Only a few things can anger me as much as the scene unfolding before me.
This must be how Lauren feels every time she sees Ericsson and Greyson together. It must feel this numbing and excruciating because that's all I'm feeling right now while my husband and his ex-girlfriend laugh and whisper things in each other's ears as if there aren't dozens of photographers taking pictures of them every second.
I was only gone for half an hour. I had to make sure Lauren got Annabelle to go with her and had to make sure Annabelle saw Ericsson do something that is unforgivable - cheat on Lucas Greyson.
It was a simple task, but of course my sister struggled because not ever in her life has she had to do anything for herself. Me, mom and dad have always done the dirty work while she keeps her hands clean.
And yet she always comes up with the vilest things to do to someone she feels has wronged her.
"What if we plant evidence of fraud in that family's whole business empire. Their daughter splashed milk on me at school and today she did it again and she and her friends laughed at me."
"What if we spread a rumour that she's had multiple abortions? Her boyfriend will never marry her after hearing that. She deserves it. She used to push me into a locker back in school."
"What if we make his car crash? Jona deserves it. He's bullying me at work."
"What if we told Charlotte's dad about her? He's always hated her. If we're lucky, he'll kill her or leave her in a coma. She deserves it. She bullies me just because she knows Lucas likes me."
We never checked the veracity of her accusations. We didn't need to. We like doing the dirty work and she likes giving us a reason to do the dirty work.
It takes some time, but my sister never lets an infraction go unpunished. She will mull over it and think about it until anger clouds her mind and she is convinced of an injustice that may or may not be exist. Then she'll come up with those brilliant ideas of hers - like calling a known psychopath and telling him the daughter he tried so hard to bury underground is in Law School and that she might make a success of her life.
That was one of her best ideas ... I still don't know how Ericsson survived that and I sometimes wonder what she would do if she ever found out it was our doing.
Would she try to kill us as well? Would she run to the Greysons even though we left no trace of our involvement?
Perhaps I should ask my dear sister, Lauren, about how I should deal with Sandra Ohara, a woman who keeps touching my husband without shame.
"Sandra!" I greeted coldly.
I swallowed the bile that was rising in my throat.
The woman hasn't aged a day and looks as youthful as she did when Justin gave her an ultimatum - to accept me as a part of his life or break up. The frizzy red head chose the latter. She packed her bags and went back to London then went to Paris where she now owns a few art galleries.
Her dark brown eyes held no resentment or anger towards me; even though no one would blame her if they did. Justin once told her she didn't need to worry about me and that he's only ever seen me as a friend, but he married me less than a year after she left him.
"Lisa!" She gave me the warmest, slightly chubby, smile. "How have you been?"
I gave both of them the coldest glare ever, but they were both unmoved by it.
Sandra's happy demeanour has always been somewhat hard to break and Justin's trance whenever he's in her presence took years to crack.
Justin was staring at the red haired girl in complete awe. She wore a dress with all kinds of different colours that clung onto her freckled covered skin and perhaps teased onlookers about what's underneath.
She didn't try to dress up too much despite every important person in the country being here. She was never the kind to do that, but she still looks beautiful I guess. There's a certain youthful maturity that she carries with her.
"Justin and I have been great." I answered with a fake smile. "As you can see, we're expecting again. Twins this time!"
"Congratulations!" She said excitedly. "I always knew Justin would make a great dad."
My husband tensed up and took a step away from me as if my pregnancy made him uncomfortable. And perhaps it does.
He regretted giving Sandra that ultimatum the second she left the country, but by then it was too late. She didn't want anything to do with him. So after months of coaxing and showing him how much I loved him and how good the two of us could be together, his family said he should marry me.
He disagreed at first. He kept insisting he didn't see me that way, but elections were around the corner and my family's name would open a lot of doors for him. So he caved and agreed.
... And I was the happiest girl alive ...
Until I realised I was in a loveless marriage. Until I realised that no matter how strong my surname is, no matter how much I do for him, sacrifice for him and no matter how much I love him, he will never love me back.
He's cold, unforgiving and only smiles or touches me like a husband would touch his wife when we're out in public.
Yes. Lisa Mitchell is stuck in a loveless marriage with the only man she's ever loved.
"How far along are you?" She ignored my husband's discomfort.
"Three months." I mustered a tight smile.
Justin called for a waiter to come give him a drink.
He doesn't drink much, but I suppose tonight is an exception. He just saw the love of his life after who knows how many years.
I looked at how his eyes trailed her body up and down. The man has no shame.
Sandra is not thin or fat. She's perfectly in the middle with enough meat on her behind for a man to grab and breasts big enough for my husband to undress her with his eyes while in my presence.
Justin is not a cheater, but maybe Sandra will make him cheat. Maybe Sandra will make him look at my kids differently.
"Well you look great." She smiled again. "I should get going. It was nice seeing you again, Justin."
"Wait!" Justin grabbed her hand infront of me. "Are you back for good? We should have coffee. Give me your number."
"Uhm." She stuttered while looking at the forgotten wife. "Yea. I'm back for good. I got some great opportunity out of the blue to showcase my work at a bunch of galleries here AND even run a few of those galleries."
She gulped nervously while Justin refused to let go of her arm. "I'll send you an email." She said quickly. "Then we can catch up."
