Anita stood before her family with her head bowed shafully as her mother hurled deaning words at her.
"You had just one assignnt! One little assignnt! But what did you do? You ruined it! I can't believe you gave them a platform to announce their relationship to the world! Did you see the comnts? You gave them fans and supporters! You are just as incompetent as your useless father!" Mrs. Miller yelled at her.
"To think that you received help from us all. Your uncle helped you to keep your job at the airline just so that you could get close to the man. Your sister gave you useful information about his relationship. And I even paid a private investigator to look into him. And what did you do? You made a ss of all our efforts. Your level of idiocy sickens !"
"Mother..."
"Don't! No one should try to side with her on this! Did you all watch the show? Have you even seen the photos and clips from the dinner?" She asked as she walked over to pick up her phone from the couch and flashed the screen at her other three daughters, while Anita remained where she stood.
"Our family should have been the one there, not that girl's family!"
"Mom, I'm not trying to take her side. I'm just saying yelling won't do any good right now. Instead, we should think of another way forward," Anita's eldest sister, the one who had given them the information from the beauty salon suggested.
"I agree with Bernice that yelling won't do any good. And by the way, Anita, I know that you were desperate, but how could you do sothing like that to a fellow woman? You went too far by exposing such a painful experience," her imdiate elder sister who was pregnant chided as she patted her protruding abdon.
"Too far? I don't think she did. Not all of us had it easy like you having soone wealthy fall in love with us at first sight. So of us had to work for it. Besides, that is not the point right now, is it?" The second oldest countered.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I failed you all," Anita said apologetically, not knowing how to react to all their disappointnts. She was even more disappointed in herself, and she was feeling very so sorry for herself that her eyes stung with tears. She had cried all night as she followed the dinner posts on Alicia's page, and when she couldn't take it anymore she had smashed her phone against the wall.
The pregnant sister sighed as she stood up and went to embrace Anita, "Don't beat yourself too much over this. And if you ask , I think you should forget him. Now that he has announced his relationship..."
"Forget him? How can you say that? He only just announced his relationship, not marriage. And even if he was married, she can still get him if she sets her mind to it. Besides, are you forgetting that the man you got married to was engaged to soone else when you t him?" their oldest sister said.
The pregnant one took in a deep breath, "Yeah, I know my husband was engaged, but that was arranged by his parents not because he was in love with her. That Lucy girl deserves to be happy after all she has passed..."
"Lisa, if you won't say sothing reasonable, you can either keep your mouth shut or you get out of this house this minute!" Their mother snapped, turning to glare at her pregnant daughter who quickly pressed her lips together and raised her hands in surrender.
"Fine. I'll keep my lips sealed," she said as she returned to her seat.
"So tell us, what do you think went wrong with your plans?" The second oldest asked.
"I don't know. I don't think he will want to have anything to do with ," Anita finally confessed.
"And what makes you think so?" Her oldest sister asked as they all watched her.
"Don't tell he knows that you are behind the scandal?" Their mother asked, her lips curled in disapproval.
Anita swallowed as she looked up at her sisters with tears in her eyes, "He ca to first as a broke guy, but we ended things before I knew his true identity. I think I lost my chance with him," Anita explained, and they all looked at her in surprise.
"Oh, dear! You an he ca to you as a broke guy and you rejected him because he was poor not knowing that he was Thomas Hank?" The pregnant sister asked trying to put things in perspective.
"Yes," Anita said with a nod as she explained their relationship to her family, only leaving out how she had tried to matchmake both Tom and Lucy since she didn't want to look more stupid than she already was.
"That just ans he was originally your man to begin with. What other proof do you need to be sure that you are supposed to be the one standing next to him, and not her? You have to take back what is rightfully yours," their mother stated matter of factly.
"Did you hear a word of what she just said? She rejected the man! You don't expect him to accept her now and dump the woman who loved him even when she thought he was broke, do you?" The pregnant one asked incredulously, looking at her sisters to be sure they agreed with her.
"This is more complicated than we thought. Why didn't you ntion this before now?" The eldest sister asked with a slight frown.
"Lisa is right. It will be difficult now. Especially with that girl in the picture. He isn't going to look at you twice," the second eldest said with a sigh.
"Then we take her out of the picture. As long as she isn't there, he might reconsider Anita," their mother said matter of factly.
"Good Lord!" The pregnant one scread in disbelief, "What do you an by that?" She asked their mother before turning to Anita.
"Anita, please do not listen to her. Just give this up, okay? Don't worry, your own man will co, and you won't even have to resort to such ans to get him," she assured Anita, and then turned to her sisters, "Aren't you both going to say sothing?" She asked when they just remained quiet.
"It is Anita's decision to make, not ours," the oldest said, and they all turned to Anita.
"If you tell you want him back, I will get her out of the picture for you. Just say the word, darling," their mother said as she approached Anita.
"Tell now, are you willing to lose to soone like that? Soone that classless? Soone beneath you? You are not a loser nor a quitter, my darling. I raised you better than that, didn't I?" She asked, going to stand in front of Anita and using both hands to cup her cheeks while looking directly into her eyes
"None of this makes sense. I can't believe what I'm hearing. I won't be a party to this. I'm out of here," the pregnant one said as she picked up her handbag and left since she knew that there was no way Anita was going to go against their mother. Not when she was being asked such a question in such a manner.
Neither of them stopped her nor called her back as she left. She had always been the odd one in the family, and they had all been surprised when she actually brought ho a distinguished suitor.
"Ignore your weak sister. If Thomas was interested in you once, then he can be interested in you again as long as there are no distractions. All we have to do is get rid of her, and then show him how suitable you are for him," their mother said, and Anita gave her a nod.
"I want him."
"And you will have him," her mother promised solemnly as she turned to look at her other two daughters, "You will both help your sister all the step along the way," she said before going to sit down, and Anita did the sa.
"By the way, did any of you hear from your uncle? I haven't been able to reach him since yesterday afternoon," their mother asked, and the others shook their head.
"He called yesterday, and he sounded okay," Anita said, rembering the call she had received from her uncle.
"I hope he is okay," her mother said as she relaxed on the couch and started brainstorming on how to go about their goal.
Knowing that she had the support of her mother and her older sisters now more than before, Anita's confidence was restored, and she felt at ease once again. As long as Tom and Lucy didn't know that she was behind the scandal, everything was going to be fine. All she needed to do now was relax and let her mother help her get rid of Lucy.
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