One Night With Mr Braxton

” Hey! It’s not what it looks like..” Asher caught her arm, but she struggled.

” Let me go! This is a fake marriage so you don’t have to explain, this isn’t real.” Her words cut deeper than expected and he let go, burned.

” Oh really? This is what it’s about, huh?” His tone turned cold, ” You still aren’t allowed to parade yourself in a disgraceful manner, Emma.” He lashed with blazing eyes, ” Don’t think I don’t know of your shenanigans!”

Emma recoiled, a sore taste in her mouth, ” I got blackmailed with those pictures from my past. I will clean up my mess.”

Asher watched his wife leave the house, unable to speak. He threw her scandal in her face and felt like a dog about it. What sort of husband wouldn’t know their wife was getting threats? His anger fizzled and all that remained were regrets.

Jason appeared in his line of sight, wearing a calm demeanor, no doubt he heard their little scuffle and ached to use the infamous line- ‘I told you so.’

Meanwhile, Emma spoke into her phone while the car revved from the compound. ” Set up an interview with the media.”

” Interview? Why would you-”

” No questions, Chara.” She snapped, closed her eyes and began more softly, ” Just do as I ask, please.”

She could sense the reluctance from Chara’s end. ” Alright.”

They dropped the call and she maintained silence. It’s time she got things over with, she swallowed the hurt that breathed in her heart and continued her journey preparing herself for the wave of events that was to come. The car slowed to a stop and she got down, she headed to her studio and when she reached for the key, she noticed an unopened envelope.

Emma entered the studio and immediately dug into the contents of the envelope. Her eyes widened when a pool of information poured out of the envelope, her eyes remained the size of saucers as she took in every detail, video and evidence presented before her eyes. The more she read, her eyes darkened with anger, pain, and vengeance.

Her ringtone distracted her from the papers before her. ” Yes.”

” I caught hold of a mainstream media, but the slot is for the next twenty minutes,” Chara informed, ” Think you can manage or do I reschedule?”

She held in a brief pause. Her eyes scanned the papers and her jaws tightened. ” It’s perfect.”

******

Talia barged into her mother’s office. ” We have a situation!” She announced,

” What is it this time?” Mrs Steele’s voice wasn’t excited. She didn’t even look up or scold the manner of entry. It wasn’t of use anyways.

” That wench! She’s holding an interview, it’s airing in five minutes.” That caught her mother’s attention,Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

” Is there something you need to say? Did something happen?” She asked with raised eyebrows, not putting it behind her daughter to cause havoc.

” I didn’t do anything!” She explained, almost picking offense. ” I don’t feel too good about it.”

” You don’t have to.” Mrs. Steele said, ” Right now, your main focus should be how to get Mr. Braxton.”

” I know, but this-”

” Enough already! We honestly don’t have time to waste. It isn’t surprising that a popular person is holding a meeting to wash their already condemned name.”

Loss for words, Talia leaves the office, bothered and uncertain. Meanwhile, Emma sat with a presenter while they touched them up for the live show.

” We begin in one, two, Start!” A voice yelled and the shoot began.

After introducing the show, Emma’s presence got revealed to the waiting audience. Within minutes, the programme went viral and more people joined the show, eager to hear what she had to say.

” Thank you for having me.” She said with a forced smile, ” Contrary to popular belief, I’m here to actually verify some facts surrounding my person.”

The presenter hid his surprise at her words. ” Which of the facts would that be? Mrs Braxton.”

” Emma. Just call me Emma. I was presumed dead for a part of my life, and I understand there was an uproar when my marriage got announced.”

The presenter could only nod, by now, it was clear she wasn’t in charge of the conversation.

” I am Emma Steele. Daughter and heir to the Steele shoes.” She announced formally. ” I am sure you are all aware of that by now, so I’ll quickly get into the day’s business. I was maltreated and blackmailed by my step-mother who single handedly killed my mother and father.”

She spoke so fleetingly but that sentence set the internet and world ablaze.

” Can you prove that, Mrs. Braxton- Emma.” The interviewer resumed, careful not to annoy her.

” Every piece of evidence should be out by now.” Her words confused the interviewer, but when he received a go ahead signal from the set, he continued.

The entire internet was jammed with evidence of her step-mother’s news. Information of how her mother was poisoned by a maid which turned out to be her now-step-mother circulated the internet like wildfire. Coupled with news of the black-mail and her involvement with her kidnap and near death experience, the Steele’s were in the middle of a life ending crisis.

Before the interview ended, Steele shoes declared bankruptcy.

******

Mrs Steele frantically packed a duffle bag with a burner phone to her ears. ” You have to help me get out! It’s only a matter of time before the police show up! I can’t be locked up again!” She yelled, speedily zipping her bag.

” A car is parked in front of your gate. The ship leaves in fifteen minutes. If you are unable to make it, accept my sympathy.” An automated voice said and ended the call.

” Hello? Hello?!” Mrs Steele flung her phone to the bed, breathing heavily. She couldn’t be apprehended, she firmly shook her head, picked up her bag and left to her daughter’s room while wrapping her hair in a scarf.

” Hurry up!” She yelled at her daughter who trailed her out of the house in black overalls. ” The ship will be leaving soon! If we don’t make it out on time then we are really doomed.”

” We are already doomed! We lost everything and would soon be declared fugitives because of you!” Talia fumed, dragging a bag with her, ” I didn’t ask for this, I didn’t ask you to do such evil things!”

” Don’t you dare act like you had no hand in this.” She snapped, ” I suggest you move those lazy legs or-”

” It’s a bit too late for that…” Talia cut off her mother with a hopeless look.

” Get your feets moving or so help me God, Talia-”

” The only place you both would be going is in prison. Where you will pay for all the crimes committed. You are under arrest, Mrs. Steele. Or should I say, Ms. Christina?” A voice spoke, notifying them of the audience behind them.

Mrs Steele’s eyes turned the size of saucers when she beheld an army of uniformed men, ” Whaat?” She drawled, unable to speak.

” You have the right to remain silent because everything you say can be used against you in the court of law. You may contact your lawyer, but seeing how much shit you’re into, I doubt it would be of help.”

Talia and her mother were handcuffed and driven to the prison with the same car they proposed to leave in while a mob of reporters covered their disgraceful event. That night, they slept behind bars with hardened criminals who watched their news and were anything but friendly to them.

******

In the Braxton mansion, arrangements for an intimate party were made. Asher sat in his home office, speaking to one of his men.

” There is no way of escape for them. More information regarding their scandalous activities are still being discovered. The woman has a truck-load of crimes to her name, not even the president could save her.” The man reported.

” Good. Keep an eye on the case. I don’t want surprises.” He instructed, ” Also, I’ll be unavailable for the rest of the night. Relate important matters to Jason in my absence.”

Asher ended the call with a thoughtful look. The past few hours, he took time to disarm Steele Shoes and bring them to the dust. He felt satisfied with that before he watched the interview of his wife airing her past torments in the hands of that family. Before she stepped out of the show, he had taken measures to ensure that all her enemies paid for their crimes.

Meanwhile, Emma toured around town in her tinted car. She shut off every form of communication as she got a feel of the city she grew up in. The event of the day remained fresh in her heart, leaving her the familiar feeling of being alone in the world. She chuckled at the thought of having a life partner but walking through life alone.

” Return to the Mansion.” Her voice held no emotion. At that point, she resolved to blink through the process, get her money and build up a life somewhere else. A life of her own.