Cheers To Comeuppance
Chapter 22

Third Person

Annika could not shake the sense that she had graduated medical school in less time than it took for the day of Sadie’s birthday dinner to arrive, and she was in two minds about the whole situation. It wasn’t like Annika to plot against or wish harm upon others, and she wanted nothing to do with this worst-case scenario that had left her feeling disenchanted and questioning her sanity. But the harsh reality was that, whether she liked it or not, she had two choices: she could wallow in self-pity and allow herself to become a casualty of war or seize the opportunity to show the world what happens to those who have scorned Annika Silverton. The lavish affair tonight would double as a rite of passage for her unintended journey of self-discovery and acceptance while also delivering a sobering message to Jeffrey and Sadie—revenge is a dish best served cold; eat your hearts out.

At the penthouse, it was just like old times for Annika and Kenzie as they dressed up for the main event. The gloomy atmosphere that had taken up residence in her home was nowhere to be found, and Annika couldn’t be bothered by the sheer chaos that took the master bathroom by storm. It looked like a war zone filled with cosmetics, skincare products, and hair products galore strewn about, and Amy Winehouse’s tortured voice rang out like a battle cry in the background. The gracious hostess had prepared a charcuterie board with refreshments and was partaking in some juicy Korean pears as she waited for Kenzie to put on her dress. Aside from deducing that this “small dinner” would be somewhat of a black-tie event, Annika did not put much thought into her outfit and opted for her go-to style of simple and elegant, only a little fancier than she normally would.

“I don’t know, Anni. That dress is a little too plain for my liking,” Kenzie shared her unsolicited opinion as she emerged from the wardrobe, a sight to behold wearing a black satin A-line dress with a slit up to the thigh and nothing else.

“You know I hate standing out, Kenz,” Annika shot back as her expression soured.

“Um, isn’t that the whole point of tonight?” Kenzie continued to argue while styling her hair without a moment’s pause. “To steal the show?”

“No! I just want to expose them for their crap. I don’t want to be the center of attention.” Kenzie made a performance out of putting down the curling iron and slowly turning around to face Annika with her brow lifted. “What?”

“You do realize that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, don’t you? What made you think you could waltz in and drop an atomic bomb on everyone without becoming the center of attention tonight? Duh! It’s only natural that all eyes will be on you once everyone realizes you detonated the damn thing, Dumb-dumb.” Kenzie spoke her truth and turned back towards the mirror with her chin up. Annika may as well have thrown daggers at the back of Kenzie’s head by the way she was scowling at her.

“Well, still. I don’t need to dress to impress.”

“Are you f*****g kidding me!? Of course, you do! You have to dress like the night is yours and own this party as if it was your party, dimwit! Ugh, I can’t even with you!” Kenzie pinched the skin between her brows before she flicked her best friend on the forehead for her incompetence. “Anni, the whole point of tonight is to prove to the world what Jeffrey and that b***h, Sadie Galloway, have been doing behind everyone’s backs, not just yours or Leon’s. Not only has the esteemed D.A. of the great city of New York implicated himself on evidence tampering to cover for his own moral shortcomings while openly having an affair in his office after hours, but his mistress thought she could get away with plotting to murder you simply because that spoiled brat saw you as an obstacle in her path. On top of it all, she lied under oath and stole from one of the most powerful businessmen in the state, no, scratch that, in the f*****g country! And let’s not forget who the f**k you are. YOU. ARE. ANNIKA. SILVERTON!” Kenzie enunciated each word followed by an emphatic clap as though she were trying to hype up Annika for the evening. “If I were you, I’d just go f*****g naked.” Kenzie added as her telltale smirk reappeared.

“Kenz!”

“Okay, fine. We can’t do that, but at least change into something more—” Kenzie stopped mid-sentence when she was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell. “Are you expecting someone?” Kenzie wore a puzzled look on her face as she reached for her phone.

“No. You?”

“No. Hunter isn’t supposed to be here for another hour,” Kenzie replied once she checked her phone for new messages and the time. Annika swiftly gathered the hem of her skirt and descended the stairs towards the front door. She tip-toed to look through the peephole, but no one was there. Her curiosity multiplied, and Annika was greeted by a gift box half her height when she opened the door.

“Who is it?” Kenzie approached her from behind, looking as ethereal as ever.

