011 She called them
1661 Words
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The heavy bang from the front door broke the silence in the room.
Diane's mouth snapped shut. She'd been practically dripping saliva like some rabid animal. Ryan looked like someone just drove a knife through his gut.
The banging didn't stop.
Ever since the security and maids abandoned the Williams family, people had been walking in whenever they damn well pleased. No one at the gate anymore to stop them anymore.
"Enter!" Diane's voice cut through the noise.
Emma frowned. "Enter? You don't even know who—"
The door burst open before she could finish.
Prosecutors flooded in.
Ryan tried to run, his body jerked toward the back exit. But his feet slipped on the polished floor and he went down hard. A hand clamped around his left ankle, and yanked him back down.
He twisted to see who had him.
Diane.
She was gripping his leg like her life depended on it.
His teeth ground together. *She called them. That b***h actually called them.*
"Let me go!" He thrashed, kicked, tried to shake her off with his free leg.
"Better if you cooperate, you worthless piece of shit." She didn't let go even when he pounded her hand.
A policeman closed in, one of the men who'd come in with the prosecutors
"No... no! I didn't do anything, you can't—you can't handcuff me, it's against the law!" Ryan's voice climbed higher, desperate.
"It'll be better if you stay quiet." The cop's voice was flat as he clicked the cuffs on.
"You should keep your promise," Diane said, rubbing her bruised hand where Ryan had hit her.
*Promise?*
Emma stared at her mother. *She was behind this? Again.*
"You witch!" Ryan screamed as they dragged him toward the door. "How dare you set me up! I'm not going down alone—you hear me? I'll bring you down with me, I swear to God!"
They hauled him out. His shouting echoed through the empty mansion until the front door slammed.
Emma went straight for her mother. "What did you do?"
"What needed to be done." Diane's voice was so casual, like she'd just ordered groceries. "I'm not fragile like you." She started walking away, then stopped without looking back. "Get your ass together. Your uncles and aunts are already poisoning grandma against us."
"You still haven't told me what you did!" Emma's voice was getting louder. "What do you gain from him being arrested?"
Diane spun around, anger flashing across her face. "Don't you dare question me anymore. I just bought us another month in this house, you spoiled idiot." She moved closer, got right up in Emma's space. "That's how you play the game. I'll never crumble because of Alex."
Emma swallowed hard.
She'd always known her mother was vicious. But this? She'd never thought Diane could be this brutal.
"Keep that pregnancy intact." Diane's eyes narrowed into slits. "Who's the father?"
Emma looked away.
"You won't tell me?" Something like a smile pulled at Diane's mouth, but it wasn't warm. "Fine. I hope it's who I think it is. He'll come back here begging for his child."
"What are you planning?"
"None of your damn business." Diane's voice went sharp. "If you're lying about the father, keep lying. Do not—never—ruin my plan."
She disappeared into the house.
Emma grabbed the railing. Her forehead broke into cold sweat. She was running a fever, she could feel it. But who cared? Not when everything was about to crash down around them.
---
At the Kane estate, Xavier pulled into the parking lot.
Alex got out without a word. He Just walked straight into the house, up to his room and shut the door.
Twenty minutes later, he came out of the bathroom. He sat on the edge of his bed staring at absolutely nothing.
A knock.
The door opened, Xavier poked his head in.
Alex looked up.
"Someone's here. For you."
"Who?"
Xavier hesitated. Like he was trying to figure out how to say it. "Lauren. Emma's sister." He paused. "She's not allowed past the gate yet."
Alex's shoulders went rigid. "Send her back. I don't... I don't know how to face her."
Xavier nodded, but his expression said *you're definitely gonna regret this later.*
"Wait." Alex stopped him before he reached the door.
Maybe seeing her wasn't the worst idea. Lauren was the only one who stood by him back then. In her own small way, in that tiny corner of the house where she existed, she'd cared.
Diane had slapped her once because of him.
The memory cracked open something in his chest he thought had closed up for good.
