Three Men Want Me

Chapter 5

It was arranged like the birthday she always wished to have. In the past, she had watched her father and step mother celebrate Mandy’s birthday with cakes having steps to herald her age. It was always a large party with Mandy putting on new dresses and all her friends attending. But whenever it was Kate’s birthday, her father was always away or suddenly broke.

She was used to the excuses so she dreamt of what her 21st birthday would look like.

Kate had imagined she would not be in New York anymore and she would celebrate at a later date. She had thought f a cake so large with twenty-one steps.

The cake sitting presently before her wasn’t twenty-one steps. It was one layered and beautifully decorated. But Kate was in too much of a dilemma to notice the beauty of the cake or appreciate the decoration in the room.

The Anderson sisters had sent everyone in the mansion running around to fix this party. They had no idea that it was Kate’s birthday so they called it a welcome party. The banner that faced Kate menacingly explained how delighted they were to have her with them.

WELCOME HOME, b***h!

Olivia and Margareth were flashing their phones all over the room, living with their friends as they invited them over.

“You’ve got to come,” Margareth was saying. “Father got a new wife and we’re welcoming her properly.”

The proper welcome Kate was having was being straddled to a chair and forced to face a large one layered cake.

Olivia walked beside her, chortling. “Mom loves to eat cake so we made her a big one.”

In a split second, her hand grabbed Kate’s hair and she dug her face into the cake. Laughter erupted from the room and the phones.

“You should have told me you were about to do that so I could make a video,” Magrageth whined as she began to record. “Eat s**t!”

Kate struggled to breath while Olivia’s hand held her down steadily. “You want to eat like the rich, don’t you? You want to have servants and maids at your beck and call? You want to be my mother?!”

She pulled her by her hair and Kate gasped for breath. But it was all a show to them.

“You’re gonna leave this house,” she continued. “You have no place here.”

Kate pursed her lips. How could she defend herself when she knew how they felt? She had felt the exact rage when Becky moved in with Mandy and when she had to be her sister and take everything from her.

“I don’t want to be here,” she explained again.

But it only added fuel to the fire in Olivia’s heart. She pushed her head against the table. It didn’t miss.The edge connected with her forehead and she cried in pain.

“You think I want you to be here?”

Margareth was smiling and taking videos.

“You don't belong here…and you never will.”

Kate was still enduring the pain from the hit when the door pushed open. More ladies filled the room.

“Are we late?”

“No. Just in time.”

Sandy, who was Olivia’s best friend, had a bottle of champagne with her. “Let’s pop some wine!” She screamed.

Rich, bubbly wine soaked Kate’s hair as the ladies laughed.

“She looks so perfect.”

“Just like the pauper and dirty pig that she is.”

“How old is she anyway? Wanting to be your mum? I can’t believe you have a mum who is the same age as Maggie.”

Kate bowed her head in shame, fighting her lips so hard that she tasted blood. She couldn't afford to cry in front of them. Not when their camera was flashing in their faces and her tears would only excite them.

Just tonight and that was it. She would find a way to sneak into the room of the boy who had brought her here. Hopefully, she wouldn't get to meet the man she had been married to. Once she had taken her mum’s files, she would run away. Something in her guts told her that file was all she needed to know the truth.

“Oh, she’s bleeding,” she heard Olivia say in mock pity. I must have hit her so badly.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. “Mahogany is so strong. Wouldn't dad reprimand me for making my mum bleed? What can I do?”

“I have the right solution,” Sandy said excitedly. She returned with a jar of salt. “The perfect antidote to a bleeding nose.”

Olivia grabbed the jar. “Let me do the honours. She's my mother after all.”

Kate stared in horror at the sight of the jar as Olivia was smiling.

“Please…please, don’t do it,” she begged.

“This is going to sting…just a bit.”

Kate struggled to escape. The girls were hovering over her with their phones, urging Olivia to go on. Tears stung her eyes. Her head was swung backwards until her neck rested on the top of the chair. Olivia’s hand descended like a storm.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Olivia’s head bobbed up, the salt still in her hand. Kate didn’t know if she was to feel relief yet. Oliver had tossed her in the boot of his car.

“Please…” she begged.

Oliver walked towards the scene. The girl holding her head to the chair released her and a teary faced Kate faced Oliver. She didn’t get the reaction she expected. Not a laughter. Not even a frown.

“Can’t you see she’s bleeding?” He said his face expressionless. “Let her wash the blood off.”

And he was gone.

Magareth dragged the chair and tossed her off it like a sac of dirt. She landed on the floor.

“Wash yourself up. The party isn’t over.”

The girls, now bored, moved away, and began chatting about something else.

This was her time. The girls were busy and Oliver had gone out. She could sneak into his bedroom and take the files if she could find it before they notice she was gone for too long. She lifted her body from the floor. Every muscle ached, and sadly, she acted for her father’s house.

At least, she had her own room.

She took the stairs, glancing around for the room she thought would belong to the boy. When she saw the half closed room, she knew it was his. From the corridor, she could see a large frame of him, his green eyes staring at her, daring her to step in.

She did and shut the door behind her.

The file was right there, on a desk in the room. She raced towards it. She had been right. It was her mother’s file. Sarah Pearce.

What was it doing in this house and what exactly was in the file?

As she turned the cover over, she heard sound of footsteps approaching the room stopped her.

“Come on, Oliver. Not in the corridor.” She heard a lady’s voice say.

“I can have you anywhere, Anita.”

Kate flipped the file cloe and stared at the room. There was nowhere to run to and she would be damned if Oliver found her in her room.

As the steps approached the door, her eyes caught the space under his bed and she ducked under hoping she had not made a big mistake.