“No one. It’s a gift box. And a big one at that.” Bewildered, Annika glanced around again before inspecting the box.

“Who’s it from?” Annika only shrugged in response. “No card?”

“I don’t see one.”

“Well, don’t just leave it there. Bring it in! Is it heavy?” Annika attempted to pick it up and realized it wasn’t heavy per se, but it was big and wide, presenting a problem for her petite arms. She decided to push it through the doorway instead and closed the door behind her. Kenzie, unable to contain her excitement, took it upon herself to open the gift. “HOLY s**t!”

“What?!” Annika turned around at Kenzie’s sudden outburst and stared open-mouthed as her eyes took in the most extravagant royal blue evening gown. The dress was a long-sleeved bronzing V-Neck banquet dress equipped with a high slit, exquisite sequin beading adorning the top, and the finest silk that ever caressed Annika’s skin was used for the skirt. The slit was located in the front and soared to the top of the thigh. Unable to resist temptation, Annika lifted the dress out of the box and admired the craftsmanship that went into it.

“Anni, this dress …”

“Uh-huh.”

“When did you …”

“I didn’t.”

“Then who …”

“I have no idea …” Annika was still adrift by the time Kenzie recovered enough to look inside the box.

“Damn, there’s even a pair of shoes!” she exclaimed and pulled out a smaller box. Upon opening it to reveal its contents, Kenzie’s eyes became exopthalmic like a patient with Graves disease as she showed them to Annika, who could only gasp at the shoes. The light reflecting off the Jimmy Choo Ari Crystal Covered Pointy Toe Pumps glittered like countless stars bathed in moonlight within her eyes. “Anni, these heels are worth like five grand! Who in the world sent you these?!”

“I don’t know!” Annika replied with a hint of exasperation. No sooner did the words escape her mouth she noticed a small envelope taped inside of the shoebox lid, so she pulled it off and opened it.

Annika,

Tonight is a big night for us all, but most importantly for you, so I wanted to be sure that you stood out from the crowd. Sharp intellect combined with an exotic beauty is deadly and more than enough to catch anyone’s eyes, so I want you to show the world who you really are. Please accept the dress and shoes as a token of my appreciation and affection for you. My only regret is that I won’t be able to see you wearing them. Have fun and be safe.

Sincerely yours,

L.

Annika felt internal chaos that she wasn’t sure how to deal with and zoned out after reading the note. The grandiose gesture caused a ripple in her heart. But before she could process what was happening internally, Kenzie grabbed her, the dress, and the shoes and marched her back up to her room to change. Kenzie, as if possessed by the Fairy Godmother herself, was on a mission, and it appeared that she and Leon were on the same page — make Annika the belle of the ball. Without any room for hesitation or debate, Annika was forced into the dress, the shoes, and her make-up and hair were redone by the time Hunter arrived.

“Whoa.” Hunter could only manage that one word after seeing Annika come down from the penthouse entryway. “Anni, hot damn!”

“Right!?” Kenzie gushed and rushed over to join her husband.

“It’s a shame Leon won’t be joining us tonight. He’d s**t himself if he saw you wearing this,” Hunter teased.

“Speak of the devil; he’s the one who bought everything for her,” Kenzie told him. Hunter gaped at her and then back at Annika, who was flushing a deep shade of crimson from embarrassment.

“Okay, enough with the shenanigans. Stop making such a big deal about it because we have to go, or we’ll be late,” Annika insisted as she squirmed past the talkative couple to Hunter’s car. Before her hand could make it onto the handle, a delivery van unexpectedly pulled up next to them.

“I’m sorry, I’m looking for an Annika Silverton?” the driver called out through the window.

“That’s me.”

“I have a delivery for you, ma’am,” he stated and exited the van. He ran around to the back and extracted a small box before having her sign for it. “Have a wonderful evening!” The delivery man was gone as quickly as he had come.

“I wonder what it is?” Kenzie asked. Annika shrugged and opened the box only to replace a mid-size black velvet box inside of it. “Oh my God, he sent you jewelry too!?”

“He couldn’t have …” Annika shook her head in disbelief and opened it. As soon as she did, she let out another gasp.

