Cheers To Comeuppance
Chapter 27

Third Person

The catastrophe unfolding inside Annika’s penthouse was fit for the screen. The egregious scream directed at the show’s main star had the Silvertons up in arms, and they assembled in defensive formation in the middle of the living room. On the other side, three brave souls had the guts to throw down the gauntlet and rallied around the belligerent woman bulldozing her way into enemy territory. The sudden standoff commenced in a fraction of a second, with both sides ready to wage war, adding to the melodrama of the soap opera that now occupied Annika’s world.

The woman was none other than Annika’s soon-to-be former mother-in-law, flanked by her husband, Jeffrey’s younger brother, and a woman Annika recognized from family photos that Jeffrey had previously shared once. Annika’s gaze lingered on this mystery woman before she directed her eyes, brewing with resentment, at Jeffrey’s parents.

“Mama, Daddy. Let them in,” Annika prompted her parents before making her authoritative descent, taking measured steps toward her presumptuous visitors. The off-putting reunion with her overbearing family had her feeling some type of way, and the woman of the hour was ready to vanquish all who opposed her.

“Annika Hollands!” Jeffrey’s mother, Ruth, called out, attempting to intimidate her as she was approaching, and met her head on, slapping her across the face once Annika had barely made it to the bottom of the stairs. The room descended into madness as the situation quickly spiraled out of control. Unbeknownst to the Hollands family, they were now playing a game of Russian roulette.

“How dare you!? No one, and I mean no one, lays a finger on my daughter!” Mrs. Silverton exploded and flew like the wind in front of her daughter, assuming a protective stance while holding onto her.

“DAUGHTER?!” The Hollands family discharged their confusion like projectile vomit.

“Are you all deaf!? Yes. Daughter. Annika is my daughter! Do you have a death wish, coming here and attacking my daughter in her own home!?”

“You told Jeffrey that your parents weren’t in the picture! That your grandmother and aunt raised you!” Jeffrey’s father, Jack, pointed at her suspiciously.

“You’re right. I did tell him that,” Annika replied, maintaining her poise as she turned toward them. They subconsciously took a step back when they noticed the firestorm burning in her eyes. “What gives you the right to get physical with me, Mrs. Hollands?” Annika challenged her as her voice adopted an authoritative tone. It was the first time Ruth had ever encountered Annika’s hostility, and the effect of her daughter-in-law’s words left her feeling scalded. Even so, there was too much at stake for their family, so Ruth proceeded to dig her own grave.

“You’ve destroyed my son’s reputation! That’s my right as his mother! And you’ve made a mockery of his image and his career!”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Are you mad!? Of course, you did! You didn’t have to tell the whole world what he did!” Jack retaliated.

“I swear to f*****g God, if any of you screams at my sister one more time, I’m going to rip out your damn vocal cords!” Royce bellowed from his seat on the sectional, and his outburst attracted everyone’s attention like moths to a flame.

“Sister!?” The Hollands couldn’t believe their ears, adding to their newfound animosity towards their daughter-in-law.

“Annika Hollands! You have some nerve, lying to us all these years. Tell me, how many family members do you actually have?” Ruth demanded with renewed arrogance. Annika smirked at the Hollands family matriarch, knowing Jeffrey’s mom probably felt justified in her behavior after catching her in a lie. But Ruth’s response was like water off a duck’s back to Annika because she could finally come clean about her family since the false pretenses she maintained for over a decade were no longer necessary.

“Ruth, Jack, and Joey. Allow me to introduce you to my family. This is my mother, Madalena, and this fellow here is my father, Beau. And that big ogre on the couch that hollered at your family is my older brother, Royce.” Annika’s introduction earned her a dirty look, followed by an eye roll from her older brother. Royce hated it when she ridiculed him for his size, which was entirely out of his control. It wasn’t Royce’s fault that he was stockier than Huxley and their father. “The man in the suit holding a glass of brandy is my eldest brother, Huxley, and the man over there with the scar across his eyebrow is my brother-in-law, Matthaeus. He’s married to my older sister, McKenna, who is not currently present, which is probably in your best interests. And the rest of these men and women are my family’s army of attorneys who, by the way, witnessed you slapping me without provocation.” Annika finished her introductions by gesturing towards the large group of lawyers wearing grim expressions and turned to face Jeffrey’s family with an enigmatic smile. They stared back at her, dumbstruck, trying to decipher everything she had just told them along with this entirely different side of her they had never seen before. A long, palpable silence followed, and the tension permeating throughout the living room was so thick that it left the Hollands feeling breathless and about to choke.

