One Wild Night

"Mother, I think you should leave," Tiffany said quietly, still feeling shaken by all that Anita had revealed.

What shocked Tiffany most was the fact that their mother had known about Bernice's affair with her husband, and didn't do anything to stop it, but instead had used the information to blackmail Bernice into staying silent.

Thinking of her mother as such a person sent chills down her spine. It was scary. She couldn't imagine how Bernice must have felt not only being betrayed by her own mother but being blackmailed by her too, and being unable to do anything. The thought of it brought angry and sad tears to her eyes.

"Don't be ridicu...."

"Leave!" Tiffany snapped at her. What annoyed Tiffany most was the fact that their mother still didn't look shame-faced or remorseful about her actions.

"You are both making a mistake. I have always only wanted the best for you. And I know you might be confused and shaken right now, and may not exactly understand...." the rest of Rebekah's words were cut off when Tiffany shoved her away roughly.

"Leave this moment or I won't be held responsible for whatever happens to you. I can tolerate and forgive anything else you do, but hurting Benny to this point. To the point that she imagined that taking her own life was better than living, I don't think I can forgive you. I will never forgive you if anything happens to her." Tiffany broke into a sob.

"We don't need you! Leave!" Anita spat out angrily.

"What is going on here? Why are you treating your mother so disrespectfully?" Adam asked as he joined them, and both sisters turned to him with angry eyes.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Adam. I'm both disappointed and disgusted," Tiffany said as she swiped at the tears on her face.

"I beg your pardon?" Adam asked, looking at Rebekah to explain the situation to him.

"You wouldn't have come to see your wife had your lover not threatened to cut ties with you, would you?" Anita asked, and surprise flickered in Adam's eyes.

"You should leave with your lover you shameless fool. I never should have advised Benny to go back home to you. At least Jack is a dog, but I know he would never stoop to the level of having sex with my mother...."

"You should keep your voices down," Rebekah hissed irritably.

"Why? Are you ashamed now? Are you concerned about your reputation? Did you think of that before indulging in such a shameful and immoral...."

"Do not speak to your mother in that manner," Adam cut in angrily, placing a protective arm around Rebekah which she immediately shrugged off.

"We are in love with each other and...."

"Shut up!" Rebekah hissed under her breath, and without wasting any more time trying to talk to her daughters or Adam, she walked away from there.

They were her daughters. They might all be upset right now but soon they would realize that they needed her more than she needed them. It was thanks to her after all that they were who they were in society and were living so comfortably. They would come back and she would make them take back their words and apologize to her.

As Adam chased after Rebekah, he ran past Jack who immediately called to him, "Adam? How is Benny doing?" Jack asked with concern.

"You can ask your wife," Adam said as he continued to hurry after Rebekah, leaving Jack to go into the hospital.

"Rebekah!" Adam called as he caught up with her in front of the hospital.

"Go back in there and stay by your wife," Rebekah hissed at him as she kept walking towards her car.

"Don't be ridiculous! You know I don't care about her. Besides, now that the secret is out in the open we don't have to hide our feelings for each other anymore," Adam said reasonably and Rebekah eyed him with annoyance, disgusted by his stupidity and clinginess.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Rebekah asked irritably.

"I can divorce Benny and...."

"And then what? Marry me? Are you that senseless? What makes you think I will ever do such a foolish thing? Now that everyone knows about it, the fun is out of it. It's over between us," Rebekah said, leaving Adam stunned.

"What do you mean over?" Adam asked in confusion.

"I believe you do not expect me to break it down to you," Rebekah said as she unlocked her car but before she could open the door, Adam blocked her path.

"It can't be over between us, Rebekah. I won't accept it. I would never have married Bernice in the first place had you not gotten me drunk and made me have sex with her. I only got married to her because she got pregnant and you insisted I marry her. You are the one I've always been in love with, and I'm not going to let you dump me in this manner," Adam said angrily and Rebekah scoffed.

"I am Rebekah Miller. When I say it is over, it is over. Quit making a fool of yourself, Adam," Rebekah advised as she sidestepped him and got into her car.

Adam stepped away from the car and watched as she drove off. Once her car disappeared from sight he returned inside the hospital to confront Tiffany and Anita who he believed were responsible for Rebekah's behavior.

As he drew closer to them, his steps faltered when he heard Anita's words, "So, what are you here for? Are you here as Benny's lover or as her brother-in-law?"

"Anita, please don't do that," Tiffany said in a pleading tone while Jack looked surprised to know that Anita knew about his affair with Bernice.

"What? You don't want to confront him? I'm pretty sure he seduced Benny and not the other way around," Anita said, looking at Tiffany.

"What are you talking about?" Adam asked Anita as he joined them, and Anita eyed him with disgust.

Seeing that Anita had no intention of talking to him, he turned to Jack, "Did you screw my wife?" Adam asked Jack, wanting to believe he had heard wrong.

"Let's not do this here," Tiffany suggested, and Adam looked at Tiffany in disbelief.

"You knew about it? You knew your husband was fucking my wife?" Adam asked in a slightly raised voice, and Tiffany glared at him.

