Third Person
“Annika Noelle Silverton!” Beau’s rough and stern voice echoed through the penthouse when he saw the girls laughing about without a care in the world. Here he was, on the verge of having an embolism, and his two daughters were going about themselves as if they didn’t have a massive legal battle ahead of them.
Both Annika and McKenna froze on the spot when they heard their father’s angry voice. By sheer instinct, Annika reached for McKenna’s arm and tried to hide behind her.
“Move, Micky,” Beau commanded.
“Sorry, Baby Bear, you’re on your own,” she said to Annika and rushed upstairs as if her life depended on it.
“Wh – you said you were on my side!” Annika cried out towards her sister’s retreating back. “f*****g traitor!” she grumbled under her breath. No sooner had she said that her breath hitched as the presence of her father behind her.
“You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady,” he stated with his hand on her shoulder. Her eyes closed in defeat, and her body slumped in a forfeit. Without saying another word, Beau turned his heel and went towards the dining room, and Annika followed silently behind him. They took their seats at the table, and the silence that filled the room was palpable. Annika bit her bottom lip as she stared down at her cupped hands resting on her lap, while Beau stared at her with his eyebrows furrowed from his frown. It was seldom that Annika couldn’t meet his gaze, which was mainly because she rarely ever got into trouble.
Yet, within the last few days, all Annika had been doing was getting into trouble. Beau would quickly call out his daughter’s recklessness, immaturity, and defiance and say, “I told you so,” to her, but that would be beneath him. Beau was a firm believer in one learning from their life mistakes, treating every failure as a life experience. He hated to see his children fail, but his father raised him and his siblings a certain way, just like his grandfather and his great-grandfather before that.
All members of the Silverton family, immediate and extended, were successful because they were raised in strict and loving households that did not believe in self-entitlement just because they came from money. So, even though he and his wife were firmly against Annika getting married so young to someone of a lower class, they knew that she would have to live with her choices, but he never thought that one option would lead to so many more trials and tribulations for his youngest daughter.
As much as he wanted to scoop her up in his arms and tell her that he would fix everything and she wouldn’t have to do anything, he knew better than to do that. He knew that she had made her bed, and now she had to lie in it.
When Annika finally met his gaze, she tried to smile at him innocently, but his focus did not falter this time. His scowl became even more profound as he saw right through her charade. Her smile faded, and she had no choice but to face the music. She had royally screwed up. She let out a deep sigh which broke the silence, and Beau finally opened his mouth, “Annika, what in the world were you thinking?” she hugged herself and just shrugged. “Don’t give me that. You’re a grown woman, so start acting like it. You made choices that have consequences, and now you have to face those consequences. Why did you send those kinds of provocative photos to Hollands?”
“Because …”
“Because? Because what!?”
“BECAUSE I WAS HURT AND PISSED OFF!!” The sudden change in octave caught Beau off guard. “I wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine! God, Daddy, do you know how humiliating this is for me? He was my first love. He was my everything! I gave him my everything! I gave him my heart, my body, and my soul! I loved him with every fiber of my being, and what did I get out of it!? Heartbreak! Betrayal! Hu—humiliation!!” Annika’s voice broke, and tears flooded her eyes. “Do you know what that feels like!?” Beau’s stone-cold gaze broke the moment he saw tears fall from his daughter’s eyes. Beau could never stand when his girls cried, especially Annika. He was about to respond, but she stopped him by continuing, “Can you not see that having all of you here the last few days has been the biggest slap in the face!? Seeing all of you here, and hearing all of the planning, all of the evidence, Mama cooking in the kitchen, Huxley and Royce doing background checks, and the family lawyers turning my living room into a damn bullpen makes all of this real! It makes this nightmare a f*****g reality! The reality that my marriage is over! That our vows to love one another through thick and thin were nothing but a damn joke to him! All I’ve ever wanted was to be in love, Daddy. I wanted to have a family of my own with the love of my life. I pictured all of it with him. I had a mental mural of what my life should have been like, but in an instant, that mural shattered into a million pieces! My heart shattered into a million pieces!” Annika took a deep breath as the tears came down like waterfalls, and she grabbed her chest as the pain of everything came bulldozing its way through her fragile heart. “Why … Why wasn’t I enough!?”