“Attorneys?” Joey was the first to catch the drift, while his parents were still none the wiser and beginning to feel flustered about not comprehending whatsoever.

“That’s right.”

“Why do you have an army of attorneys?” Joey asked while furrowing his brows. He may have been young, but he was no fool. There was no way a common country girl could afford an army of lawyers, even if she were a doctor.

“Why wouldn’t our family bring an army of lawyers? We’re here to help my baby sister out of the mess that your sorry excuse of a brother put her in!” Huxley said sternly and rose to his feet, buttoning up his suit jacket as he stared menacingly at the Hollands family. “Your brother has been cheating on my sister for well over a year with some blonde trust fund baby. And you came barging in here, calling my sister a manipulative b***h? Tell me, when has my sister ever manipulated your brother at any point? Hmm?” Huxley questioned as he bore down on Joey and got into his face. Joey cowered immediately and retreated away, feeling chilled to his bones. “Last I checked, your brother convinced my sister to get married at 19. And your brother also promised Mee-Maw Ginger that he would take good care of her. I highly doubt that cheating and lying constitutes taking good care of her. Do you? Ya’ll have some big a*s kahunas coming into my sister’s penthouse and accusing her of anything. What did she do to deserve this kind of treatment? Not just from ya’ll, but from that piece of s**t, Jeffrey, no less. What did she do to be cheated on, lied to, and assaulted?” The Hollands family could only drop their heads in shame and had nothing to say for themselves.

“My sister has done nothing to any of you, and the things she did to him are nothing compared to what he did to her. And that mistress of his? Don’t even get me f*****g started on the bullshit she’s been trying to pull. If the lot of you aren’t aware, that skank, who is also pregnant with your son’s kid, by the way, hired a bunch of thugs to try and murder my sister!” Royce shouted as he stood to his feet as well. Unlike Huxley, however, Royce was wearing a black T-shirt, cargo pants, and combat boots. Moreover, Royce’s arms were covered in tattoos, and his side piece was clearly visible on his beltline. His overall image compared to Huxley wasn’t as intimidating, but he looked more dangerous—and he was.

“It’s not like Jeffrey knew about that! He said so!” Ruth exclaimed while hiding behind her husband.

“Whether he knew it or not, it doesn’t change the fact that he chose that woman over Anni. He even got that b***h pregnant. So, tell us, again, how did my sister manipulate your son?” Royce asked while staring her down.

“You keep saying that my brother lied. But what about your sister!?” Joey yelled out suddenly. “Annika has been lying this entire time!” He then directed his outrage toward her, but Annika wasn’t afraid by any means and just lifted her brow in annoyance. “You told us you were from a poor background! That your family only consisted of your grandmother and aunt. But look at you! You have an entire family! Parents, siblings, and from what I can tell, you’re anything but poor!” Annika sighed in resignation and could only nod in agreement.

“You’re right, Joey. I did lie. I lied to protect myself. I wanted to know that your brother truly liked me for the real me. For who I was here,” she replied and placed her hand over her heart. “And in the beginning, he did. But that all went up in smoke the moment he started prioritizing money over our love, despite our careers taking off around the same time. This penthouse? Neither Jeff nor I bought it. My family purchased it for me as a gift for graduating from medical school. So, yeah, we have money. I never shared that aspect of my life because I never wanted to have a target on my back. I wanted to be loved as a human being with a heart, not some affluent gentry who is only identified by the number zeros in my bank account. Your brother loved me at one point in time. But then here comes Sadie Galloway, trust fund brat, and all of a sudden, our vows no longer mattered to him. I chose him over my family’s money because I saw us growing old together. I saw us having a family and creating our own legacy with our bare hands! But no! Jeffrey betrayed me! He chose money over me! He chose that bitch-a*s skank over me! He wanted to take everything from me! My home! My practice! My money! He even got her pregnant without batting an eyelash! He told me he wasn’t ready when I said I wanted to have a baby. Every time we would have s*x, he would make me take the Morning After pill! And if that wasn’t enough, Jeffrey had the nerve to slap me across the face when he suspected me of having an affair! The audacity! He was the one f*****g some w***e for over a year, but when I joined forces with said w***e’s ex-husband to bring them down, I became the cheater!” Annika sucked in a deep breath and glowered at the Hollands family. “So, yeah, I admit that I lied. I’m the furthest thing from poor. And guess what, that will help me destroy whatever life Jeffrey has left.”

