situation had become, and it did nothing more than break her heart, knowing the person she thought was the love of her life would betray her with someone so psychotic they wanted her dead because she was in their way. There was no doubt in Annika’s mind that Sadie Galloway was non-compos mentis and belonged in a psychiatric hospital.
“Annika, things have taken a quantum leap in the wrong direction, so we must speed up our timeline with everything,” Hunter cautiously spoke to her, attempting to change gears. All the while, Annika continued her deep breaths to subdue the storm raging within. “Because Sadie has gone to extremes by putting a target on your back and hiring a hitman, we have no choice but to work faster. We have more than enough evidence to send her and Jeff away for life.”
“Sadie is pregnant with his child, Hunter. Remember? I don’t know any judge in the city that would put a wealthy, pregnant woman in prison,” Annika responded while leaning back and closing her eyes, extracting more tears from them as she did so. In the wake of her denial, anger, and sorrow, her feelings came down to acceptance. She accepted it was over between her and Jeffrey and that she had no choice but to ruin his life the way he had ruined hers—an eye for an eye. The same applied to Sadie unequivocally.
“You’d be surprised, Anni, especially if we took this to my great uncle. Remember, he’s a Supreme Court justice who oversees more than his fair share of criminal cases. Litigation of this nature where he can hear the words straight from the horse’s mouth, he won’t be easily swayed just because she’s knocked up. And when I tell him who you are, it will be even harder for him to say no to you,” Hunter reiterated with the utmost confidence.
“No offense, Malloy, but how can you be so sure?” Leon asked him, a sliver of doubt evident in his voice.
“I’m sure because not only is Supreme Court Justice Matthew Malloy my great uncle, Annika’s parents funded his campaign along with mine and Kenzie’s. Uncle Matt knows Annika by name, and the moment I tell him who this case involves, he’ll jump at the chance to make Anni’s parents happy by standing behind her. Plus, he’s an honorable man, so there’s no way he’d let some douchebag and his mistress get away with conspiracy to commit murder and all the other crap they’ve pulled. And the evidence tampering? He’s a judge for the highest court of the land, for f**k’s sake. He would never let an offense of that magnitude slide. Especially,” Hunter emphasized before continuing, “when the perp is a D.A. because it’s an insult to American jurisprudence, and he won’t stand for it. That’s how I’m sure, Leon.”
Leon gave Hunter a nod of approval and shifted his attention to Annika, who wore a vacant expression on her face except in her eyes. The earthy, warm brown eyes flecked with gold were replaced with two pools of molten honey and held so much contempt that Leon felt it from where he sat ten feet away. Following a moment of silence, Annika found her resolve and definitively announced, “Do it.”
“You sure?” Hunter asked to confirm. “Once I take this evidence to Matt, it’s all over for Jeff and Sadie.”
“Yes. Do it. See if he will expedite a court order that will prevent Jeff from getting anything from me, and I also need you to draw up the divorce papers under the radar. I want everything in my hand before I confront him because I plan to do it in front of Sadie’s parents.”
“Wait, what?” Leon and Hunter both stared at her in shock.
“Do you even know who her parents are?” Leon’s shock gave way to curiosity as he joined Annika on the couch.
“I do. It clicked one day that she looked oddly familiar in more ways than one, and after seeing what she looked like and hearing her last name, it hit me. I have another patient with the last name Galloway whose wife has similar facial features to Sadie.”
“Okay?” Leon failed to catch Annika’s drift, and she gave him a passive look before her lips curved into a smirk. “Hunter?” Annika gestured to him.
“Jorge was able to obtain pictures of Sadie’s parents since we need to know who they are and such. When I showed the picture to Annika the other day, well …”
“Sadie’s father happens to be one of my primary care patients,” Annika finished Hunter’s sentence.
“What?!” Leon exclaimed. Annika laughed at the small world that was her business. Not only was the deranged homewrecker seeing her best friend for her OB/GYN appointments, but said homewrecker’s father coincidentally came to her for his everyday medical needs.
“Do you think they know who you are?” Leon asked.
“No, because his medical concerns are legit. Sadie may have sought out Kenzie solely based on her name, which was likely why Mr. and Mrs. Galloway came to me. But I don’t think they know I’m Jeff’s wife. And from what we can tell as of today, her parents don’t know who Jeff actually is, nor that he’s married to their primary physician. Imagine how shocked they will be when they find out,” Annika sneered.
“Annika, this could make Mr. Galloway keel over and die. You do realize that, don’t you?” Leon dryly asked, his voice betraying any signs of remorse.
“So? Serves him right for raising a w***e of a daughter and enabling her shitty personality.”
“Actually, now that you mention it …” Hunter began to say and jumped to his feet. He started rummaging through a dense pile of paperwork on his desk, talking to himself. “Where is it? I know I saw … Score!” Hunter shouted with excitement as he approached Annika and Leon and offered them the file he retrieved. Annika and Leon shared a glance before Leon took the file and opened it.
“What is this?” Annika asked as she peered over Leon’s shoulder, attempting to look at the papers from the file.
“What? Is this true?” Leon inquired immediately after reading the first page’s content. Hunter smiled and nodded.
“What is it? What did you find out?” Annika pressed Leon, who was secretly enjoying her earnest pleas and the close contact.
“According to this, Mrs. Galloway isn’t Mr. Galloway’s first wife. She’s his second. And if these dates are accurate, Sadie was born eight months after they got married,” he replied.
“Okay?” Leon questioned.
“Hunter, you don’t think?” Annika gaped at him.
“Worth a shot, don’t you think?”
“Am I missing something?” Leon interjected.
“Mr. Von Doren, pregnancies last ten months. If Sadie was born only eight months into her parents’ marriage, then there are two possibilities to explain this scenario,” Annika replied.
