One Wild Night



As the police led Rebekah away, Jade didn't wait to see the reaction of either Tiffany or Bernice to what their mother had just said about their paternity.

Instead, she signaled to Candace so they would leave since she had to be at the station, too, when Rebekah was brought in.

"Good show," Candace told Jade as they both walked outside, and Jade smiled when she sighted the swarm of reporters who had gathered in front of the building and were now throwing questions at Rebekah Miller, who was in cuffs.

"I know, right? All we have to make sure of now is that the bitch spends the rest of her miserable life behind bars," Jade said as they headed for their car.

"She's cruel to have revealed the truth to her daughters in that manner. I wonder what they are going to do now," Candace said, and Jade shook her head.

"They were bound to find out sooner or later. What they do with that information is their business. As far as I'm concerned, my business with that family is over," Jade said as she unlocked the car, and they both got in.

"I feel bad for them. In trying to ruin their mother, they've also left their own reputation in tatters," Candace said with a sigh.

"I don't feel sorry for them. That is their punishment for choosing to tread on that path. I wanted them to also suffer the consequence of their action; hence I asked them to be on that stage," Jade said with a shrug as she started the car.

"But they had no choice in the manner they lived. They did all they did because of their mother," Candace said in their defense, and Jade shook her head.

"I disagree with you. We all have choices in life, Candace. As much as we would love to blame others for the choices we have made, at some point, we also will need to take responsibility for our choices. If their sister Lisa had lived like the rest of them, then I might have agreed with you that they had no choice. But by virtue of the fact that one of them turned out differently regardless of their mother's influence, I can't agree with you. They all grew up in the same environment, and they all made their life choices," Jade said, and Candace's brows pulled together as she thought about what Jade had just said.

Yes, she agreed that Jade had a point. So, did that mean she was wrong to blame Sara for how her life turned out? Yes, getting involved with Jero and eventually becoming a stripper had been her choice, but hadn't she made those choices because of all life threw at her, thanks to her mother who abandoned her?

Perhaps someone else in her shoes might have made different choices and ended up better or worse than she had, she thought with a sigh as she glanced out of the window.

Thinking about choices, her thoughts drifted to Matt, and she sighed once again. She was grateful for this distraction. Thanks to all this drama, she didn't have to think about Matt and their last conversation.

"Sonia is definitely going to regret not being here with us," Jade said as she drove.

"Well, she was obviously not feeling well. There was no way she could have left the house in that state," Candace said, thinking about Sonia, who had been feeling really nauseous that morning.

"Yeah. I have never seen Bryan look so worried," Jade said with a sigh.

She glanced at her phone when it started ringing and received the call when she saw it was from Harry.

"Hello, boyfriend!" She greeted excitedly.

"Hey, girlfriend! You did a good job. We enjoyed the show," Harry said with a proud smile, and Jade giggled.

"The show wasn't exactly my idea. We all had our roles to play in executing it. Besides, it was your idea to get me involved," Jade reminded him, even though she was pleased by the compliment.

"That is true. But it went smoothly, thanks to your brilliance. So, how about we have dinner together later in the day to celebrate?" Harry suggested as he gazed outside his office window.

He had left Tom and Lucy immediately after the show ended just so he could give Jade a call. His first impulse had been to drive down there to pick her up, but he knew she would probably be busy hence had settled for a phone call.

"Why don't we hold off the celebration until everything is finalized? The chief judge wants her to be prosecuted as soon as possible, and he wants me to take care of it," Jade said thoughtfully.

"Are you turning down my dinner invitation?" Harry asked, and Jade giggled.

"Yes, I am. Sorry about that. I'm on my way to the station with Candace right now. I have no idea when I will be done, and I know I'm going to be exhausted," Jade explained apologetically.

"I guess it can't be helped then. That's what I get for falling in love with a brilliant and hardworking lady," Harry said, and she grinned.

"Yes. I don't want any mess up. Who knows if she probably had an affair with the chief of police too?" Jade said jokingly, and both Harry and Candace chuckled at that. 

"Alright. I will let you get to it. Don't stress yourself too much. I love you," Harry said before hanging up.

Back at the studio, Tiffany and Bernice exchanged a look as they both collapsed on the couch, and neither of them said a word to each other for the first couple of minutes.

Guessing that they needed time to pull themselves together, Eric signaled to Alicia and the rest of the team to pack up and excuse them.

"I can't believe she said that. How could she be so callous?" Tiffany asked aloud, not asking anyone in particular.

Bernice, who was more stunned by the fact that all those men in the hall had been Rebekah's lovers than by what Rebekah had said at their paternity, looked at Tiffany.

"Why does that surprise you? That is exactly who she is," Bernice said as she looked around them.

Now that the show was over, it dawned on her that in a bid to expose their mother, they had also exposed themselves. And there was going to be a heavy backlash on them too.