“Annika, he’s still your husband,” Jack said softly. He was ashamed to hear of everything his son had done to Annika. Even if Annika had lied about her identity and family background, it didn’t change the fact that she had been respectful and loving to them all this time. She had given them allowance money and bought them gifts time and time again. Sure, Jeff was his son, but he couldn’t deny that his own son had royally screwed up. And all for the sake of money. His mistakes and bad choices left his entire family in a dire situation. Though originally, he and Ruth thought they could turn this around on Annika being an unfilial wife, he eventually realized that wasn’t the case at all.

“Ex-husband, Jack,” Annika snapped at him. “He and I are over. The divorce papers have been given to him, and all he has to do is sign them.”

“Anni, is there no way you can forgive him, just this once?” Ruth had the gall to beg, pushing Annika over her limit.

“IF IT WERE JACK WHO DID ALL OF THIS TO YOU, WOULD YOU BE ABLE TO FORGIVE HIM!?!” Annika screamed at her. Ruth dropped her head and was reduced to a shivering mess, hearing Annika raise her voice that way. The Hollands family could not rebuke. “Your family is full of nothing but greed. All you see are the monetary benefits. Now that Jeff is no longer the pristine D.A. of our fair city, you also lose out on his salary. That’s the only reason why you want me to forgive him. You think that just because I forgive him, he would be able to get his job back? I don’t think so, Ruth,” Annika spat out her name. “Jeff and that b***h baby mama of his will get their comeuppance. And I’m going to raise a toast and say ‘Cheers’ the moment it happens.”

“I think it’s time for ya’ll to leave,” Huxley announced as he protectively sidestepped in front of Annika. “Unless you all want to be arrested for trespassing.” The Hollands family gulped when they looked back at the number of lawyers in the penthouse. They knew they couldn’t get away with anything else and made the conscious decision to leave without causing any additional trouble. However, Annika stopped them as soon as they opened the door.

“One more thing,” she declared and stepped out in front of her brother. “My maiden name isn’t Hiller. It’s Silverton.” They looked at her, lost for a moment, but it dawned on them that she also lied about her name. Just as they were about to turn to leave, Joey stopped and faced her with his eyes wide open.

“Did you … Did you just say … Silverton?!” he stumbled over his words.

“I did.”

“As … As in … As in the Rhode Island Silverton’s? The construction empire!?”

“Ah, so you’ve actually heard of my family, Joey?” Annika asked while grinning proudly. “I guess that makes you more informed than your idiotic brother. Maybe you can go explain to him who I actually am. I would love to hear how he reacts when he replaces out,” she continued to mock them.

“Joey?” His mother grabbed his arm before asking him, “Honey, who are the Rhode Island Silvertons?”

“Mom, Jeff’s in a world of trouble.” Joey quickly pulled his family out of the house. But as they were leaving, the unknown family member who had yet to say a single word was the last to leave. She stopped at the door and faced Annika with a cold and deathly glare.

“This isn’t over, Annika. You think you’ve won just because you come from money? I wouldn’t bet on it.” Without anything else to be said, the unknown female family member followed the Hollands out of the penthouse. When the door shut, Madalena went and locked the door.

“That family has some nerve showing up like that!” she shouted with hatred in her eyes.

“Now, honey, it’s over. They’re gone,” Beau said while he consoled his wife.

“Can I please shoot them?” Royce asked as he played with his Glock.

“PUT THAT AWAY!” Annika screamed. She hated having guns anywhere near her.

“The safety is on, Baby Bear. Chill.”

“Daddy!” Annika whined.

“Royce. Put it away,” he said sternly.

“Fine.” Royce rolled his eyes but did as his father told him.

“I don’t like the look that woman just gave Anni. She doesn’t seem to be a simple family member,” Huxley said as he poured another glass of brandy for him and his father. He came over with two glasses and handed the other one off. “Royce, do some recon on that woman. Something tells me she’s going to take matters into her own hands.”

“Sure thing.” Royce got up and headed out the door without even saying goodbye to his family. Annika rolled her eyes at Royce’s back. “Quit rolling your eyes at me, Baby Bear!” he shouted just as the door closed.

“Does he have eyes in the back of his head or something?!”

“He’s a mechanic. Of course, he does,” Matthaeus replied. “Anni, do you want to press charges for that old hag slapping you?”

“No. It’s not worth it. Just do what you guys are going to do. I’m going to take a nap.” Annika made her way upstairs and plopped down face first onto her bed. Before she closed her eyes, she grabbed her phone and sent a 9-1-1 message to Kenzie and Hunter. What Huxley said about that unknown family member got Annika thinking, and she felt that her best course of action was to replace out who this person was. Even though Royce was tailing her, she wanted the answers herself.