"In the same way you were having sex with our mother, so what?" Tiffany asked, annoyed that Adam was trying to create a scene when he was just as guilty as Bernice and Jack.

"You were cheating on Benny with her mother? C'mon, man! That's gross," Jack said in disgust, and Adam swung a punch at him.

"You bastard! How dare you lay your filthy hands on my wife?" Adam growled angrily, and a fight broke out between them.

"Please don't do this! You both need to stop!" Tiffany yelled, her face burning with embarrassment when she noticed they had gathered a small audience.

Anita shook her head as she walked away in the same Tiffany had done to her the previous day, to find a quiet corner where she could relax and put some distance between her and them.

She didn't want to deal with either Jack or Adam who was embarrassing themselves. After now she was cutting them off completely.

Anita stopped by the reception desk to ask for directions to the hospital cafeteria or somewhere she could get something to drink. After this, she informed the nurse that some men were fighting outside the emergency theater and that security operatives should be asked to throw them out.

After she had been able to get a cup of coffee and somewhere to sit, she decided to return Lisa's call to inform her of all that was going on.

She made a mental note not to make Bernice's situation sound very bad since she knew how Lisa could be. Although Lisa didn't like their lifestyles or get along with them, she cared about every one of them genuinely and could get really upset if she heard that Bernice had attempted to take her life.

"Hey, Annie! I've been waiting for your call. Have you been able to check on Benny?" Lisa asked the moment she received the call.

"Yes. She is fine," Anita lied and Lisa frowned.

"She is fine? Why did she turn off her phone? Are you still there? Let me speak with her," Lisa said, and Anita sighed.

Knowing Lisa she was going to find out the truth sooner than later anyway. She knew Lisa would not rest until she spoke with Bernice.

"She isn't feeling well so we brought her to the hospital. Tiffany and I," Anita said instead.

"She is Ill? What state was she in when you got there? What did the doctors say? What hospital? I'm sure Ron wouldn't mind me going to see…."

"No. That won't be necessary. You need to rest. Don't worry, I won't leave her side until I'm sure she is fine. Besides, Tiffany is here, and so are Jack and Adam. Mother just left," Anita said and Lisa's frown deepened.

"If everyone is there, then it must be a very serious situation. I have to be there…."

"Stay put, Lisa. There is nothing you can do here aside from worrying. Don't stress the baby. You are better off at home, trust me," Anita said but Lisa still wasn't convinced.

"Are you telling me the truth, Annie? Tell me the truth. Did Adam attack her? Is she alright?" Lisa asked, unable to shake off the feeling in her gut that something was very wrong.

"Is she conscious? The only way I will stay put is if you let me talk to her or at least send me a video," Lisa insisted stubbornly and Anita sighed. She had never been able to tell lies to Lisa successfully, why did she think she could start now?

"She attempted to take her life," Anita said quietly and Lisa gasped loudly.

"She did what?" Lisa asked as she immediately got off the bed.

"Lisa, calm down. The doctors are attending to her right now. You don't need to be here…."

"Calm down? How can you say that when our Benny attempted suicide and is in the hospital? I have to be there! I knew it! I knew I should have tried talking to her yesterday. We shouldn't have left that way. Oh, God! What if something happens to her? What if she dies? I'm never going to forgive myself if she doesn't make it," Lisa cried, and Anita sighed.

"She is not going to die. You need to stay positive and calm down, Lisa! Think about yourself and your baby. I'm here. I will make sure that everything is fine. I promise," Anita assured her.

"And you should probably know that I confronted mother, Adam, and Jack. Mother was unremorseful. She left. Adam and Jack were fighting a moment ago," Anita told Lisa, trying to distract her from worrying about Bernice.

"Fighting why?" Lisa asked, and Anita explained the situation to her.

"You shouldn't have done that in such a public place, Annie. What if blogs get wind of it? Benny doesn't need any of this right now. She is only going to get more upset when she finds out it's all out in the open," Lisa said with concern.

"No. She is going to be relieved to know that she doesn't have to be weighed down by such a burden anymore. She can divorce Adam now if she wants to. She doesn't have to tolerate his bullshit anymore," Anita said in annoyance.

"What about Tiffany? How is she taking it all?" Lisa asked in concern.

"She is worried about Benny. Benny sent her a text to tell her about her affair with Jack before trying to take her life. Tiffany is mad at mother right now. Although I'm surprised and disappointed that she isn't mad at Jack," Anita said and Lisa sighed.

"She has probably resigned herself to having an open marriage. I will try to talk to her if she will listen. Listen, Annie. Let me know the moment you hear from the doctors, okay? I need to inform Ron about the developments and see if he can have someone come over to drive me down to the hospital since he doesn't want me to take a cab," Lisa said before hanging up.

Anita sighed as she sipped from her cup of coffee. She had always thought her life was perfect and all that was missing was a man but now she had no idea what her life was about anymore.

Everything was out of place and it was glaring now that she needed to unlearn a lot of things, but she didn't even know where to start or how to go about setting her life on the right path.

She had a long way to go, but she was going to start by finding a way to seek Lucy's forgiveness. She would seek Lucy's forgiveness and then leave Ludus as she had planned. She couldn't stay in Ludus anymore. She needed a fresh start.