“Which are?”
“One, Mr. Galloway had an affair with Sadie’s mom, which meant he got another woman pregnant while married. Go figure,” she snarked immediately before continuing, “or Sadie may have been conceived before her parents met. Ergo …”
“Ergo, Sadie might not belong to Mr. Galloway, and her mom lied to him to persuade him to marry her and leave his first wife,” Leon ended Annika’s thought.
“Precisely.”
“How do we prove that?” he asked while furrowing his brows.
“Simple. Kenzie has Sadie’s DNA on record, and I have Mr. Galloway’s. We already have the necessary components for genetic testing to compare their DNA,” she answered.
“Isn’t that illegal?” Leon pointed out, quirking a brow in skepticism.
“Not necessarily. Hospitals and doctor’s offices often compare their patients’ DNA for instances like blood transfusions and organ donation to avoid complications such as transmitting rare diseases into an otherwise healthy individual or incompatible blood types and Rh factors. That would be catastrophic. In some instances, genetic testing is required for paternity testing when one party is unwilling or unavailable.” Hunter responded from off to the side.
“So, this can all be done under the guise of standard practices?” Leon verified, and both Annika and Hunter nodded their heads. “f*****g brilliant.”
“Thank you,” Annika and Hunter replied in unison, causing them to stare at each other in confusion and Leon to chuckle at their interaction.
“Alright, our plan of action is now in place. All that’s left is to gather the necessary documents and evidence to submit to Uncle Matt. Once I’m ready, I’ll need you two to meet me at his chambers, and if we can get him to sign everything right then and there, you won’t have to wait to confront Jeff and Sadie,” Hunter told Leon and Annika as he meticulously began to gather every file for the case.
“Hunter, thank you. And I’m sorry you had to witness another emotional breakdown earlier,” Annika expressed her gratitude and stood to hug him. Hunter stopped what he was doing and hugged her back. But to his dismay, what he saw for a split second was Leon Von Doren with a menacing expression on his face. Leon may have shaken it off quickly, but Hunter still caught wind of it. This further proved that Leon was falling for Annika, and he couldn’t help but think how lucky Annika was that someone as successful as Leon Von Doren had his eyes on her. There was no doubt in his mind that if Leon managed to win Annika’s heart, they would win the lottery in differing ways.
“Don’t mention it, Anni. I still have a lot of work to do,” he replied and gently pulled away. “Forgive me for not walking you guys out,” he continued, as he stepped away and extended his hand towards Leon. Despite the scowl on his face moments ago, Leon respectfully shook Hunter’s hand. A few moments later, he and Annika walked out of the building side by side and were greeted by the night sky.
“Oh wow, it’s a lot later than I expected,” Annika noted while peering at her phone screen to check the time. “I feel awful keeping Hunter so late. Kenz must be annoyed with me by now.”
“Please, you know that’s not true, Annika. Kenzie is your best friend, and Hunter is her husband. I’m sure she knows this case is important to all of us, Kenzie included,” Leon reassured her.
“But still. Ever since Hunter took on my case, the time he has to spend away from home has progressively increased, and I speak from experience when I say it’s not fun waiting on your husband to get home from work constantly,” she responded with her eyes downcast. Leon couldn’t hold back from bringing her into his embrace again. “Mr. Von—”
“Shhh … Just let me comfort you, Annika.” Annika’s body went rigid, and she lost her ability to react momentarily. Though what was unfolding seemed trivial to the two people involved, in the eyes of a third party, Annika and Leon’s embrace appeared cozier than one would like to see. And that third party was none other than Jeffrey Hollands. Since he knew Annika had hired Hunter to represent her, he was confident she would be at his office if she weren’t at home. To that end, he decided to pay them a visit after meeting with Sadie.
Lately, ever since Sadie had mentioned the possibility of Annika sleeping with Leon, Jeffrey was coming apart at the seams. The frequency of his s****l rendezvous with Sadie had diminished significantly, much to Sadie’s displeasure. Jeffrey was still contemplating whether he was ready to let go of his and Annika’s eleven-year history together. He was so disturbed by Sadie’s accusation of Annika cheating on him with Leon that he wanted to confront Annika about it. But what he witnessed outside Hunter’s office building that night stopped him dead in his tracks. Jeffrey’s blood ran cold as the psychological distress took hold of him, inciting a riot within his heart while his face twisted in resentment.
From Jeffrey’s perspective, he watched with eyes quivering with emotion as his darling wife and his mistress’ ex-husband clung to one another romantically. After gleaning his answer from the gut-wrenching scene unfolding in front of him, Jeffrey’s resolve faltered. The sense of betrayal hit him like a freight train going full throttle. He didn’t want to be with Sadie. Annika was the love of his life; he knew that now. Seeing his wife, the woman he vowed to cherish forever, in the arms of another man, a man Jeffrey himself deliberately abetted in ruining several months ago, felt like a bucket of ice water splashed over his body. Jeffrey could not stomach having a taste of his own medicine and finally understood the feeling of being stabbed in the back. He grew weary at the prospect of trying to salvage his marriage after what he had just seen and the pain he had inflicted upon Annika over the past few months.
How could the world be so small that, of all people, Leon Von Doren would be the one to take his beloved Annika away from him? It had never occurred to Jeffrey that he could stay with Annika and leave Sadie, not until that earth-shattering moment when he could not stand the sight of his wife being held by someone other than himself. Jeffrey’s worst nightmare had manifested twenty feet away from him, but it was far from over. Tears formed in his eyes, and his world was cloaked in red now as he watched Leon lean down and capture Annika’s lips in a searing kiss. And, as if to rub salt in the wound, Annika didn’t appear to resist Leon’s advances. Consumed by anguish, Jeffrey started his car and was gone like the wind.
