Chapter 59: Sisters, Now And Forever
1121 Words
Betty crossed her arms beneath her ample breasts and glared at her brother. "Oh, Ken," she sneered. "f**k off, already!"
Ken was aghast. He turned to Joanna. "Is this what you wanted?" he demanded. "Was this your plan all along - to turn my sister against me?!?!"
"Why would I want to do that?" Joanna snapped.
"I don't know," Ken admitted. He threw up his hands in defeat. "Who knows why you do anything! One minute you're hot, and the next, you're cold. Why are you trying to sabotage our divorce? You have taken a lover, so it's not as if you want to be with me, so what's your End Game? Can you tell me that?"
"I have no End Game?" Joanna replied. "You are acting paranoid."
"Am I?" Ken asked. He took out a stack of photos from the drawer in his desk and threw them on the table. "Then what's this?" The photos contained images of Brian and Joanna kissing, hugging, and laughing together. "The two of you look like lovers in a romantic movie."
Joanna looked at the photos, and her fingers began to tremble slightly. Betty's face turned pale when she saw the images. She was stunned, and she turned to look at Joanna.
"Janie is pregnant," Ken continued. "I'll marry her soon. If you don't cooperate, I will ruin the man in the photos." Joanna picked up the photos, and as she shoved them into her purse, Ken laughed. He said, "Keep them. I have copies."
Joanna looked at him, indifferently. She said, "Ken, I don't care what you do to me, but if you slander this man, I will no longer care about our past, or the Green family's future."
Ken couldn't help but wonder why she cared so much about the man in the photo. He snorted, and with a sarcastic tone of voice, he said, "Our past? Do we have a past? That's pretty rich, Joanna, coming from you."
Joanna sighed and said, "Have it your way. I wash my hands of you."
Ken didn't know the truth about why Joanna had married him, but Betty did. She'd overheard the conversation between her Father and Joanna. Betty remembered how her Father had begged Joanna to marry Ken. And why? To protect the Green family. Betty didn't understand what that meant, but she could grasp the implications, and Joanna's words frightened her.
"Anyway," Joanna continued. "What are you going to do with these photos? They certainly aren't incriminating, and they are nothing compared to the video that you refused to watch."
Ken frowned. "f**k you!" he growled. He pointed to the door and said, "Get out. This meeting is over."
Joanna nodded and headed towards the hallway. As she passed through the doorway, she turned back and said, "Ken, be smart." And then she disappeared around the corner.
Once Joanna was gone, Betty turned to her brother and said, "Your love has made you blind, and you aren't thinking clearly. I'm going to see if I can catch up with Joanna. You are burning bridges that we might still need!" And then she ran out of Ken's office.
Betty caught up to Joanna in the parking lot, just as she was starting her car. She jumped in front of the vehicle and shouted, "Wait! Stop!"
Joanna nodded and rolled down her window. Betty walked over to her and said, "Joanna, I'm sorry."
Joanna: "You didn't do anything wrong. You don't have to apologize to me."
Betty shook her head and said, "I overheard the conversations you had with my Dad before he died, so I know why you married my brother."
Joanna was shocked. She thought about this new information for a minute, and then she said, "You know you can't tell Ken. Right?"
"I do," Betty replied. "He would never believe me. He is blinded by love, and my accusation would only serve to drive a wedge between him and me."
Not only that, but it would throw a monkey wrench in Joanna's plan to deal with Jane and Jared. She didn't think that Betty needed to know about that, though. Keep it simple – she thought.
"Anyway," Betty continued. "You are still my sister-in-law."
Joanna frowned and said, "Betty, once Ken and I are divorced, I won't be your sister-in-law anymore. You know that, don't you?"
Betty shook her head and said, "I like you, and in my heart, you will always be my sister-in-law. You will always be family."
Joanna smiled and said, "In that case, we can forget about the 'in-law' part. From this day forward, we shall be sisters!" Joanna could tell that Betty was overwhelmed by what she'd said, so she reached her arm out the window and rubbed the younger girl's head.
Betty: "Joanna, you don't like Ken anymore, but you loved him before, didn't you?"
Joanna: "I did, but now things have changed. Let's not talk about it. Okay?"
Betty: "Okay. But what about the man in the pictures? Do you love him?"
Joanna shrugged. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "It's too soon to say. I like him, though. Anyway, why are you asking me about this?"
Betty lowered her head before answering, and Joanna could see that she was embarrassed. "I have never seen you look as happy as you do in those pictures," she admitted. "I'm glad that you've found a man that can make you laugh. I wish that you and Ken could have been happy together, though, like you are with this man. It's hard to believe that it's over between you and my brother… Is there any chance that you might get back together?"
Joanna: "There isn't. You saw the way he looks at me. He hates me."
Betty's eyes welled up with tears, but she didn't cry. "I understand," she said. "And as long as you're happy, I'm happy for you."
Joanna smiled and said, "I appreciate that. Anyway, do you have classes this afternoon? If so, I could drive you to school." Betty was a freshman in the most prestigious university in the city, and she did well in school.
Betty laughed happily, and she said, "I have classes, and I would gratefully accept the ride, sister!" It had been five years since Ken last drove his sister to school. After the deaths of their grandparents and mother, whenever she asked him for a ride, he always said, "I am too busy." Thus, when Joanna offered to give her a ride, she got very excited.
Betty understood that Ken was always busy. After all, he was carrying the weight of the entire family on his shoulders. Unfortunately, that knowledge did not help her feel any less lonely.
When they arrived at Betty's school, Joanna hugged her, told her to have a good day, and then headed to work.
- Writer