Beau was trying to keep himself from crying, seeing the amount of pain Annika was indeed in. He fully intended to reprimand Annika for her petty actions, but that soon went out the window seeing her beautiful face turn red and puffy right before his very eyes. He wanted to coax her, but he didn’t know how to in a situation like this. It was different when it was her as a young child, falling and scraping her knees, or if the boys had picked on her for fun and hurt her feelings, but this wasn’t something small and childish. This situation was something on a much more severe level. It wasn’t as if he could buy her something to make her feel better. It wasn’t one of those times, and Annika was the least materialistic out of all his children, so money and gifts wouldn’t even make her feel better. Not by a long shot.
As he sat there watching his darling daughter cry, he watched as her arms tightened around herself, and Beau then knew what he needed to do. He silently got out of his seat and went over to Annika. He gently grasped her shoulders, pulled her up from her seat, promptly enveloped her in his arms, and held her as close as humanly possible. The moment she felt her father’s embrace, Annika fully broke down and wailed into her father’s chest as she clung to him for dear life. Even at the age of 27, Annika was the definition of a Daddy’s girl.
Her cries echoed throughout the penthouse, and her family members came down to the dining room one by one. Madalena was the first to arrive, and when she heard her youngest crying her heart out, her heart broke, and her own tears flowed down her cheeks. Beside her, Micky also had tears threatening to fall. It was only a few minutes ago that she and Annika had been laughing and gossiping, but she soon realized that it was Annika’s way of avoiding the pain of everything that had happened and disassociating herself from all of the stress that was threatening her once relatively peaceful life. Behind her and Madalena was Huxley, who had put a hand on each of their shoulders to comfort them. Although his face was stone cold and indifferent, you could see his eyes brimming with his own tears if one looked closely.
Royce was the last one to join his family. Royce was never one to show emotions in front of his family, but in this instance, hearing Annika’s cries and seeing how heart broken his older sister and mother were, Royce was filled with nothing but rage towards the Hollands. Royce’s ability to control his emotions is what allowed him to be the family mechanic. It wasn’t a secret as to what Royce did for a living. His military background gave him the tools and resources to do his job efficiently. And at that current moment, he was ready to put a bullet in Jeffrey Hollands’ skull.
It took almost an hour for Annika to get her emotions under control. She sniffled several times and breathed more fluidly before Beau relinquished his hold on her. Silently, they sat down at the table, and the rest of the family joined them. But before they took their respective seats, each family member, starting with Madalena, hugged Annika lovingly. They were inaudibly letting her know they were on her side and would always be there for her. Even though having her family evade her space was a stressor, Annika couldn’t deny that it also felt nice to have people who were undoubtedly on her side.
Micky and Matthaeus took it upon themselves to get drinks for everyone. Brandy for the men, and wine for the women. The Silverton family sat around the table in stillness and solace for several minutes.
“Baby Bear, are you good?” Royce tactfully asked to break the silence.
“I will be,” she answered softly. Her voice was hoarse from all of the crying.
Silence filled the room again before Micky ended it by asking, “So, are we going to address the elephant in the room?” Everyone looked at her, confused. “Uhhh, you know, Baby Bear’s new love interest?”
“Really?” Annika questioned in annoyance.
“No, Micky is right, honey,” her mother stated with interest. “Who is this man?”
“More like a man-child,” Beau mumbled.
“Dad!” Annika chastised him.
“Come on, Pops, you already know who he is. We all do,” Huxley intervened.
“You do!?” Annika questioned in shock.
