“And was screaming she was going to come when he hadn’t even touched her?Yeah, that movie,” Isaac adds.“The only realistic thing about that entire sex scene was him coming all over her back after doing her from behind.”
“Word,” I chuckle.“If you don’t want to come in her, come on her.”
“Seriously?”Jaxon growls.
Isaac pales, glancing down at the phone in his hand.“Sorry, bro, forgot you were there.”
I pale, staring down at the phone, and then at Luke, who is still rewinding whatever show he has on.
Dread hits my stomach.Something has happened.Something bad.
“Watch,” Luke orders, hitting play.
On the steps of Kratos Properties and Investments stands Sebastian Black, his hair not as light as his father’s, but it’s close.It’s the shape and colour of his eyes that gives the most resemblance.And the arrogance and hatred they both carry like a shield.Yet I can’t help but notice that whilst Sebastian looks like he’ll happily stab his best friend in the back, he doesn’t hold the same coldness and detachment his father does.His sister carries more of that.
“Turn it up,” Isaac whispers.
“Today, my family was hit once again by unlawful injustice.I stand here today to appeal the false accusations made against not only my sister, Katherine Black, but my father, Andrew Black.I can no longer stay silent.The Black family have been targeted by a family who, quite frankly, want what we have.The tales they have spread are fabricated, and the police department have fallen into their trap by once again arresting my sister, Katherine, without authenticating the documents shared with them.Just like the disgusting and heinous AI videos circling about my father, Andrew Black.They want him to look like he is running from the police, when the truth is, they were made to cover up the fact that this family have done something to my father.The last time I spoke with my father, he told me he was on his way to their home to plead once more for a ceasefire.They had already destroyed multiple factories we own.They’ve run off clients.Nearly broke up a marriage of forty years.He wanted the crimes to stop before someone got hurt.That is the last time I spoke with him.”
“This is fucking bullshit,” I growl, the others grunting in agreement.
“Oh, wait for it,” Jaxon warns.
“And now an employee of Kratos Properties and Investments has fallen under this family’s spell.Miss Adams, who has worked at our company for years now, has doctored documents at their request.We believe Miss Adams is in a relationship with a member from this family.A full investigation is underway, but we ask that the public and our government don’t ignore the power play in process, and don’t write us off.We may be privileged, but we have never used our wealth to get out of anything.We also don’t want that to be used against us.We are human too, and believe we should be given a fair trial.There is more to this story than what is being written in the papers.”
“Mrs Black, do you have anything you want to say?”a reporter fires off.
Timidly, Mrs Black walks closer to the podium, her mascara smudged as she dabs at the fake fucking tears on her cheeks.Oh, they are good.Really fucking good.
“At least they haven’t announced who ‘the family’ are,” I grumble.
“Oh, wait for it.She’s good.Really good,” Jaxon growls.
Mrs Black sniffles, her eyes watering.“I just want my husband back.These past few months have been a living nightmare.I don’t know if he’s okay or even alive.If he were okay, he would have contacted me.We’ve been together pretty much our whole lives.We would never abandon each other.We’ve only ever been apart once before and it made us realise what we mean to each other.”
“What about this family?Is there anything you can tell us about them?What started this rivalry?”
She dabs the corner of her eyes and pretends to hesitate, even though this entire speech is clearly rehearsed.
“I really don’t want to get into details.I trust the police to do the right thing.”
“Normal people would have said, I trust the police to find out the truth,” Theo snidely remarks.
Mrs Black continues, “During our split, many years ago, my husband got into a slight accident, and the nurse who treated him seduced him.He had been high on medication, and I guess he wasn’t in the right frame of mind.Their night together resulted in a child, and for years, this woman blackmailed my husband for money.She wanted him to leave me when she found out we were back together, and threatened to tell me about the baby.I, of course, knew.So she held his visitation rights and used that to get to him, and when that didn’t work, she used their daughter as a way to get money out of him, before she, herself, fell sick with dementia.He paid for private school, gave the mother money to raise his child, and even paid for the mother’s medical care.But Olivia Wilson turned Evelyn against him, and Evelyn was so angry with her father as a result.So much so, she began to work for this removal company to get back at him.Between her anger and the family’s resentment for not being as successful as my husband, they planned and plotted.”Her eyes widen as she glances around, having the nerve to act surprised.“I’m sorry.I think I said too much.I need to...I need to...”
“It’s okay, Mum,” Sebastian coos, folding his arms around her to keep up with their act.
She presses her face into his chest, only popping out to finish her scene.“I just want my husband back.I need to know if he’s dead or alive.”
As Sebastian guides her back into the building, another man in a suit steps up to the podium and promises to keep everyone updated, but pleads with the reporters and public to give the family privacy.
“Holy fucking shit,” I growl.“She practically just name-dropped us on TV.”
“Live TV.This was live earlier.You are watching the playback,” Jaxon informs me.“Wyatt has lost his shit.Evie was doing better, and this mother-fucking cunt just bad-mouthed her mum on live television.”
“Wait, but it’s lies,” Theo pipes up.“It’s defamation.”
“Clearly they knew what to say, and knew Evie wouldn’t be able to prove otherwise.It’s not like Olivia is here to defend herself,” Jaxon points out.
