You're The Real Thing

The Disgraced Daugher

The air in the Authors' opulent but tense sitting room was heavy, thick with the scent of dread rather than lilies. An hour ago, the meal had been going well despite everyone’s shaky hands, for they had Williams Jackson in their midst, up until Jackson dropped the bombshell. Being the richest and most ruthless man in the province, his name alone was a pronouncement of fate and his word was law.

Mr. Author had been going through company documents when his wife, Olivia, ran in with a beaming smile to inform him of Jackson's presence. Author had been scared to death when he first learned of the visit. Just a few nights ago, after a heated quarrel with Olivia about Gabrielle’s mother, he had stormed out of the house and gotten drunk at a nearby bar. On his way back, he had crashed his car into Jackson’s. To save his company from being utterly crumbled—made to disappear as if it had never existed—Author had knelt in a heavy downpour and promised his beloved daughter, Annabelle, to Jackson in marriage.

When Olivia first learned of her husband's desperate deal, she had broken down in tears. However, her sobs turned to a strange, fearful relief when she heard whom Annabelle was to marry. Three days later, though it was unusual that Jackson had come in person to fetch the girl, the Authors—scared to their very bones—were silently thrilled that he had graced their mansion, a place that paled in comparison to the Jackson estate.

Author and his wife had been thinking of how to raise a conversation concerning the issue while at the table until Jackson made the shocking pronouncement. "I choose you." The words were a soft yet stark contrast to the cold calculation in Williams Jackson's eyes as he gestured toward Gabrielle. They were the only words he uttered at the table. The pronouncement was not a question, but a final, absolute command.

A collective gasp from the family was the only sound for a moment. All eyes, which had been fixed on the radiant Annabelle, now darted towards Gabrielle. Her face was a mask of stunned disbelief, stark white against the dark, heavy wood of the dining table. Mr. and Mrs. Author were speechless, their carefully constructed plans for Annabelle's future crumbling with a few simple words. The shock was palpable, a tangible thing hanging in the air, thick with unspoken questions and unvoiced fears. The silence felt eternal, each second stretching out like a year as everyone grappled with the reality that Williams Jackson, a man who commanded a world of power and wealth, had chosen the family's disgraced daughter.

Annabelle was in a corner wailing silently for fear of Jackson overhearing her. Olivia, filled with so much rage and anger, could do nothing but soothe her daughter quietly. She had been silently beaming with the thought of being Williams Jackson’s mother-in-law.