Athena Tyler is an Italian-American musician who rose to fame as the lead singer of a girl band with her sisters, called 'Sorelle'. She has amassed millions of dollars and now lives alone in a luxurious mansion. Although she no longer sings, she has...
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The restaurant was bustling with chatter and clinking of glasses as the extended family settled into their seats. Athena caught Michael's eye and smiled, feeling a surge of happiness at being surrounded by her loved ones.
Meanwhile, on the end of the table, Carol Ann Parker, who was Marlon's wife, was faking smiles and hiding her left hand, continuously looking at her husband in guilt—after seeing everyone laughing and mingling, she decided to disappear under the table for some time to think.
Alejandra Genevieve Oaziaza, who was Jermaine's wife, raised an eyebrow in surprise as she watched her friend disappear under the white tablecloth.
She excused herself quietly and followed Carol Ann as she slipped under the table. The dimly lit space under the table felt isolated and strange, but Alejandra's concern for her friend pushed away any discomfort. "Carol Ann, what's going on?" Alejandra whispered, crouching down to meet her eye.
Tears glistened in Carol Ann's eyes as she finally let out a shaky breath, "I....I can't tell you. It's too embarrassing."
Alejandra furrowed her eyebrows and then realized she needed reinforcements—she sent a quick message to Anna, Maryanne, and Eliza, who were three out of five of the other Jackson wives.
Anna, Maryanne, and Eliza received the urgent message from Alejandra and quickly excused themselves from the table one by one, heading towards the washroom to regroup. They formed a tight circle, their expressions a mix of curiosity and concern.
"What's going on? Why did Alejandra message us like this?" Eliza asked, breaking the tense silence.
"We have to go back out there and figure out what's going on," Anna said firmly, her voice filled with determination.
Together, they made their way back to the table, where the Jackson family was still engrossed in conversation and Carol and Alejandra were still hiding under the tablecloth.
As the three wives approached the table, they tried to act casual and nonchalant, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. However, their minds were racing with questions about what could be going on underneath the table as they slowly and subtly slipped underneath it.
Anna leaned in closer to Alejandra and whispered, "What's happening? Why is Carol hiding under the table?"
Alejandra glanced at the other wives who had joined them and then back at Carol Ann, who was still visibly upset. "I think it has something to do with Marlon," she murmured, trying to piece together the situation.
Maryanne furrowed her brow, her thoughts running wild. "Do you think there's trouble in their marriage?"
"There's no trouble in our marriage," Carol said as tears streamed down her face, "It's just....I can't!"
"Can't what?" Alejandra asked, "Ladies, I've been trying for like twenty minutes to get her to tell me what's wrong and she won't spill."
"Okay," Crystal nodded, "We need more reinforcements. Who are we thinking?"
"I don't know....do we get Janet, Rebbie, and LaToya involved in this? They're Marlon's sisters." Anna added, "Or Athena? She's Michael's fiancé."
"We need to get all the Jackson women together under this table," Alejandra said.
Maryanne quickly nodded in agreement and started crawling under the table, trying to find the women's shoes. Eliza and Alejandra exchanged looks before joining Maryanne in searching for the specific women's shoes.
"Do we even know what shoes they were wearing?" Eliza asked in confusion.
"Well, they're all rich as hell, so the shoes must be something designer!" Anna said as she subtly as possible looked at people's feet.
"But you know how Athena is," Alejandra added, "She's probably wearing combats!"
"No, she was wearing heels!" Eliza suddenly remembered.
"Heeled combat boots?" Alejandra suggested with raised eyebrows.
After ten minutes of searching for the Jackson women's distinctive shoes, Alejandra let out a defeated sigh, "All I see are men's shoes!"
"Ladies!" Anna suddenly spoke up as she continued to crawl around under the table, "Maybe they took them off! Maybe we should be looking for bare feet or socks?!"
As the wives searched under the table for bare feet or socks, Anna let out a triumphant gasp. "I found them!" she whispered excitedly. The rest of the wives huddled around her, peering at the row of bare feet and socks protruding from beneath the white tablecloth.
"We need to act fast," Maryanne urged, her voice urgent. "Let's hold hands and slowly inch our way towards the women."
The wives nodded in silent agreement and formed a chain, clasping hands as they carefully maneuvered under the table towards the hidden group. The dim light cast a mysterious glow on their determined faces as they approached their fellow Jackson women.
Alejandra and Anna slowly poked their heads out from under the tablecloth, finding Athena, Rebbie, LaToya, and Janet all fully immersed in conversation with the Jackson family.
Anna decided to risk it and fully grab onto Rebbie and Janet's feet while Alejandra grabbed onto Athena and LaToya's, causing all four women to jump and gasp simultaneously at the sudden contact. Janet, Athena, LaToya, and Rebbie all looked at each other before looking down at Alejandra and Anna who were still tightly gripping their ankles.
"What are you doing?" Janet exclaimed, her eyes wide with shock as she tried to pull her foot away.
"We need to assemble a task force!" Anna and Alejandra whisper-yelled in unison.
"What kind of task force are we talking about here?" Athena asked as she tried to pull her foot away from Alejandra's grip.
Anna and Alejandra glanced at each other, their eyes filled with determination. "We need to investigate what's going on with Carol Ann and Marlon," Anna stated firmly.
Athena's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why under the table though?"
"There's something fishy happening, and we think you ladies might have some insight," Alejandra explained, tightening her grip on Athena's ankle, "So as creepy as it sounds, we need all of you under this table with us!"
The Jackson women exchanged wary glances before slowly crouching down and joining Alejandra, Anna, and the others under the table. The space felt cramped with all eight of them huddled together, their faces illuminated by the soft glow of their phones as they tried to make sense of the situation.
Carol Ann, still teary-eyed, finally mustered the courage to speak up. "It's too embarrassing, girls. I can't say!"
Athena, aware that sometimes tough love was needed, sighed, "I'm getting Marlon." she said, "You know what? I'm getting all the brothers! Clearly, all of you got some doggone secrets you need to confess!"
"Wait, Hena, don't—" Alejandra tried, only to be cut off when she was completely ignored.
