Cheers To Comeuppance
Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Third Person

“For Christ’s sake, Mom! Stop crying already!” Sadie shouted at her mother. After being handed divorce papers by David, Agatha Galloway tried her best to coax him into forgiving her; after all, they had been married well over twenty years, and he had doted on her hand and foot since the day they had met. However, with the exposure of her lies, David Galloway did not budge an inch this time. He was adamant about divorcing her. He had never felt so humiliated and betrayed in his entire life. Everything he had lived for had been a lie because of her.

Due to failing to earn her husband’s forgiveness, Agatha went to Sadie, awaiting her trial’s continuance. She thought that Sadie would also be angry at her; however, she was surprised to see the indifference in her daughter’s demeanor when she came clean about everything.

“How can you tell me that!? Your father wants to leave me!” Agatha whined and blew her nose for the umpteenth time.

“For f**k’s sake, Mom, it’s not the end of the world. You’re acting as if losing dad will end your life,” Sadie huffed in disinterest in her mother’s first-world problems. She barely had the energy to deal with the misfortunes in her life. She could care less about her mother.

“Sadie, you know your father better than –”

“You just said that he’s not my father. So, stop referring to him as such,” Sadie cut off her mother’s point blank.

“Sadie, even if you’re biologically his, he raised and cared for you all these years. He is your father!”

“No. He’s not. If he can cold-bloodily abandon the both of us over some bullshit paternity results, then why should I continue to see him as such?” She sneered.

“Sadie, how could you …”

“How could I not, Mom?” she scoffed at her mother’s weakness. She couldn’t understand why her mother would bother with a man willing to throw them away over something that wasn’t a big deal. She wasn’t surprised that her mother was that cold-hearted, especially since she was going through abandonment by the man she loved and was pregnant. “If Jeffrey, the actual father of my child, could leave me for his sorry excuse of a soon-to-be ex-wife, then why wouldn’t David Galloway, who isn’t even my father, leave us? Hm, Mom? I mean, are you actually shocked at the result of everything? I’m in f*****g jail right now because of Jeffrey’s ex. I’m pregnant. The world doesn’t give a s**t about us. So, just f*****g stop relying on other people. Based on what you explained, you spent your entire f*****g pathetic life mooching off of other people just to get what you want. I mean, seriously, Mom, what have you actually done on your own?”

“Sadie …” Agatha was flabbergasted that her daughter would say such harsh words to her. “Don’t forget, young lady; you wouldn’t even exist without me! You wouldn’t even be breathing this second had I not married your father! I didn’t even want you in the first place!” Agatha exclaimed without remorse.

“WHY THE f**k DID YOU HAVE ME THEN!?” Sadie screamed. “You know what, Mom, you’re right. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be here in the first place! LOOK AT ME! I’m wearing an orange jumpsuit, four months pregnant, broker than a homeless street rat! No husband, no boyfriend, and now, no father! THIS IS ALL YOUR f*****g FAULT!”

“Sadie!”

“I never would have lied about my cheating on Leon during our marriage if it wasn’t for your scheming ways! Believe it or not, I actually loved him! Not just for his money, but for everything else! He was good-looking! He was kind to me! He loved me!”

“No, he didn’t! Your marriage to him was one of convenience! You were only his nominal wife in name.”

“Even so! I could have won him over! You’re the one who hounded it into me that he wasn’t good enough. That his money was all that we needed. So, what did I do? I chose to hate him. I decided to cheat on him. I fell in love with a married man! I ruined another person’s marriage because of you!

“I never told you to sleep with a married man, Sadie! I told you to replace someone of better stature to love you! You deserved so much more than a work-a-holic playboy like Leonardo Von Doren!”

“You know what? Get lost! I hate you! You make me sick! You’re disgusting! You should have just aborted me! My life is in utter turmoil because of your selfishness!”

“Well, isn’t this a fine situation of the pot calling the kettle black?” Sadie and Agatha snapped their heads to the voice and were shocked to see Leon and Janko standing there.

“What the f**k are you doing here? This is a private visiting room!” Sadie snapped.

“We’re the plaintiff in the case and as the attorney representing Mr. Von Doren, we actually have a right to be here to question you. We weren’t aware that your mother was in here.”

“How could you not know I was in here?” Mrs. Galloway questioned.

“You didn’t sign the visitors log,” Attorney Janko replied. After his reply, you could hear a pin drop against the cold-hard silence in the room.

“Mom, you’re so f*****g stupid!” Sadie spewed utter hatred toward her mother.

“Mrs. Galloway, since you’re not actually permitted to be here without first signing in, I’m going to have to ask you to leave respectfully,” Janko told her. Though his choice of words was kind, his tone gave the notion that Mrs. Galloway had no other choice. She bit her l*p and didn’t reply. She turned her eyes to Sadie, but her good-for-nothing daughter gestured for her to leave. Mrs. Galloway looked at her aghast. She dropped her head, sensing Sadie’s resolve to get her to leave. Without another word, Mrs. Galloway grabbed her purse and reluctantly left. Once the door shut and they were alone, Sadie glared at Leon and Janko.