Before Tiffany could respond, her phone began to vibrate, and she reached inside her handbag for it, "Lisa is calling," she informed Bernice before receiving the call.

"Where are you both now?" Lisa asked with a concerned frown. She was still very much shaken by what their mother had said, which confirmed their suspicion.

She had watched the show, and it had been worse than she imagined. She couldn't say she enjoyed watching her family tear each other apart in public view. They were her family, and she felt ashamed by all the disgusting revelations.

Even though nothing ill had been spoken about her, she knew she was going to be just as affected by it as everyone else.

She knew the past scandal about her snatching Ron from his ex-fiancée was going to resurrect again, as people would want to find even the slightest dirt on her to make it seem like she was just like the rest of her family.

"We are still at the studio," Tiffany murmured as she placed the call on speaker for Bernice to hear.

"I'm sure reporters will be waiting and searching all over for you. You both can come over here…"

"No, Lisa. I don't think that's a good idea. The last thing we want is for you to be tainted by any of this. We will take care of ourselves. Focus on yourself and the baby," Bernice said, and Lisa frowned.

"Benny? How are you feeling? Have you heard from Adam? Was Mother really behind it?" Lisa asked, reminding Bernice about her husband.

Bernice had forgotten about Adam, and now that she remembered, it occurred to her that she needed to find out where he was and probably go see him.

There was no doubt about the fact that she was going to divorce him regardless of whatever threats he made, but first, she needed to see him.

"Benny?" Lisa called when Bernice didn't say anything.

"No, I haven't heard from him. I should probably pay his parents a visit," Bernice said as she rose.

"Let's talk later, Lisa. We have to leave now," Tiffany said as she hung up the call and rose as well.

"Who told you about Adam being alive?" Tiffany asked curiously since she had not been able to ask earlier.

"Jade," Bernice said, and Tiffany frowned.

"How did she know about that?" Tiffany asked, wondering if Jade had known that Adam was alive all along and if that was the reason she had so confidently taken up the case when everyone else had been reluctant to do so.

"I have no idea. That's not important right now. I'm leaving to go see Adam's parents. You should probably go see Jackson too," Bernice said, reminding Tiffany about her husband.

"Oh! You're right. Let's go, then. I will give him a call on my way," Tiffany said, and they both headed outside.

The moment they stepped outside, reporters who were still waiting around for them approached them, but neither of them said a word as they made their way past the group to get into their cars.

Different thoughts ran through Bernice's mind as she drove to the house of her in-laws.

She knew they were going to be mad about the damage the interview would do to their family reputation, but she didn't care.

All she wanted was to confront them about hiding her husband's state from her and see Adam before going ahead with her plans.

She was going to get a really good divorce lawyer, and she will fight with all she had to make sure she got as much money as she could get from Adam, and she would also get custody of their boys.

She would resort to blackmail if need be since she still had the evidence of his infidelity, whereas he didn't have any to prove hers other than hearsay.

After she was done with that, she would go far away with her kids. She had no doubt that after the interview today, her children would also suffer from it. She understood how high society reacted to scandalous things like this.

The last thing she wanted was for her children to be looked down on or bullied because of her.

While Bernice was thinking that, Tiffany was having similar thoughts as she dialed Jack's line.

Jack received the call almost immediately, "I was just about to give you a call. My mother just told me about the interview…"

"Where are you?" Tiffany asked, cutting him off.

"I'm at the family house. Hold on," Jack said, and Tiffany heard some noise in the background.

"I will join you at home later. The police just came for my dad," Jackson said and hung up immediately.

Tiffany drew in a deep breath as she dropped her phone on the seat next to her and headed for her house instead.

So many thoughts were running through her mind, and she didn't even know where to start from.

This whole time it had not really dawned on her that the man who had joined hands with her mother to destroy their father was the father of the man she was married to.

She had been too centered on her anger and grief over the unfairness of her father's death to think about it.

And now her mother had confirmed their suspicion that Richard Miller wasn't their biological father.

What was she to do with that information? She asked herself and then shook her head. Nothing. There was nothing she was going to do about it. Just as she and her sisters had agreed, it didn't matter to them whether or not they had Richard Miller's DNA.

He was the father they knew, regardless of whatever the spiteful bitch they called their mother claimed.

Any man who would have an affair with a married woman to the extent of impregnating her wasn't worthy to be her father.

She paused, and her heart skipped a beat when she thought about her mother's affair with her father-in-law.

He couldn't be their father, could he? There was no way even a bitch like Rebekah would let her own daughter get married to her half-brother, right? Tiffany asked herself as a shudder ran through her.

No. Jackson couldn't be her half-brother. It was too ridiculous to imagine. She wasn't even going to give it another thought.

She was just going to get home, see Jackson and discuss things with him reasonably, and then they would get a quiet divorce.

After that, she would do exactly what Anita had done. She would pack and leave. Thankfully, she didn't have any kids to hold her back like Bernice.

She would love to put all this drama behind her and forget all about her mother.