“Oh, yeah, we do. Hunter showed us the video of the party again for evidentiary purposes, and I recognized him after taking a closer look,” he replied nonchalantly. Annika nodded her head in understanding. “So, how did you get on Leonardo Von Doren’s good graces? He’s as cold-hearted as I am.”
“Contrary to popular belief, he’s not cold-hearted. He’s actually very sweet, charming, and humorous,” Annika defended.
“From my understanding, this Von Doren guy is the ex-husband of that w***e?” Royce asked while messing with his switchblade. Annika just nodded with confirmation. “He pursued you first?” she nodded again.
“Honey, why didn’t you tell me about him before you left?” her mother asked.
“It was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing, really. He was going to Dallas for business and pretty much poured his heart out into a text message, asking me to go with him. It was the first time that a text message could make my inside flutter, so I decided to just take a leap of faith,” she answered sincerely.
“He’s good to you?” Huxley asked. Annika smiled softly and nodded her head.
“I don’t approve.” Annika and the rest of the family snapped their heads to the head of the table, where Beau took a sip of his brandy. “He was rude on the phone.” Annika rolled her eyes at her father.
“Daddy, you called him a boy. That’s rude.”
“Daddy, you can’t afford to offend this guy. He’s self-made,” Micky stated while swirling her wine in the glass.
“What do you mean by self-made?” Beau asked, trying to hide his interest. Without saying another word, Micky took out her phone, unlocked it, found her research on Leon, and slid it down the table to her father. Beau swiftly and smoothly caught the phone and started to read everything Micky had come across. Everyone else watched his eyes. Beau was a man of very few words when it came to reading, but his eyes told everyone everything they needed to know.
His eyes would tell them when he was interested, confused, intrigued, admired, and even when he was impressed. It didn’t take too long for him to finish reading. “He doesn’t sound all that fascinating,” he said snidely and passed the phone back to Micky. Everyone else just rolled their eyes and shook their heads. “What?”
“Pops, you have the worst poker face in the world,” Royce teased him.
“He’s a thousand times better than that loser Hollands,” Huxley bluntly stated.
“Yeah, he is,” Micky agreed, but with a playful tone. Annika’s eyes widened at her sister’s playful demeanor, knowing what she was insinuating.
“MCKENNA!” All of the men hollered in disapproval. Madalena shook her head quietly.
“When is he supposed to be back?” Huxley asked.
“Umm, five or six days, hopefully,” Annika replied.
“Tell him to come to the penthouse. We want to meet him.” Annika beamed at her eldest brother.
“Says who!?” Beau exclaimed. Huxley gave his father a side-eye glance. Beau snarled in annoyance at his son for seeing right through him. He got up to get a refill. The rest of the table started to snicker.
“Honey, did you have lunch yet?” Annika’s mother asked her.
“Not yet, Mama.”
“Okay. I’ll get lunch started.” She swiftly stood to her feet and went into the kitchen.
“Royce, what else did you find out about that woman?” Annika asked him.
“What woman?” Micky asked.
“Jeff’s biological mom.”
“HIS WHAT!?”
“Micky.” She snapped her head to Huxley. “Ruth Hollands isn’t Jeff’s mother.”
“Say what!?”
“Yeah.”
“Hold up, what did I miss?” Huxley took the next few minutes to explain everything to her, starting when the woman showed up at the penthouse the other day and threatened Annika after the confrontation. When Royce went into detail about his discovery, Micky’s mouth gaped in shock and disbelief. Once the brothers had finished explaining everything, she turned to face Annika. “You didn’t know!?” Annika shook her head.
“I had no idea until I got the file from the private investigator. Leon and I were shocked, to say the least.”
“Wow. The apple sure doesn’t fall far from the tree,” she said mockingly. “What else did you find out, Royce?”
“Well, she’s stupid, that’s for sure. She’s let her guard down. So has Jack.” Royce’s tone was suggestive, and the rest stared at him. He raised his brows suggestively.
“Oh, my God!” Micky shouted.
“No!” Annika exclaimed at the same time.