“What the f**k do you want, Leon?”

“Well, I was coming to see how you were doing, but based on your conversation with your mother, you’re not doing so well.”

“Yeah, keep mocking you, son of a b***h! Once I’m out of here, I’m going to ruin your f*****g life! I won’t stop at you. I’m going to f**k up that doctor b***h of yours and that bastard chi – AHHH!!” Before she could finish her threat against Annika and their unborn child, Leon had rushed to the bars of the visiting room, grabbed Sadie by the scruff of her jumpsuit, and brought her forward with so much force that her face was squashed between two of the bars.

Leon pressed his face as close as possible to Sadie’s without actually making contact with her before he said, “I suggest you swallow the word that’s about to come out of your filthy mouth, Sadie,” Leon whispered in a menacing snarl. Sadie would always deny that she was afraid of Leon and the power that he possessed; however, this one time in her life, she couldn’t help but tremble at this ferociousness. “Sadie, if you ever mention Annika or my child again, I will make you disappear from this planet. Do you hear me? I will erase your very existence.” Sadie gulped and nodded her head. Satisfied with her concede, Leon dropped her.

“You’re a dead man, Leon. These rooms have cameras.”

“They also have microphones, Ms. Galloway. Your threat against Ms. Silverton and her unborn child with Mr. Von Doren is caught on tape.”

“Leon threatened me too! You heard him!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ms. Galloway. I heard no such thing,” Janko mocked her.

“What!? But he just …” Sadie paused momentarily when the realization hit her. “You… I can’t believe you, Leon. You would go as far as to compromise the recording devices here to threaten me?”

“Money can buy many things, Sadie, including the security guards on duty. But then again, they were more than willing to assist me given how much you’ve been berating them and talking to them as if they were beneath you,” Leon responded.

“Everyone in here IS beneath me!” Sadie shrieked.

“The last I checked, Sadie, these people make an honest living and live decent lives. What about you? Have you ever done anything decent in your life? You grew up a spoiled little brat who always looked down upon anyone else with less money than you. You always scammed other people into doing your bidding and then f*****g them over the moment something went awry. Then you dug your claws into me and my fortune. Love? I didn’t feel loved, Sadie. You loved the idea of me and my wealth. You only wanted the title of Mrs. Von Doren, but you never intended to bring pride to it. You brought nothing but shame to my family name. You’re disgusting. You’re dirtier than the scum at the bottom of my cheapest pair of shoes. Not only did you f**k me over, but you ruined Annika’s marriage to her husband. Though, in hindsight, I should really thank you for that at this point. Without you being the w***e that you are, I never would have found the love of my life. The mother to my child and the Queen to my multibillion-dollar empire.”

“Are you telling me that you never loved me?” Sadie’s eyes suddenly filled with tears at the brutal truth Leon was spouting.

“I thought I did, but then I realized that I was only respectful of you since you were my wife. I had intentions of ever divorcing you, Sadie. Ever. But you cheated on me, but that was my fine line. The fine line that you should have never crossed.”

“What?”

“You could have anything and everything you ever wanted, Sadie. I would have gladly paid for it all. You would have had access to all my money without ever lifting a damn finger. But instead, you opened your legs for that punk Hollands, and now you have nothing. You have no husband, no boyfriend, no father, and worst of all; you have no money.”

“You can’t just defeat the Galloways, Leon!”

“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong. I already have.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sadie, I’ve bankrupted your family. The Galloways are no more. They’re nothing but a speck of dust in the streets of Manhattan,” Leon stated as he walked toward her and towered over her. “You lose,” Leon smirked when he saw Sadie’s eyes fill with tears of malice. Leon straightened his suit jacket and took his leave without uttering another syllable. Janko, who had remained silent the entire time, muttered something to Sadie that had her shutting her eyes, and the tears she had been restraining finally fell. Janko took his leave as well.

Outside, in the hall of the courthouse, Annika and the others were waiting for Leon. When she saw him emerge, she smiled and approached him.

“So?”

“Galloway served his wife divorce papers, and Sadie knows the truth.”

“You told her everything?” Hunter questioned. Leon nodded.

“This might be a stupid question, but how did she take it?” Kenzie asked.

“About as well as one could expect. She now knows that she’s in major trouble with this case. Without any money to pay her attorney, he will abandon her before the trial ends.”

“And I’ve already explained this to her. Bart is now aware of just how broke the Galloways are. Once the news reported the fall of Galloway’s company and his investments, Bart called me to say that he quit,” Janko stated as he made his way over to the group.

“Oh, wow, that was fast. It was only a couple of hours ago that he was representing her,” Kenzie said.

“Lawyers like Bart put up with much s**t because they’re paid well. Galloway was paying Bart five grand an hour to be his family’s on-call lawyer. Bart is a criminal defense attorney, but he did everything for Galloway. Anything from a speeding ticket to covering up for Sadie’s fraud against Mr. Von Doren.”