It was only then that he let her go - after she promised to send him an email.
I should have stopped him. I should have told him how inappropriate his behaviour is, but I was too lost in his sea blue eyes. Those eyes have never looked at me that way. There may have been a time when he looked at me with kindness in his eyes, but that's so long ago that sometimes I think I dreamt it all up.
"We should go take our seats." He returned to his usual cold demeanour once the love of his life left.
*******************************************
Lauren's POV
Mrs Greyson's dark brown eyes were already filled with tears as she watched Lucas make his speech. It wasn't happy tears or tears filled with pride. It was angry tears and sad tears because she just found out the kind of woman Charlotte Ericsson is.
Now that I think about it, whether she lost those kids or had an abortion is actually irrelevant. She failed to be a good mom and Lucas deserves more than that from his partner.
Lucas had every single person's attention while he made his speech. There were a lot of business and engineering terms that I struggled to keep up with at times, but none of it was boring because this man has the ability to command all the attention in the room.
When he was done, the entire hall of two hundred guests stood up to applaud him. After three or maybe four years, the man managed to pull off the biggest merger this country has ever seen and he did it with me right by his side.
Charlotte can never take that away from me. No matter how hard she tries.
"Now it's time for dad to make his speech." Connor smirked while applauding Lucas. "Char may have done all the work, but he's the partner and will ultimately get all the credit ... and all that credit will find it's way back to me when the partners cast their votes in a few days."
I tried my best to feign interest in what he was saying.
The man hates Charlotte, but can't stop talking about her or looking at her like he's undressing her with his eyes.
Apperantly he's been put on a lot of cases with Charlotte, but she ended up doing all the work. He and his father expected her to let him take all the credit or just cower in fear because the Cornwall name is quite formidable. Instead, she kept putting Connor in a position where it became clear that he didn't do any of the work. It took him and his father years to realise it was her doing.
Connor told me and Lisa stories of how Charlotte robbed him of getting in other people's good graces while using words that paint him in a much kinder light, but even I could see the truth behind his lies.
"Dad's speech will pave the way to me making partner." He muttered under his breath while his father boasted on stage about how hard he's been working to get this merger wrapped up.
I smiled and nodded.
The plan is for Connor to convince Annabelle that Charlotte is cheating on Lucas with him. It was Lisa's idea to go with Connor because he and Charlotte are put on the same cases a lot, so they spend a lot of time together and they can look cozy if a picture is taken at just the right angle. Plus, Connor needs to buy off a few partners' votes so he can make partner instead of Charlotte.
He kept talking about making partner so much when I met him that for a second I wished Charlotte would just fall pregant so he would stop whining. He told us there's an unwritten rule that pregnant women don't get promoted at their firm so that would probably solve all his problems.
I shuddered at the thought of Charlotte falling pregnant.
That would be a disaster. I'd have to tell Lisa to get Charlotte's father involved so that she can't use that baby to trap Lucas.
"And of course none of my efforts would have yielded fruit without my son, Connor Cornwall." I caught a few words of his father's speech. "Connor may be young, but he's hardworking, smart and as quick-witted as his old man."
People laughed at his bad joke.
"Please stand up Connor." He gestured towards his son.
"Here's to your brilliant and very promising legal career." He raised a half-filled wine glass and everyone did the same before applauding Connor who looked more than pleased.
He'll be getting that promotion after all.
The hall applauded Connor's father as he got off stage.
The only two people I was concerned with were Charlotte and Jona. I want to see them fill up with anger while it dawns on them that Charlotte has lost this round.
I found Jona's dark eyes and they looked annoyed and bored like they usually do. He wasn't angry, but I'll take that look over that menacing glint he always has in his eyes when something goes wrong for me at work.
... the same glint that Charlotte has right this second while applauding Connor's dad ...
"I think something is wrong." I tried to whisper to Connor. "Charlotte doesn't look upset."
He waved off my concerns with a hand and sat down while a few people exchanged looks with him and his father.
I wasn't focusing on the next person who took the stage.
Charlotte was looking right at me and Connor and she had that ruthless glint in her eyes that I've seen too many times to count.
She only stopped looking at us when Lucas whispered something in her ear and then kissed that large rock on her finger.
"We pride ourselves in our greatness." I heard the next speaker. "Our firm does not compromise on anything and every single one of us works tirelessly to protect our clients and their interests. That's the only way our firm was able to celebrate its one hundred and tenth anniversary last year."
I had no idea who the man was, but all of Connor's attention was on him.
"Very rarely does one come across a lawyer who understands the law, the politics, the money and the people." The speaker continued. "And even rarer is such a lawyer under the age of thirty."
There were murmurs in the crowd; a shift was occurring and I couldn't understand why.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Charlotte Ericsson is one of the few lawyers I've come across who understands all the symphonies that ultimately rule the law and are ruled by the law. And as I'm sure every lawyer, engineer, politician and investor in this hall knows, Ms Ericsson is the reason why this City and why White & Co. pulled off the biggest merger in this country!"
An almost defeaning applause ripped out of the crowd and the speaker was so taken aback that he almost stumbled.
"I, Mark Neilburg, Managing Partner of White & Co. present to you, the newest and youngest partner to ever join our firm, Ms Charlotte Ericsson."
Aksara