“Wait, are you serious?” Huxley questioned.
“Do you have proof?” Matthaeus asked. Royce looked at him. “Right, stupid question. Show us.” Royce took out his phone and passed it to Matthaeus and Micky first.
“Oh … My … God…” Micky’s mouth was agape as she looked at the evidence her brother just gave her.
“I don’t know how you do your job, Royce,” Matthaeus said, trying not to hurl.
“Let me see!” Annika snatched the phone from them and regretted it when she saw what was on it. “GROSS!” she chucked the phone away as far as she could. Huxley grabbed it and looked down.
“Seriously? He’s having an open affair with Hollands’ biological mom, with everything that’s going on right now?” Huxley understood why Royce had said that Jack and Piper were stupid.
“Even though this entire civil case is against Jeff and his mistress w***e, this can be used to question the Hollands family’s overall integrity,” Micky said with a sparkle in her eyes.
“We can’t use this in court,” Annika stated. “His dad’s affair with his biological mom has nothing to do with my case against him or Sadie.”
“Not directly, Baby Bear. But it can still be used against them as a family. Remember, they’re trying to defame and slander you because you ousted Jeff to the entire world for being a cheater and breaking multiple laws for evidence tampering. Knowing them and how Jeff works, they’re going to say that your evidence is fabricated. Plus, it doesn’t help that they know who we are now. It’s only a matter of time before Jeff figures out everything about our family. We have unlimited resources, and it can easily be said that we paid off people to fake the evidence you have of his affair and the recordings from his private meetings with the Galloway girl,” Micky explained.
“Your point?”
“Her point is that if we can get the jury to question the integrity of the Hollands’ patriarch and put a wedge between Jack and Ruth, it will undoubtedly sway the jurors’ opinions on that family. Patriarch commits statutory rape and has a love child with a minor. Blackmailed into raising said love child and changing the identity of said minor to avoid prison. Has an open affair with said mistress while still married, all the while the son is in the middle of multiple civil suits,” Matthaeus clarified. Annika made an O face when she understood where her sister and brother-in-law were going with their logic.
“Oh, there’s one more thing,” Royce added, taking his phone back for a second. He swiped a few times and handed the phone back to Micky. When she saw what he had given her, she looked at him in shock. “Good, right?”
“Royce, how in the world!?”
“He’s an i***t. And I have my ways.”
“What is it?” Annika asked and reached for the phone.
“Nope!” Micky avoided her. “This is for our eyes only. You’ll see at court.”
“What!? But the cases are about me!”
“Sorry, Baby Bear, but this is too juicy to share right now.”
“What!?”
“Trust us,” Royce said to her reassuringly. Annika tried to convince her siblings to show her the evidence, but they refused. As they were playing keep away from Annika, her phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Doc.”
“Hi,” she said sweetly, which was immediately caught by her siblings, and her father as he returned from refilling his brandy and taking some time to himself.
“Did your dad kill you yet?”
“Did you want him to?”
“I was praying that he didn’t. Can’t lose my girlfriend right after getting her.”
“Mmhmm.”
“I miss you, Doc.”
“I …” Annika paused and looked at her family members staring at her knowingly. “I miss you too, Leon,” she whispered into the receiver but could be heard by everyone. Beau closed his eyes in distress while her brothers looked like they wanted to reach into the receiver and pull Leon out to strangle him. Micky was the only one silently clapping her hands in excitement and making kissy faces toward her sister.
“I just wanted to call and hear your voice. I have to head out to a luncheon with some of the new board members. I’ll call you later tonight if it’s not too late over there.”
“Okay. Have a good lunch.”
“I love you, baby.” Annika was silent and couldn’t reply. “It’s okay. You don’t have to say it. Just know that I love you.” Without waiting for her to say anything, Leon hung up. Annika blinked rapidly and stared down at the phone. The pulses of her heartbeats were uneven and rapid as she replayed his words of affection back in her head.
Leon loves me?