“What’s going to happen to him? Didn’t you guys replace evidence that he had a hand in fabricating the false evidence against you?” Annika asked Leon directly.

“I’ll be taking care of that myself, Ms. Silverton. I will be reporting Bart to the New York Bar Association. He’ll be disbarred, tried, and sent to prison himself for being involved in felony fraud. His assets will also be frozen.”

“What’s going to happen to his assets?” Kenzie asked.

“They’ll go to Leon,” Hunter answered on Janko’s behalf.

“What? Why?”

“The federal accountant Mr. Von Doren hired followed the paper trail, and we found that more than 60% of Bart’s assets are from the money that the Galloway girl defrauded him of. The payout from their divorce went to her mother and father. They used a lot of that money to pay off Bart for his silence in the matter.”

“But that’s only 60%. Why would Leon get all of Bart’s assets?” Annika scrutinized. Janko gave a single-word reply. “Interest.”

“So, what will happen now that Sadie has no one representing her?” Kenzie queried.

“She’ll get a court-appointed attorney,” Hunter answered.

“What if she doesn’t accept him or her?”

“Ms. Galloway has no other choice. Without an attorney, she will lose this case ten times over. She’s already going to lose. She was bound to lose even with Bart as her representation; however, now that she doesn’t have him and will end up with a newbie lawyer fresh out of law school that probably failed their bar exam about three times, she’s going to lose. But at the very least, she will have someone trying to fight for her best interest,” Janko related.

“What about her baby?” Annika asked.

“Her baby will likely be born while she’s incarcerated. Obviously, the baby will be taken from her care in its best interest and placed into the system.”

“Is there a way we can have Kenzie be her OB-GYN while she’s incarcerated?”

“WHAT!?” Kenzie screeched at Annika’s question. “NO!” she immediately rejected the idea. “I want nothing to do with that b***h ever again!”

“Come on, Kenz; you’re not doing it for Sadie. You’re going to do it for the baby. You’re the best OB-GYN in the state,” Annika countered Kenzie’s refusal.

“There are plenty of OBs hired by the state to take care of pregnant inmates, Anni!”

“Are any of them as competent and as amazing as you?”

“Nope! Nah uh! No f*****g way! You’re not going to flatter me into taking care of that trailer trash slut and her bastard child!” Kenzie utterly repelled while stomping away into the courtroom where the trial was about to re-commence.

“Kenzieeeee…” Annika howled while linking her arm with Kenzie’s and started to beg. Leon, Janko, and Hunter looked at the backs of the two women. Hunter walked up to Leon’s left.

“Malloy, is she always this soft-hearted?” Leon asked him.

“She’s the youngest of four siblings and the heiress to a billion-dollar family fortune. Of she’s not. But she knows right from wrong. Kenzie dismissing Sadie due to a personal vendetta was wrong on her part, especially on a professional level. That’s why Anni wants Kenzie to help make sure that Sadie delivers her baby safely, even while she’s in prison. Sadie may have ruined Annika’s marriage with Jeff, but she knows deep down that the baby growing inside of that mockery of a woman is innocent. It’s like Kenzie said at the birthday party. The baby is innocent. He or she didn’t ask to be conceived by Sadie and Jeff. But he or she was, and now they will end up in the foster system. At the very least, Anni wants to ensure the baby is born healthy and given a fighting chance.”

“Is that all?”

“No. You want my honest opinion?” Leon nodded. “Don’t be surprised if Anni brings up the notion of adopting Sadie and Jeff’s kid,” Hunter stated, smacking his hand against Leon’s chest before making his way back into the courtroom.

“What!?”

“Sir, if I may?” Janko asked while standing off to the side.

“What, Janko?”

“Mr. Von Doren, if Ms. Silverton brings up the idea of adopting Ms. Galloway’s child, you should consider it.”

“Are you out of your f*****g mind!?”

“Sir, please let me explain.”

“You have three seconds.”

“You’ve already gotten revenge on the Galloways for what they did to you, but Ms. Silverton has not. Perhaps allowing her to care for Ms. Galloway’s child while she is incarcerated will be the best way to exact her revenge against her. And it will also be your way of getting back at Hollands. Even if he claims he doesn’t want the child he created with Ms. Galloway, he can’t deny that the baby is his. What better way to get your revenge against him? Not only will you be marrying his ex-wife, the high-school sweetheart he dismissed for someone like Sadie, and raising his child while he is behind bars. As a man, knowing that his child is being raised by his arch-nemesis would destroy him. And for a woman, the most important person in her life would be her child. If Ms. Galloway learns that her baby is being raised by the woman who destroyed her entire life and took everything from her as it is, it will drive her mad.”

“Annika isn’t petty that way, even if I am.”

“It’s not about being petty, Sir. I’m certain that Ms. Silverton has no thought of the sort. She very well only has the best interest at heart for the child. However, it doesn’t mean you can’t exploit her kindness. Perhaps even using this to threaten Hollands into admitting guilt?” Janko said his peace and then went back into the courtroom himself. Leon thought about Janko’s advice and twitched his lips while furrowing his brows.