One Wild Night

Oblivious to the drama going on in the Den, the Hank family all sat quietly as Bryan broke the news to his mother, "Simon was responsible for me and Sonia's scandal... He leaked the information to the press, and I don't think it's his first time either," Bryan said, and Evelyn eyed him in disbelief.

"Simon? There is no way Simon would do something like that. Not after everything I've done for him and his family," Evelyn said with a confident shake of her head.

Without arguing with her, since her reaction had been expected, Bryan took out his phone and showed her the footage of Simon sneaking into his house to plant cameras.

"The nerve of the rat!" She spat angrily, her eyes sparkling with anger as she watched the help she had personally sent to her son stab her in the back. She was feeling more angry than hurt at the betrayal.

"You mean this whole time he has been the one selling information to the press? I'm going to deal with him myself," Evelyn swore as she looked up from the phone while her husband and kids just watched her vent without saying a word.

This was the type of person she was. She was the type of person anyone would want to have in their corner, her only flaw being that she was usually biased when her children were involved. She was usually a very logical person unless her children were involved, and then she would become more emotional than rational.

"What did he stand to gain by doing this? Just how much money did he receive to do something as despicable as this? Or did he think we would never find out?" Evelyn hissed angrily as she picked up her phone to give him a call.

"He received a lot of money for this particular scandal. Someone paid him for this. The same person that was behind Lucy's scandal," Tom said as he snatched her phone from her.

"We can't let him know we are aware of his involvement in my scandal yet, else he's going to bolt before we get a chance to catch him," Bryan said, while Evelyn just looked from Tom to Bryan in confusion.

"Why would the same person be responsible for Lucy's and Bryan's scandal?" She asked with a frown.

"Not Lucy and Bryan. Lucy and Sonia," Jade corrected, and the couple paused to chew on that piece of information.

"Because Sonia was more affected in the scandal than Bryan," Desmond said to himself thoughtfully as it all began to click in his head. That was the only way it made sense. The only thing Lucy and Bryan had in common apart from Tom was Sonia. Since Tom wasn't directly attacked in the scandal, it meant that Sonia was the common ground in both scandals, especially as her family was also involved in Lucy's scandal.

Evelyn paused as she tried to understand it. "You mean this person has something against Lucy and Sonia?" Evelyn asked in confusion.

"No. It is Lucy she has a problem with, and it seemed she also attacked Sonia just to discredit her so that she won't be able to defend Lucy," Tom explained, and Evelyn picked up a glass of water and quickly drank from it as though it would suppress the headache which was brewing.

"She? A girl paid Simon to do this?" She asked, and Tom took out his phone to show her the receipt of the payment Anita made to Simon's account.

Evelyn pressed her fingers against her eyes. Seeing the calm manner with which they were presenting all the facts and evidence, she could tell that they had taken their time to process and sort through all of it.

"Who is she? And what problem does she have with Lucy?" Desmond asked curiously after seeing the receipt. Evelyn nodded, urging Tom to answer the question since she was feeling overwhelmed by it already.

Tom patiently explained the situation with Anita to them and went on to play the recording of Anita's conversation with Lisa and her mother earlier that day. By the time he was done, Evelyn had moved from weary to pissed.

"What sort of crazy family is this?" Evelyn asked with disgust, and this time Desmond placed a hand over hers to stop her. Evelyn paused and took a deep breath, "I trust you have fired her already?"

"Not yet. I'm working on something. When I'm done, she will lose everything, not just her job," Tom promised, and from the calm manner with which she said it, Evelyn believed him, so she gave him a nod.

"I'm so glad you had the good sense to end things with her. They are a bunch of classless scum. They better not touch a hair on Lucy's body, else they will have me to contend with," Evelyn promised, and Tom almost smiled at the protective manner with which his mother spoke of Lucy.

"What about Sonia, Mom? Are they allowed to touch Sonia? Or is Lucy your only daughter-in-law?" Bryan asked with a scowl, and Evelyn smiled despite her annoyance at it all, while the others shook their head at Bryan who was still choosing to be petty despite the seriousness of the moment.

"I mentioned Lucy's name only because she is the one they're after, not Sonia. But don't worry. If they so much as get an inch near Sonia, I won't leave them alone either," Evelyn promised, and Tom shook his head at Bryan while hoping that everything was fine with Lucy and her parents.