***

Annika’s face clouded with anxiety once they had arrived at the event, and the buzz of excitement she felt earlier morphed into nervous tension. Annika felt like a square peg in a round hole while wearing clothing that commanded so much unwanted attention. It wasn’t physically uncomfortable by any means, as this wasn’t the first nor the last time she would have to dress up; however, she couldn’t tolerate the fact that what she wore on her body cost more than her yearly salary as a doctor.

“Anni, just let it go. What’s done is done, and you look beyond amazing. Stop overthinking it,” Kenzie reassured her from the front seat.

“Kenz, I’ve never worn anything this expensive … Ever!” Annika grumbled to her as the valet attendant opened her door.

“And look at you now! It feels like I finally got a glimpse of the real Annika.” Kenzie smiled and winked at her, and Annika rolled her eyes before waving the white flag since it was too late to do anything about it. This was the night she had been waiting for, the night all the lies would be exposed. It was long overdue for Jeffrey and Sadie to be cut down to size, and she couldn’t afford to be distracted by useless sentiments. Annika shook her head slightly as if to dispel her negative thoughts. With her chin held high, she led the way to the front of the house where a host of people were waiting to get in. They slowly progressed forward, but not fast enough as the voice of the most unwelcome individual penetrated her senses.

“Annika!?” She paused her footsteps and bit her bottom l*p. She had counted on Jeffrey being here, but never in her wildest dreams did she expect to see him before she made it inside. She reluctantly turned around and saw her soon-to-be-ex-husband staring at her as if she had risen from the dead. “What .. what are you doing here!?” he stammered, his face noticeably blanched.

“I was invited. We all were. Why are you here?” Annika asked in return. Jeff opened and closed his mouth repeatedly like a fish out of water and licked his dry lips as he floundered for an appropriate response.

“The great D.A. of New York City is friendly with the Galloways, huh?” Hunter took a well-timed jab and was enjoying the show, but the cutting remark restored Jeffrey’s mindset, causing him to glare at Hunter.

“How do you know them?” Jeff dismissed their questions and presented his own.

“Easy, Mr. Galloway is my patient, and his daughter happens to be Kenzie’s patient,” Annika replied without hesitation. The tension was suffocating as Jeffrey swallowed the hard lump that had suddenly formed in his throat.

“Mr … Mr. Gall … Galloway is your patient?” Jeffrey’s poker face was nonexistent as he fumbled through his words. Could the world be any more sadistic to him? What were the odds that his mistress’ father was seeing his wife as his primary physician? And to think, he had no idea about any of this!

“Yeah. Do you have a problem with that?” Kenzie sneered at him. Even though Jeffrey would have ignored her provocation anyway, he couldn’t answer as the inside of his brain had just imploded. After failing miserably before, he was hoping to come here tonight to break things off with Sadie once and for all so he could salvage his marriage with Annika before it was too late. He went to great lengths to replace some kind of evidence of her affairs with Leon Von Doren, but it would be his words against hers. Jeffrey had even tried to obtain the surveillance footage from outside Hunter’s office building to use against her, but as luck would have it, the cameras were down that night. But after boiling the ocean, he returned empty-handed and walked away without the proof needed to get back at Annika. Unfortunately for Jeffrey, it may as well have all been in his head, as there was no other evidence to incriminate Annika for stepping out on him. Deep down, Jeffrey had already realized it was all conjecture.

“We don’t have time to entertain you, Jeffrey,” Annika brushed him off as she regarded him with disgust before she turned her heel, but he was too distracted by the skirt of her dress opening at the slit to notice. The slit exposed her beautifully tanned and toned legs, and Jeffrey swore his breath hitched and was caught inside his chest as his heart thudded wildly. Annika was a vision in her blue evening gown, but it was impossible to tell a slit that high even existed on her dress when she stood still, and Jeffrey couldn’t help but wonder what else Annika had up her sleeve. A muffled g***n escaped his lips as he watched her climb the stairs, and he didn’t miss the expensive shoes, necklace, and earrings adorning his wife’s picturesque figure. He continued to ogle her as if trying to commit her image to memory because he had never seen Annika so dolled up in his eleven years with her. She was predictable to a fault and had always dressed so simple. Her clothes were, for lack of a better term, cheap. How could she afford everything she was wearing? And why was she so dressed up for Sadie’s birthday gathering?

