Chapter Fourteen

Third person pov. "Liam, can you explain to me what in the world this useless thing is doing in my own home?" Anita hissed through gritted teeth, boiling at the sight of Gabriella. Liam simply ignores her as her question wasn't exactly unexpected and he knew for a fact that she knows exactly why she's here with him and only wanted to throw a temper tantrum that he could care less about. Garrison looks behind him to check who the newest guest of the night was and it took him a few long seconds to finally recognise the lady with Liam. A dark, low cackle escapes his lips as soon as he realised who she was and when Hannah tilts her head out of curiosity, he whispered the name of the guest to her and Hannah could not help but burst out laughing, causing everyone in the room to stare back at her, wondering what she finds so hilarious. "Evil bitches shouldn't be laughing, especially in a place where they're very much unwanted." Cassie muttered audibly enough and Hannah sucked in a deep breath in order to control her anger. She still hated the fact that she had no other choice but to ignore a lot of insults tonight but like her father had told her earlier, it is all for a greater good and knowing just how bad all of this would turn out for them at the end of the night was definitely a scene she was looking forward to. "I suggest you relax, child. Being so aggressive with your words isn't a very ladylike attribute. You should show some respect for the adults on the table." Garrison speaks up for the first time this evening and Cassie and Corey scoff simultaneously. "You had better not be talking to my sister about respecting your sorry ass." Corey hisses, getting sick and tired of the stuffy and suffocating atmosphere in the room. The only reason he hasn't walked out of here yet is because he needed to watch how all of this would fail epically and how his mother would wish she never pushed their buttons. "I presume dinner isn't going very well, mother. It's not exactly surprising I must say." Liam chimes in with a displeased look before pulling Ella with him and taking a seat opposite Garrison and Hannah. "Is this the famous Gabriella?" Cassie asks. "Famous? Really? Should I be taking that as a good or a bad thing?" Gabriella replied with a chuckle, trying as much as she could to mask her discomfort. "Apologies for interrupting you two but I think the correct term of addressing her would be the infamous Gabriella. I mean, you are quite well known for being a murder suspect and last I checked, it's not just a bad thing, it's a terrible thing." Hannah cuts in and Cassie immediately snaps. "You have no fucking audacity to call someone a murder suspect when you are a certified psychopath Hannah so do us all a favour and don't get involved in anything we say tonight, if you do not want to get dragged out by your tacky extensions." She snaps in Ella's defence. "Can everybody just shut up already! We all came here to have a peaceful and enjoyable dinner even though some people are very much not allowed in here with us, so how about we just get on with what brought us here and cut the stupid bickering!" Anita hisses and Liam chuckles knowing very well that his mother's nasty temper was slowly about to surface. It was only a matter of time before she eventually snaps. "I'd very much appreciate that part but adding to that, can you all resist the urge to call me crazy? I know what I did in the past was quite terrible but it's been years already and I'm a different person so I would appreciate it if you stop referring to the past and calling me a psychopath. Now can we have dinner? I'm starving." Hannah chimes in, purposefully trying to trigger a reaction from them. "You dare call me out for an unconfirmed tag when your slate isn't exactly clean either? The audacity you have, girl." Gabriella says with an eye roll and Hannah scoffs. "At least I can blame it on being mentally impaired sweetie. What should we blame yours on? Greed, jealousy or sheer wickedness?" Hannah fires back and Gabriella rolls her eyes. "So you do admit you're crazy? Good to know." Gabriella replies with a dry laugh and Liam gives my palm a small squeeze to stop her from engaging Hannah any further. After minutes of contemplating, Jessie finally decides to go downstairs and meet the supposed guest her mother had been clamouring about for hours. As much as she didn't want to have anything to do with her mother, she knew better than to actually go against her wishes and to avoid any more confrontation, she chose the option of having dinner with her. At least she knew she wouldn't be alone since all of her elder siblings excluding Tyler would be present. She slips on casual shorts, paired with a baggy t-shirt and comfy, fluffy flip flops before hopping down the stairs whilst tying her brunette hair up in a messy bun. She heads towards the exclusive dining hall that's rarely ever used except for special