Desmond sighed, "I suppose this is why Lucy wanted to talk to her parents?" Desmond asked after a while.

"Not just that. We also just found out that the lady Lucas was engaged to is Anita's cousin, and she also aided in Lucy's kidnap," Tom explained, since he had deliberately not played that end of the conversation to their hearing.

"Oh, dear!" Evelyn exclaimed as she raised a hand to her chest and looked towards the patio door, "Do you think they will be okay?" She asked her husband with a worried frown.

"This whole thing is complicated," Desmond muttered with a frown of his own, beginning to sympathize with his kids, who he had been angry at for most of the day without knowing how much they were dealing with. Yet they had even managed to throw him a surprise party.

"I've arranged for Lucy's parents to return home to be with Lucas tonight since she has told him about Rachel," Tom said, and Evelyn's brows dipped.

"She told him that over the phone?" She asked, exchanging a look with her husband. She wasn't sure she liked the sound of that, especially considering Lucas' emotional state when he left the previous day.

"Yes. She had to. And I support her," Tom said, and both Bryan and Jade nodded in agreement.

"I'm leaving tomorrow. I need to wrap things up with Paul at the agency and take care of Simon too so that I can return to resume work at Tom's company," Bryan announced, and his father looked at him in surprise.

"Tom's company? You no longer want to be an actor?"

"Really? You're moving down here?" Evelyn asked, acting equally surprised as her husband since she knew him well enough to know that he would be jealous if he found out that Tom had discussed this with her already and not him.

Tom exchanged a knowing look with his mother before explaining his plan of expanding the company to his father, "And I officially introduced Harry to the board as my Co-CEO today," Tom said, surprising Jade, who hadn't known of it.

"Oh, really?" She asked excitedly and then smiled awkwardly when her father looked at her curiously, wondering why she piped up at the news, "I meant, oh?" She asked more slowly and pressed her lips together, making Bryan chuckle.

Thinking about Harry now, Jade wondered why he was yet to show up as she looked down at the sexy black romper she was wearing. She almost grinned, thinking about how Harry would look at her with disapproval for wearing something so indecent, judging by his standards.

"Harry has a good head on his shoulders. I'm sure he will do well. Who knows? Maybe Jady here might find a place in the company soon and work together with her big brothers," Desmond said, hoping that all three of them would settle in Ludus, that way seeing them would be easier.

"Let's hope that happens soon," Jade as she looked around the table for something to drink, but the glasses were empty.

"By the way, does he have a girlfriend?" Evelyn asked curiously, and Jade shot Tom and Bryan a look to shut them up, and Bryan stifled his laughter.

"Mom, Harry's personal life is his concern, not our business. Let's not be distracted here. Back to the issue on ground, what are we going to do about Simon?" Jade said, changing the topic smoothly before either Tom or Bryan could respond.

Evelyn's blood boiled at the mention of Simon's name, "I will leave with Bryan tomorrow. I will like to be there when you question him. I have some questions for him myself," Evelyn said, and Bryan looked at her with uncertainty.

"We are leaving tomorrow? That's so impromptu," Desmond protested, and Evelyn raised a brow.

"Impromptu for someone who asked me a moment ago to pack our bags, so we return home tonight?" She asked, and all three of their children looked at him.

"You wanted to leave tonight? Why?" Jade asked, and Desmond shrugged.

"I thought you all forgot about my birthday and didn't care about me, so I was going to return home. I get that you all are very busy, but I don't think it would hurt to call often to check on your parents, even if it's just a minute-long conversation. When was the last time we all sat like this as a family? It took a scandal to bring you all together," Desmond said, and Jade looked at him guiltily.

"I'm sorry you felt that way, dad. I love you very much, and I hope you never forget that. I will try to do better, I promise," she said as she reached over to kiss his cheeks.

"I'm sorry. I will do better," Tom promised.

"Me too," Bryan said, and Evelyn smiled at her children, happy they had gotten this out of the way.

"That is settled then. We leave tomorrow with Bryan tomorrow to take care of Simon. Tom, why don't you tell us what plans you have set in motion to put this Anita girl and her family in their place?" Evelyn asked just as Andrew walked through the patio door.