A widespread chill seeped into his bones, causing ice to flow in his veins. His thoughts began to stray, and Jeffrey had a gut feeling that something was about to go horribly awry. He swallowed hard to get past yet another lump that had formed in his throat and hurried inside after checking in at the door. He scanned his surroundings as he desperately searched for his wife in hopes that he could persuade her to leave this place before he ran into Sadie. If Sadie and Annika met face-to-face tonight, it would be a disaster of epic proportions, and everything he had planned over the course of the last few weeks would go down the drain. Jeffrey thought he had made his intentions clear by slowly pushing Sadie away, but she refused to take the hint. He had even fallen back into old habits by using work as an excuse to avoid her, the same excuse he used to avoid Annika whenever he snuck off to be with Sadie. The unexpected blow from experiencing déjà vu in his current fragile state left him feeling even more unsettled.

Although Sadie put up with his excuses, for the time being, she wouldn’t stop calling him or leaving messages to meet whenever he was free. He tried to avoid her like the plague, but he still felt obligated to keep up appearances with her until he was ready to confront her. Jeffrey was disappointed when he received a personal invitation to her birthday party, which he wanted to refuse, but he felt that, perhaps, this was a better time than any to tell her things were over between them, and that he had changed his mind about divorcing Annika, but he had never anticipated that his wife would be showing up as well.

At last, Jeffrey spotted Annika about twenty feet away from where he stood. She was hard to miss, wearing her royal blue dress that made her stand out from the crowd, and not in a good way. There was no time to feel relieved because his eyes drifted towards Sadie, who stood front and center in the room and was painfully aware of Annika’s presence garnering more attention than her. If there was one thing that Jeff knew about Sadie, she hated to share the spotlight, and as of that moment, the heavens had parted and chose Annika, not her, to receive its holy light. Jeffrey realized he had to act fast to prevent Sadie from causing a scene, but he wasn’t fast enough as the sound of Mr. Galloway’s voice filled the room and captured everyone’s attention.

“Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and distinguished guests. I wanted to thank you all for joining our celebration for my daughter, Sadie’s, 22nd birthday party.” His announcement was followed by a raucous applause. Sadie was a half-second away from ruining everyone’s night, but after returning to the limelight, her rage seemed to completely evaporate into thin air. “I know the invitation said this would be a small dinner gathering, but things tend to spiral out of control when your little girl deserves only the best,” he continued, causing everyone to chuckle and nod in agreement. Jeffrey was sweating bullets as his eyes remained fixed on Annika from afar. He spared no effort while trying to reach her, but before he could even take two steps, Sadie turned to face him, and their eyes met. Jeffrey was filled with nothing but dread at that moment because her eyes spoke volumes, and he knew a shitstorm was coming for him. “Before we continue with the festivities, I have prepared a video for you all,” Mr. Galloway nodded after his announcement was finished, and the lights dimmed ever so slightly. Jeffrey barrelled towards Annika while everyone was distracted by the lights because he wanted to get her out of there ASAP. He couldn’t risk his wife and his mistress meeting each other at a crucial moment like this.

“Annika, can we speak in private?” he asked her.

“No.”

“Honey, please. It’s urgent,” he begged.

“Jeff, don’t be rude. There’s plenty of time for us to talk about everything. We’re guests and you’re insulting the hostess,” Annika wore a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, and her eyes darted to Sadie as she spoke the last word. There was no way he could prevent the palpitating horror that filled his soul. And all the while, the video that played in the background was a slideshow that included all of Sadie’s baby pictures, and it was narrated by an unknown voice.

Sadie Galloway was a natural born princess. Pampered by her family and loved dearly, there was nothing that her father wouldn’t do for her. From the moment she could talk, everyone in their lives knew that Sadie would go far in life with her family background. She’s intelligent, witty, beautiful; however, none of that really matters when Sadie Galloway …

The audio died out and sounded as if a mixtape had been put in its place. “What is going on!?” Mr. Galloway bellowed. The screen faded to black, but the sounds of two people passionately making love filled the silence that had descended upon the room. The guests turned their heads in every direction, confused by the sounds echoing endlessly around them. However, it was clear that two individuals inside that room understood exactly what those sounds meant as their faces became ghostly pale. Their eyes naturally met, and they were both horrified by the events unfolding.

“Isn’t that Sadie’s voice?” someone questioned.

“Who is that man?” someone else asked. Without missing a beat, the screen showed a still, and the caption underneath it made the entire room collectively gasp.

Sadie Galloway is a homewrecking w***e.