Chapter 66 Chapter 65:
Alisha:
I miss my father, everything I do just reminds me of him, he was always too busy but the little time we had together, we always made it worthwhile, I miss him so much it hurts. Jasper calls it my grieving moment and he thinks I should see a fucking therapist so I can let it all out. I like my emotions stuffed away, thank you very much.
The will reading is in two weeks, according to my dad’s attorney, he wants us to settle down before he passes on the inheritance to us. Presently, I am sitting on the couch, staring at the invitation letter that arrived in the mail earlier, for the first time in ever, Devon’s hosting a party tomorrow. The invitation says to come with a plus one and I am pretty sure Jasper is going to be my plus one.
My heart is giddy like a teenager. I haven’t seen Devon too much, just having the chance to talk to him and seeing his handsome face will really make my day tomorrow.
“Hey.” Jasper comes down from the stairs, his eyes jumping to the invitation letter. “What’s that?”
“I thought you said you wanted to work in your office.” My husband, Jasper, is a complete workaholic. Even though it’s ten in the night, he is still always busy somewhere with his computer.
“Yeah, well. I wanted to spend some time with my beautiful wife,” he says, flopping on the seat beside me. I bite my lips, suddenly feeling anxious. I didn’t tell anyone but last week, I visited my attorney and drafted out a divorce letter. I know. To be completely honest, I’m such a bitch, why am I divorcing my husband? I even signed the divorce letter, it just needs his signature.
I can’t live in this loveless marriage anymore, the worst part is pretending to like Jasper; I don’t want him stuck in an unrequited love till the day he dies. My father’s death has taught me that life is too short, if we want something, we should go and aim for it and all I want right now is Devon which is why I am going to confess my love to him at the party.
Jasper gestures at the invitation letter once again and I sigh. “Devon’s hosting a party for the first time.”
“Oh really?” My soon to be ex-husband seems intrigued. “When is it?”
“Tomorrow.”
“Oh.” He stares at me and I don’t like that kind of ‘oh.’ “Are you sure we should go? I mean, you just lost your father and things are pretty tough for you right now. This is your grieving stage.”
I badly want to snap, ever since my father died, everyone has been treating me like I am going to break or something especially Jasper, I hate being handled delicately.
“I can handle this, Jasper.” My voice comes out sharper than intended and he sighs. “I can do this.”
“I believe you, it’s just that there’s no pressure at all. If you don’t feel like going, then we don’t have to go anywhere.”
I nod my head and he kisses me on the forehead.
“I am going to go upstairs for a bit to take a shower, okay?” Jasper stands from the chair and goes upstairs. I watch him for a bit, sighing.
My phone rings but it’s a private number, who in the hell is that now?
“Hello? Alisha Young Ford speaking.” I say, keeping my tone gentle. “How may I help you?”
“Oh, drop the formality. It’s just Anna.”
“Oh. Right.” I sigh, these days I haven’t really heard or seen much about Anna, it’s like she vanished into thin air or something. Very weird.
“I am really sorry to hear about our dad.” She breathes into the phone, did I hear her well? Did she just say ‘our’? I don’t think so, it’s almost midnight and my head hurts, so I am probably sure I am just imagining stuff. Damn, I need to get some sleep.
“I was thinking that at the party tomorrow, we kill Arya and you can have Devon all to yourself. That sounds like a really good idea if you ask me.” Anna says sharply and it makes me shudder, she still wants us to kill Arya?
I adjust in the seat, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. “I really don’t know, Anna. The idea of death just doesn’t strike me anymore, love shouldn’t go with violence.”
Anna chuckles dryly, “when did you become so weak? You are not the Alisha I know. What the fuck happened to you? Did you get brainwashed or something?”
“I didn’t get brainwashed. I just don’t want to kill Arya anymore.”
“And you want Devon all to yourself? Look, it’s obvious that they are in love and if you want to break them apart? Then you have to kill one of them.”
I breathe in sharply. “I’ll think about it. Anyways, I already drafted the divorce contract for Jasper; I just have to gather the courage to give it to him.” My voice comes out tiny, not in the way that I expected. Anna’s right, when did I become so weak?
“The party is tomorrow so better think fast. Anyways, how is your mother holding up, you know, with the death thing.” Anna asks and I’m unsure if she is asking because she cares or if she is trying to make fun of me, Anna has a complex mind and I don’t quite understand it.
Honestly, I don’t even know how she’s holding up. She barely leaves her room anymore, the housekeeper said she caught my mother drinking yesterday. She never drinks; dad’s death really did pull a number on all of us. Maybe after the party tomorrow, I should pay her a visit. Jasper said it’s not good for her to be all alone in that big house surrounded by dad’s memories, he even suggested she move in with us for a while but I said I will think about it.
“She’s holding up quite well.” I say instead, biting my lips.
“Alright then, so it’s settled. I will see you at the party tomorrow, sister.” The line goes dead and I swear I heard her say sister. Like I said before, it’s probably the headache.
--
Devon:
The party already started at twelve in the noon, everyone is already arriving. The reporters and paparazzi are already here, looking for information to fish out and for celebrity gossip to paste in the news tomorrow, also did I forget to mention that whatever is happening is live right now? Thankfully, Samantha offered to babysit Vera, so she’s with her.
The chandeliers sparkle like diamonds above my head, but I am not here for the glitter and fun.
A part of me is still finding it hard to believe that Barbara is going to spit everything out if we force her. My navy suit feels all itchy and socializing doesn’t feel like my strong suit right now. I am sure the reporters will start shoving the microphone in my face any minute from now.
