Page 106 of Claimed By my Father's Enemies
Carter gives me half a smile that doesn't reach his eyes.
William looks around the garden like he's seeing it for the first time. Like he forgot why he's here.
And I think it’s enough. We need to talk about what is actually going on. I'm about to ask, when William goes still and his eyes move past my shoulder.
"What the fuck is she doing here?" He suddenly looks pale and his eyes are alert.
I turn around and see Paula, dragging a man by the hand through the crowd, making her way towards us.
When I turn back around, I see William looking furiously at Carter.
“Who the fuck invited her?” He demands.
Carter doesn’t match William's level of fury, but it’s close. “I didn’t vet every single person that it’s here. There are hundreds of people here. The PR company must have done it.”
"Wait." I look between them. "How do you know Paula?"
And more importantly why are they pissed that she is here?
I know Adrian knows her. He was her lawyer.
When I look at Adrian he looks nervous, with his eyes fixed on Paula. He then looks at me and starts “Sienna, that’s something that we need to tell you— there is something that you need to know—”
"Great party!" Paula is here. She lifts her flute mockingly. "Congratulations!"
The men remain silent.
Then she fake gasps in surprise, brings a hand to her chest and says “Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce my date for this evening. Everybody meet Judge Richard Holloway.”
I recognize that name.
I take a better look at the man and I see it now. Almost a decade has gone by. He looks much older now. But it’s him.
It’s the judge that determined that I would be committed. The one that looked at me, a 16 year old girl, with contempt and arrogance.
"Oh, but I forgot." Paula is watching my face while she says it. "You already know him. You know him very well."
I look between the men and the judge. They all seem very uncomfortable. Including the judge. I don’t think he knows what his part is in whatever game Paula is playing.
Paula's attention moves to Adrian. “I thought it was shady that you made such pressure to represent me only to bail out next.”
Then she looks at William “And you wanted me to persuade her” and she points a finger at me, “To sell the house. And when I found out that you three know each other” and she circles with her finger the three of them “I started to do some digging. And what did I find out? You have all been scheming together for a long time now.”
And she just nods her head like she is agreeing with her “You have been plotting something since you pressured Richard to give a harsher sentence to Sienna” and she looks at me when she says that.
"When I found out that you were all screwing her—" Paula pauses. She looks at me with something performing sympathy. "I know Sienna. There is no way she would get involved with youif she knew the truth. I don't know what the end goal is. But I know it's not a good one."
I can’t believe what she’s saying. I feel like my breathing completely stopped and I can’t make sense of anything that is happening right now.
I look at the men and plead, "She's lying."
I look at William. He's looking at me. His jaw is set. He doesn't speak.
I look at Carter. His eyes are on mine and his face is impassive, like he is waiting for the inevitable.
I look at Adrian. His eyes are wet.
None of them are denying it.