occasions and she knew her mother would definitely be displeased by her choice of outfit but she could honestly care less as she did not have the energy to try to impress anyone. She walks into the dining hall and unfortunately, it seemed as though she had arrived a little too late as the food had already been served and everyone else was already eating. She looks around and tries spotting the guests and the two people that caught her eye were two humans she wasn't expecting to see ever again at least, not in her very own home. "Jess, you're here!" Cassie exclaimed in a surprised tone as she wasn't actually expecting Jessie to come down. The truth is, she knew her sister wouldn't take seeing Hannah very well and the last thing she wanted was for her to get triggered and go off. She had only just recently agreed to see a therapist after herself and Liam had confronted her about her drug use and now their mother was about to send her right back into her depressed state because that's the only thing Hannah has ever brought into their lives. "Jessie, come with me." Corey speaks up immediately, getting up to pull her out of the room but Jessie is quick to stop him. "Hold on a second Corey but is this who I think it is?" Jessie asks. "Baby girl, don't bother asking any questions and let's just get you out of here. It's really not worth it." Corey replies to her, hating the fact that he had to be here to witness this circus show courtesy of his mother. "Why are you all gathered here? What reason exactly do they have to be here and who's the lady sitting beside Liam?" Jessie asks, still keeping her cool and maintaining a cold expression on her face. She wanted to have all of her pending questions answered first before deciding on how she'd react. "Well, the first two questions are unfortunately questions we have yet to have answers to and as for her, that's Liam's girlfriend, Gabriella." Corey replies and Jessie sighs. "Mom organised this, is that correct?" Jessie asks again and this time, Corey knew by her tone that she was about to react in the worst way possible and he had zero intentions of trying to stop her. "Who else would start a circus show over here?" Corey replies with a scoff and almost immediately he replies, Jessie moves towards where Anita was seated, stares at her intensely for a few long seconds before picking up the nearest wine glass on the table and emptying the content on her mother's head. A loud gasp escapes everyone's lips as no one was expecting such to happen that suddenly. Gabriella's eyes grew ten times wider as the last thing she expected was seeing Anita Helton getting bath with a glass of wine by her own daughter. As for Liam, his surprised reaction died almost as quickly as it came as he knew Jessie's reaction would be one that would make his mother wish she didn't push her buttons at all. "Are you insane?" Anita yells furiously, jumping out of her seat and throwing a death glare at her daughter. "I should be the one asking that question but since we've already established the fact that you're insane, I guess you could say it runs in the family." Jessie replies calmly and to everyone's surprise, she turns away from Anita almost immediately and heads towards where Hannah was seated with her father. "Kid, you better not try that stunt you just pulled on me or else you'll be sorry." Hannah immediately warns, getting ready to defend herself from Jessica but to her surprise, Jessie pulls her in for a hug instead. "Long time no see Hannah." Jessie mutters in a low tone, confusing everyone in the room including Anita. "What's happening?" Hannah asks, feeling very uncomfortable with Jessie's sudden reaction. Garrison stares at Jessie for a bit, trying to understand her reaction and he definitely didn't like that she was being so difficult to read but he couldn't deny the fact that watching Anita's embarrassing moment was a very pleasant sight. "You know what? I think it's high time I announce why we're here and get this over with." He says, grabbing everyone's attention and Anita could not mask her nervousness. She could only hope he doesn't end up making the night much more worse for her. "I had proposed a deal to your mother and I requested that she convinces Liam to marry my daughter Hannah in exchange for my shares which I plan on selling to another fashion company if this upcoming collection does not save us from the ditch that we are currently finding ourselves in due to many bad decisions and terrible publicity, courtesy of miss Johansson over here." He's saying and Gabriella's stomach drops as soon as she hears her name. "Unfortunately, it seems as though Liam has chosen to be with her and since my daughter has no chance, I'd love to announce that if the upcoming summer collection does not prove to be fruitful for the company, Annie's Touch will have to deal with being partners with another company and unfortunately, you will no longer have full