I am in the bar section, nursing a glass of untouched champagne. My gaze is scanning the crowd, the entrance, as people arrive; the camera people take a photo of them with their incredible poses. I can’t believe that I had to host a whole party in the hopes that Barb will confess to her crimes.
“Is everything clear?” Liam hums into my ear, I shouldn’t have agreed to the acoustic tube earpiece that Xavier brought as an idea, the main purpose was so we could all communicate with each other in case we’re far from each other in the room but every ten minutes or so, Liam has been singing ‘is everything clear’ into my ear.
“What do you take out of tormenting me?” I ask, setting the champagne glass on the counter. The bartender, a tattooed man in his early thirties asks if I want another glass and I politely decline. I did not host this party so I can get drunk.
“Hey,” Arya’s voice melts away my worries, she is wearing a black, silk gown dress, her hair let down in waves. Her gentle lopsided smile almost makes me rethink every single thing- cancel the whole party and take her home.
“You look stunning.” I pull her closer, inhaling her scent. I am sure there’s a paparazzi looking, but who cares? They already think we are dating. “This dress looks achingly familiar.” I tell her.
“Really?” she raises a brow, “that’s because I designed it myself!” Arya is beaming within herself and I do remember seeing one of this dress on her sketchbook, “Thanks for setting this party up, Devon, even though it’s meant for catching Barbara in the act, I have spoken to at least two people and they promised to reach out, I got their business card. I am really excited, Devon.”
Her gray eyes are sparkling with happiness, her cheeks flushed. Damn it, I live to see that look on her face. I am glad things are working out for everyone. Leto is on the other side of the room with Nicholas, they are in charge of the cameras and microphones, and they call it working behind the scenes. Nicole, Emma and Ethan are pretending to be the guests, but we have a secret earpiece in our ears.
And there’s Wanda and Liam, they are watching everything from a corner, Xavier is talking to a man that I don’t think I recognize, but I don’t know much about the mafia anyways. The stage is empty and in a few minutes, I am supposed to be up there, giving them a speech. Today is going to really drag on.
“Isn’t that Axel?” Arya asks, craning her neck to get a better view of her friend, and it is him. I am surprised he showed up when Clara is still in the station. They can’t let her go unless the fingerprints are explained. “Look at him, he looks so lonely.” I follow her gaze to see him slouched on a seat alone, nursing a bottle of whatever that is, his hair is framed across his face, making him look like someone who hasn’t had proper sleep in days.
“I’ll go check on him.” Arya says, slipping out of my hands. My body instantly goes cold the moment I am not holding her anymore, sighing, I watch as she saunters over to his side and seats in the chair facing him. His face brightens up a little as he talks to Arya; of course, my Arya has that kind of effect on everybody.
The door opens and Daphne works in, cheeks flushed from the cold. Typical of her to wear a jumpsuit to a party, the moment she sees me, she waves in excitement, coming over to me.
“Hello.” She is breathing heavily, “what did I miss?” She stares around the party, mouth agape. “Damn, this is a lot, Devon. And is that Madeline Chan, the influencer with five hundred million on instagram. Oh my goodness, I have to go say hi!”
“Daphne, focus here. Barbara is going to arrive anytime soon.” I tell her, hoping she’s paying attention but she is not, her eyes are staring at the influencer from instagram.
“How much do you think her dress costs?” Daphne asks in curiosity, “We have to go say hi, she looks so stunning in real life.” She gushes, I sigh and look elsewhere. It seems like I need something stronger than champagne.
The door opens again and Theo and Anna walk in, holding hands wearing a deep burgundy dress and Theo is wearing a black tuxedo with deep burgundy accents. Oh great, they are even matching outfits. Seriously?
Theo looks at our side and waves at Daphne; she waves back, eyes twinkling but then she stops, staring weirdly at Anna. For a moment, I am worried that they are going to start walking our way but Anna drags him towards the dance floor.
“Looks like you and your half-brother have gotten so close,” I tell Daphne but she is busy staring at Anna. “Anything wrong?”
“Nothing,” Daphne shakes her head but she looks shaken. “That woman, do you know her?”
“Anna?” I ask, blinking. “Unfortunately, I know her, though not well enough.”
“Uh...weird, she was at my house the day I invited Theo over for dinner, she wanted to see me but then she got all hysterical, saying she mixed up the address and that I am the wrong Daphne, my mom was there and it was very strange.” Daphne shrugs, “Why is Theo hanging around with her?”
There’s something I know, Anna is very dangerous and the fact that Theo is hanging with a dangerous woman is not good.
“Look, this might be weird because you don’t know Anna at all but Theo needs to stay away from her.” I say and Daphne widens her eyes.
“Stop fucking up everything!” Anna yells at the dance floor to Theo who looks equally as shocked as the rest of us. Everyone is staring now, including Axel and Arya who are watching them with keen eyes.
“I can’t do this anymore.” Theo's shoulders sags; he looks tired now, with eye bags under his eyes. “This is weighing on me, Anna.”
“Stop this child’s play, Theo.” Anna warns, shooting daggers at me.
“I am sorry, Anna. You. Need. Help.” Without waiting, Theo turns and walks up the stage, standing in front of the microphone. He picks up the microphone, “Hello everyone, I am Theo Duncan.”
His voice boom throughout the room because of the multiple speakers connected across the hall. At that moment, Barbara walks in, her face filled with smiles.
“There are some things you need to know.” He says and the whole room descends in silence.