---
*Diane's voice had echoed upstairs. "My earrings are missing!"*
*Alex had been in the living room, washing and massaging Grandma's swollen feet.*
*Diane stormed down the stairs. "I said my damn jewelry is nowhere to be found!"*
*"Look somewhere else, Diane." Grandma's eyes were closed, head resting against the armchair. "I'm sure no one went in your room."*
*"No one but him." Diane's eyes locked on Alex. "You cleaned my room yesterday, didn't you?"*
*He looked up.*
*"Get back to my feet!"*
*He bent back down.*
*"Mom, he only cleaned your room." Lauren sat next to Emma—who watched the whole thing with her arms crossed and a bored look on her face. "Stop looking at him like that."*
*"Don't interrupt!" Diane's voice could've peeled paint. Lauren went quiet. "Where are my earrings, thief? They're worth two hundred dollars. If you don't bring them out I'll call the cops on you right now."*
*"I... I didn't take any earrings." His voice shook.*
*It had ended with Diane chasing him out to the garage. Later that night when Lauren tried to sneak him a blanket, Diane caught her.*
*The slap echoed.*
---
Alex blinked back the tear that stung his eyelid.
"Let her in." His voice came out rough. "I'll see her."
Xavier smiled, and he left.
A few minutes later Lauren was escorted into the mansion.
Her mouth dropped open.
One part of her brain screamed that she shouldn't be standing here looking at the interior of the place— but hell, it looked so fine. Too beautiful, too unique. The sparkling Floors, the ceilings that went up forever. The chandelier thst probably cost more than her apartment.
She took careful steps like the floor might break under her feet.
"Lauren."
She looked up.
Alex stood there at the bottom of the staircase, hands in his pockets. He looked different now. Like someone had taken the soft edges off him and left him only with the hard parts.
"Alex."
She dropped to her knees. "Please, Alex. If you would just—"
It was too much to ask, she knew that. Too cruel to even think she had the right. But she had to beg for mercy, for him to let her family go.
Alex stared at the woman kneeling in front of him. His chest tightened.
How could he let them off? Could he ever forgive them? Not after they left him with scars that wouldn't fade. He couldn't. It hurt so much... being treated like something less than trash. And now that they were finally facing consequences they couldn't even handle it?
"I know it's too much." Lauren's whole body was shaking. "I know you can't forgive what my family did to you. But please... save Emma." Her voice dropped, tears ran down her face. "She's pregnant, Alex. And she... She knows she messed up. She's realized her mistakes." She looked up at him with red, swollen eyes. "I know I sound like a hypocrite. I know I should've done more back then, should've stood up for you more than I did." Her voice broke. "But please don't let her lose everything. Please."
Her figure looked thinner than it had just days ago. Like she hadn't been eating or sleeping.
Xavier came down the stairs, stood beside Alex without a word.
The air felt thick. Heavy with Lauren's pleading.
"She treated me like dirt." Alex muttered. "Your mother chased me out into the cold in the middle of winter. Emma laughed while I scrubbed floors on my hands and knees." He took a step closer and Lauren flinched. "Your grandmother was the only one who showed me a bit of kindness. Where was Emma when Diane screamed at me? When she accused me of stealing?"
"I know—"
"Do you?" His voice rose just a little. "Do you actually know what it's like? Being told every single day that you're worthless, that you're nothing? Having the woman you love look at you like you're an insect she wants to crush under her shoe?"
Lauren's shoulders shook. She was full-on sobbing now.
"I loved her." The words came out broken. "I would've done anything for her. And she..." He stopped, eyebrows drawn into a tight line. "She was f*****g someone else in our bed."
Silence.
"I'm sorry." Lauren could barely get the words out. "I'm so sorry, Alex. For everything. For not protecting you, for being a coward." She looked up at him through her tears. "But Emma's not all bad, she's not. She's just... she was raised by Diane. That's all she knows, that's how she learned to survive in that house." Her hands twisted together. "And the baby didn't do anything wrong. The baby's innocent."
Alex closed his eyes.
---
Upstairs, Alex's bedroom door stood open, he'd left it that way when Lauren arrived.
A maid slipped inside quietly, pretending to be carrying cleaning supplies. She went straight to his nightstand, pulled out a folded piece of paper from under her uniform, and set it down where he'd definitely see it.
Then she grabbed her stuff and left.
She passed through the living room where Alex was still standing over Lauren's kneeling form.
She slipped out of the mansion, and vanished into the estate.
- Writer