authority over the company." He adds and Liam could not believe the ridiculousness of his trashy announcement. "Really Garrison? You think that would be enough reason for me to actually marry your crazy daughter? How about you do this instead? Sell your shares of the company to me before the fashion show instead of waiting until after. I mean, you wouldn't want everyone to tag you as a shameless and indecisive businessman, would you?" Liam replies and Garrison chuckles. "Liam son, there is no need to try so hard to insult me. If the collection turns out as a success, I'll sell my shares to you but if it doesn't, I'll sell it to the fashion company that's offering to buy it. Put in mind that, your relationship with this woman is a very big hindrance to the success of this collection. If she turns out to be guilty, it will be a huge blow to AT and you will be accused of aiding and supporting a murderer. I can only hope you don't end up burying your family's name." Garrison replies and Liam fumes. "Mr, I can assure you that won't be happening cause I am no murderer. You should be more worried about leaving such a great company because you don't have the guts to support and stand by a company that you apparently helped build. If I were you sir, I would be too embarrassed to show my face in public and I sincerely hope that you do not regret your decision in the nearest future." Gabriella chimes in, not willing to let him get away with insulting her. Liam smiled proudly at Ella, earning a scowl from both Garrison, Hannah and Anita. "You know what, I've had enough of all this! Garrison, I apologise for this disaster but I think it's best you leave and you should also be leaving too Liam cause that woman is not welcomed in here and as for you Jessica, you'll regret the stunt you pulled today. That I promise you." Anita threatens and Jessica scoffs before turning her attention back to Hannah. "We were just about to leave dear Annie. Thank you for the lovely dinner, it was quite the scene." Garrison drawls with a sly before getting up to leave. He had only one reason for coming here and that was to see with his very own eyes how much of a mess the Helton family was in. He pleased him that his dear old friend's family was slowly falling apart and the fact that he also got the chance to put Annie in the most difficult position of her life, also pleased him to no end. At least now he has seen for himself how messed up the family is and the fact that he knew the big secret that could do even more damage made everything even more interesting and worthwhile. "Before you leave Hannah, I have something to say to you." Jessie says, stopping both father and daughter in their tracks. "Uhm, what is it?" Hannah drawls nervously, still very uncomfortable with Jessie's calmness. As soon as Hannah replied, Jessie smirks lightly before suddenly raising her hands and making it fly hard across Hannah's cheeks. The sound of the tight slap caused everyone to gasp in shock and Liam is quick to signal Corey to get Jessie away from Hannah before an all out fight broke out. "Let go of me!" Jessie yells as Corey pulls her away from Hannah. She struggled to get away from his grip but thankfully, Corey was able to hold her down. "That's what you get for walking into my house you stupid bitch! Next time, I'll skin you the fuck alive!" She yelled loudly as she was dragged out of the room. Hannah let out a dry laugh as she rubbed her cheek in a circular motion. 'Jessie would definitely be paying for that.' she thought to herself before signalling her dad and they both walked out of the room but not before glaring daggers at Anita and the rest of the onlookers. "Well, that was successful!" Liam exclaims sarcastically, earning a death glare from Anita who was already furious at how everything turned out. She hated the fact that Garrison had witnessed her family at their worst and knowing very well that his aim was to expose her secret, she realised that she just gave him even more reason to go ahead and put her family in an even worse situation. "I hope you're happy." She hisses at Ella before walking out of the dinner room and up to her room with tears in her eyes. "You know what bro, I'm out of here. I will be seeing you at a much later time and before I forget, it was nice meeting you Gabriella and goodluck with your ongoing situation." Cassie says before also leaving the room and heading towards Jessie's room to go check up on her. Liam quickly rings for the servants to clean up the mess before he and Ella leave the room to also go check up on Jessie before leaving. Was he happy about the mess that went down? Absolutely not. Was he proud of how badly this would affect his family? Hell no, but there's one thing he was definitely happy about, it's watching his mother realise how terribly she has damaged her family bond and how irreversible her choices are. He could only hope it wasn't too late to actually fix things.