Chapter 18
Third Person
After the harrowing experience of listening to Sadie’s murder-for-hire plot against her, Annika herself could not contain the maniacal laugh that burst out of her mouth, exacerbating the tense atmosphere in Hunter’s office. Her cheeks were now saturated with hot tears overflowing with profound, unadulterated hatred towards the woman who was making her life utterly miserable. Not only did Sadie Galloway steal her husband and crush her long-lived dream of starting a family with Jeffrey by already conceiving his child, but she also wanted to twist the knife by taking away Annika’s right to breathe.
“Murder … That pathetic excuse for a human being, that treacherous whore has the audacity to try to murder me!? Me, Annika Silverton!? Does this bitch have any fucking idea just WHO THE FUCK I AM!?” Annika was now breathing fire while screaming at the top of her lungs. Droplets of sweat trickled down Hunter’s and Leon’s backs in unison as they remained rooted to their spots, for they had never seen Annika so distraught. At a loss for words, the two men entered a temporary vow of silence while she continued her full-on rampage in Hunter’s office.
After what felt like a lifetime of screaming and cursing, Annika regained enough of her composure to sit down on the couch in Hunter’s office; however, what came next was not a sigh of relief but one of resignation and pure heartache. Annika had fully grasped just how serious the situation had become, and it did nothing more than break her heart, knowing the person she thought was the love of her life would betray her with someone so psychotic they wanted her dead because she was in their way. There was no doubt in Annika’s mind that Sadie Galloway was non-compos mentis and belonged in a psychiatric hospital.
“Annika, things have taken a quantum leap in the wrong direction, so we must speed up our timeline with everything,” Hunter cautiously spoke to her, attempting to change gears. All the while, Annika continued her deep breaths to subdue the storm raging within. “Because Sadie has gone to extremes by putting a target on your back and hiring a hitman, we have no choice but to work faster. We have more than enough evidence to send her and Jeff away for life.”
“Sadie is pregnant with his child, Hunter. Remember? I don’t know any judge in the city that would put a wealthy, pregnant woman in prison,” Annika responded while leaning back and closing her eyes, extracting more tears from them as she did so. In the wake of her denial, anger, and sorrow, her feelings came down to acceptance. She accepted it was over between her and Jeffrey and that she had no choice but to ruin his life the way he had ruined hers—an eye for an eye. The same applied to Sadie unequivocally.
“You’d be surprised, Anni, especially if we took this to my great uncle. Remember, he’s a Supreme Court justice who oversees more than his fair share of criminal cases. Litigation of this nature where he can hear the words straight from the horse's mouth, he won’t be easily swayed just because she’s knocked up. And when I tell him who you are, it will be even harder for him to say no to you,” Hunter reiterated with the utmost confidence.
“No offense, Malloy, but how can you be so sure?” Leon asked him, a sliver of doubt evident in his voice.
“I’m sure because not only is Supreme Court Justice Matthew Malloy my great uncle, Annika’s parents funded his campaign along with mine and Kenzie’s. Uncle Matt knows Annika by name, and the moment I tell him who this case involves, he’ll jump at the chance to make Anni’s parents happy by standing behind her. Plus, he’s an honorable man, so there’s no way he’d let some douchebag and his mistress get away with conspiracy to commit murder and all the other crap they’ve pulled. And the evidence tampering? He’s a judge for the highest court of the land, for fuck's sake. He would never let an offense of that magnitude slide. Especially,” Hunter emphasized before continuing, “when the perp is a D.A. because it’s an insult to American jurisprudence, and he won’t stand for it. That’s how I’m sure, Leon.”
Leon gave Hunter a nod of approval and shifted his attention to Annika, who wore a vacant expression on her face except in her eyes. The earthy, warm brown eyes flecked with gold were replaced with two pools of molten honey and held so much contempt that Leon felt it from where he sat ten feet away. Following a moment of silence, Annika found her resolve and definitively announced, “Do it.”
“You sure?” Hunter asked to confirm. “Once I take this evidence to Matt, it’s all over for Jeff and Sadie.”
“Yes. Do it. See if he will expedite a court order that will prevent Jeff from getting anything from me, and I also need you to draw up the divorce papers under the radar. I want everything in my hand before I confront him because I plan to do it in front of Sadie’s parents.”
“Wait, what?” Leon and Hunter both stared at her in shock.
“Do you even know who her parents are?” Leon’s shock gave way to curiosity as he joined Annika on the couch.
“I do. It clicked one day that she looked oddly familiar in more ways than one, and after seeing what she looked like and hearing her last name, it hit me. I have another patient with the last name Galloway whose wife has similar facial features to Sadie.”
“Okay?” Leon failed to catch Annika’s drift, and she gave him a passive look before her lips curved into a smirk. “Hunter?” Annika gestured to him.
“Jorge was able to obtain pictures of Sadie’s parents since we need to know who they are and such. When I showed the picture to Annika the other day, well …”
“Sadie’s father happens to be one of my primary care patients,” Annika finished Hunter’s sentence.
“What?!” Leon exclaimed. Annika laughed at the small world that was her business. Not only was the deranged homewrecker seeing her best friend for her OB/GYN appointments, but said homewrecker’s father coincidentally came to her for his everyday medical needs.
“Do you think they know who you are?” Leon asked.
“No, because his medical concerns are legit. Sadie may have sought out Kenzie solely based on her name, which was likely why Mr. and Mrs. Galloway came to me. But I don’t think they know I’m Jeff’s wife. And from what we can tell as of today, her parents don’t know who Jeff actually is, nor that he’s married to their primary physician. Imagine how shocked they will be when they find out,” Annika sneered.
“Annika, this could make Mr. Galloway keel over and die. You do realize that, don’t you?” Leon dryly asked, his voice betraying any signs of remorse.
“So? Serves him right for raising a whore of a daughter and enabling her shitty personality.”