First to the Altar Wins (Wattpad Reading List choice)

24. Kendall: Under Pressure

"Kendall Moore. You and your parents have been summoned to the Harper house. At once."

Kendall stared at the lanky, peg-nosed servant standing on her step, as did her mother and brother. She raised a brow. "Me? Are you sure?"

"I am certain, Miss."

"What's this about?" her mother asked suspiciously. "If this has anything to do with finances, I think we can wait for my husband to come home. He's still at the shop."

"I'm afraid Mr. Harper insists that you come to the house right away. We can pick your husband up on the way."

"I don't like this one bit," Brandon stated.

"I suppose we'd better go see what this is all about," their mother sighed. "It's ... probably nothing." She fetched hats for herself and her daughter, but when Brandon reached for his coat, the servant raised a finger.

"Your presence is not required, Mr. Brandon."

"What?"

"Mr. Harper made it very clear that he does not want you at the house."

"Are you serious? Whatever this is concerns the family, doesn't it? Then it concerns me too."

He shrugged. "I am only carrying out orders, I do not question them."

"So you have no mind of your own, is that it?"

"Alright, alright," their mother piped up, reining her son in. "We'll be fine, Brandon."

Brandon did not look convinced, but he did not want to argue with his mother so he kept quiet. Kendall sent her brother a worried look before making her way outside with her mother.

The Harper carriage was waiting, dark and ominous like it was waiting to take them into the underworld. Mother and daughter clambered in, sitting stiffly despite the comfortable interior. The carriage started moving, and they saw Brandon looking on helplessly. This can't be good, Kendall thought. Her guess was that Mr. Harper had found out about the bet and was going to tell her parents all about it. She knew she couldn't have trusted Lilith when she'd said the bet was off. Perhaps Lilith had told her father about it, or perhaps he had found out some other way. It didn't matter. However he had learned of it, she was in trouble now.

A short while later, they stopped at their father's shop and after some puzzlement and whinging, he closed things up and got in with them. "Do either of you have any idea what this is about?" he asked.

Her mother shrugged, while Kendall pretended to stare down at her hands.

"Who does he think he is summoning us like we were his servants? Sometimes, I think the man is not in his right mind."

That didn't stop you from borrowing his money. Kendall pressed her back against the velvet seat, watching with dread as the Coser scenery floated by like a never-ending painting. She felt like she was experiencing the calm before a storm, the wait before an execution.

Before she knew it, the carriage came to a stop outside the Harper fortress. For someone who hates the Harpers, I've come to this house far too often lately. The trio got out, following the servant up and inside to the parlor. "Have a seat," he said, and her parents did so, but Kendall was far too nervous.

"The Harpers will be down shortly," the servant said, before pivoting and trotting out.

"The Harpers?" Kendall's mother repeated in surprise. "Did he mean that Black woman? Why is she involved?"

"The woman's his wife now," Kendall's father reminded her.

"Still, the debt has nothing to do with her."