Page 89 of Fifth Avenue Devil

I stare her down. For too long, I've let her control me. She and Dad molded me into the puppet they wanted me to be. But no more.

Now, I am a woman who refuses to be manipulated by anyone ever again.

"You are always looking to guilt and manipulate me," I tell her. It feels good standing up to her for the first time in my life. “It’s not going to work this time, Mom. I don’t know if you stole the money on your own or Dad was in on it. But I’m going to call the FEC and tell them the truth.”

“Annalise Rebecca! You will respect me!” Monique’s eyes flash. She’s so worked up that flecks of spittle fly out of her mouth when she yells. "You need to accept the punishment. Surely they'll be easier on a young girl like you than a business giant like Archer."

I blink in disbelief, unable to fathom how my own mother can be so cruel and indifferent to my plight. "But I didn't take the money!" I cry out. "I have no idea where it went!"

"The money was spent on our living expenses," Monique explains with a casual wave. "I had no choice, really. It was all your dad’s idea. Keeping up with the Park Ave lifestyle isn’t cheap. Oh, and you had to go to expensive private schools. You had so many clothes. Fancy cars. Vacations with your girlfriends… If the FTC knew the kind of life you have lived, they would lock you up and throw away the key."

The betrayal of my parents cuts deeper than any blade ever could. "So it was you." I whisper, my voice barely audible. “You fucking stole twenty million dollars! And then you set up your own daughter to take the fall!”

Monique shrugs nonchalantly, clearly unaffected by my anguish. “I tried to tell you that you shouldn’t take the CEO role. Didn’t I? But you did it anyway. Always thinking you know best."

I stare at Monique, openmouthed. There are ten things that I could say to tear her flimsy argument into pieces. But I don’t say any of them.

I realize that the world my mom lives in is very different than my own. It’s more cutthroat, and full of reasons why she should do whatever she wants. There’s no point in arguing with her.

"Monique," Lori interjects. "Why would you even tell us all this? You know I could?—"

"Testify against me?" Monique scoffs dismissively, rolling her eyes. "Please, Lori, you're Gellar Industries' lawyer. I understand how lawyer-client privilege works. Besides, do you really think I don't know where your loyalties lie?”

Lori’s face twists up. I know that face. I’ve seen it a thousand times. Mom just told her something factually inaccurate and Lori is doing her best not to call her out on it.

Mom waves her hands. “And as for Annalise… My darling daughter wouldn't dare turn on her own mother."

In that moment, I want nothing more than to prove her wrong. Show her that I am not the weak and submissive pawn she believes me to be.

I would turn on her in a heartbeat.

"Listen to me, Annalise," Mom says. "Stay quiet. M’kay? Accept whatever punishment they decide to give you. This will all blow over. It's for the best, really." She squeezes my shoulder and gives me a stiff smile. And with that, she breezes out of the house as if she hasn't just shattered my entire world.

My heart pounds as I stare at the empty doorway.

What the hell just happened?

"Can you believe her?" I hiss, clenching my fists. "She sets me up as the fall girl and then has the audacity to act like it's my fault!"

Lori watches me carefully, her eyes radiating sympathy and concern. "Annalise," she begins, her voice gentle yet firm. "We'll figure this out, I promise you. We won't let Monique, or anyone else, destroy what you've worked so hard for."

She then strides purposefully across the room and grabs her phone. Before I can say anything, she’s making a phone call. "Yeah. It’s me. I need you to call the police."

"Wait, what?" I ask. "Why? You can’t talk about what Mom just told you."

Lori covers the microphone with a hand. "Yes I can. Your mom doesn't understand the law. She thinks that, because I'm the company's lawyer and you're her daughter, neither of us can testify against her. But she's wrong. Having three people present broke privilege.”

“You can’tprovethat she said anything, though.”

“Wanna bet?” Lori points to a clock on the mantel. “I had a problem a few months ago with a maid stealing things. To catch her, I had cameras mounted in all the rooms. So I recorded the entire confession. We can report this, and we will."

I gape at her. She uncovers her phone and continues to order the person listening around?

“Yeah, Ryan? Okay. I’m going to send you the confession that I just got on tape. You’re going to call the local police, the SEC, and… I don’t know, call the FBI too for good measure.” Lori smiles coldly. She cocks her head. “What’s that? You have the name of someone at the IRS? Well, it couldn’t hurt…”

She walks off toward her home office, presumably about to bring down the hammer on my mom.

Suddenly, I am shaking.

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