One Step Ahead

Family Matters

      "And if you actually took it to court, there's a good chance that the recording could be made public," Ashley observed, a sarcastic smirk curling his lips. "That might not play out so well in the media, and you might just wind up with a few dents in your precious reputation. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

      Anson snapped his head around to stare at the younger man, plainly astonished by the obvious challenge. His voice was cold as he barked, "Are you threatening my wife, young man?"

      "Oh, no, I'm nowhere near stupid enough to threaten somebody in front of a couple of cops," Ashley retorted. "I'm just stating a simple fact. If you're so damn worried about your privacy, it'd be pretty fuckin' stupid to take a chance on your 'dirty laundry', as you called it, being out where anyone could access it."

      Seemingly ignoring the exchange, Beatrice moved forward until she was directly in front of Briar. "This family has been put through enough embarrassment by your cousin, Briar Rose, and I refuse to deal with any more of it from you, so you have two choices. Either you give up this tawdry lifestyle of yours, move back home, and behave like a properly bred young lady, or..."

      "Or what? You might as well spit it out, because it has to be better than option one!"

      Her mouth curling into a malicious smile, Beatrice Malveaux said, "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that, my dear. Because if you don't abide by our wishes, you can consider yourself disinherited. If you're so determined to behave as if you aren't part of this family, then I have no problem with making that a reality."

      Her smugly assured expression changed to one of absolute shock when Briar replied, "Y'know, I think that may be the nicest thing you've ever said to me. I've been supporting myself for almost nine years now, without the slightest bit of help from you, so I don't give a screaming purple fuck about your money. And if being disowned, or whatever you wanna call it, means I don't have to put up with your tight-assed, self-righteous hypocrisy, then the sooner the better, as far as I'm concerned! You proved that you have no clue about what being a family really means when you treated Sylvia the way you did, so as far as I'm concerned I'm better off without you."

      "Oh, for the love of God, Briar, when are you going to grow up and face reality?" Beatrice demanded. "You act as though Sylvia walked on water, when she was nothing more or less than a drug-addled whore, and if you think that you can convince anyone otherwise, you're delusional!"

      Everyone in the room gaped in astonishment at the outburst, including Briar, who seemed unable to find words. Both Ashley and Wiley looked at her in concern, uncertain of how she would react to her grandmother's statement. But after several seconds of stunned silence, she gave Beatrice a slight nod, and said, "Yes, I suppose that's technically accurate, but it wouldn't have been if any one of you had actually cared more about her well-being than your precious reputations! And it could have been a lot worse, y'know. At least she wasn't a selfish, narcissistic bitch like her useless mother! Or a heartless, control-freak bigot... like you."

      Even Anson Malveaux appeared to be startled when his wife's hand shot out and connected with her granddaughter's cheek. Her face was flushed as she leaned forward and hissed, "Don't you dare speak to me like that, you misbegotten little brat! I am your grandmother, and I demand to be treated with the respect I'm entitled to!"

      "What the hell do you think I've been doing?" Briar spat, taking the older woman completely off guard by placing a hand on her shoulder and shoving her backwards, causing her to wobble dangerously on her stiletto-heeled pumps. "That's your whole problem, you expect everything to just be fucking handed to you because you want it, because you're the great and mighty Beatrice Girard Malveaux, and God help anyone who has the nerve to say no! Well, guess what, you're not the center of the goddamn universe, so get over yourself! If you want respect, you have to earn it, and you wouldn't know how to do that if someone handed you a set of printed instructions."