20 (20) Upper Hand

John unlocked the car and slid inside. He had been gone longer than he’d anticipated but he wanted nothing more than to get home to Anna. Erin’s revelations made his skin crawl and he had a feeling that leaving her alone with his mother, his sister, and Isabel was a bad idea. He had a bad feeling that he had desperately underestimated Isabel.

He headed out of his building's parking garage and caught 40 on his way home. He passed the entrance to the Biltmore Estate and knew he was only miles away. He thought of Anna and sped up. Life had not always been easy for her but somehow she had become one of the strongest women he knew, he was so damn proud to call her his. He wished his mother and sister were easier on her.

“They had better remember the conversation we had earlier.” John thought as he pushed the pedal down even faster. His mother and sister had promised to try but something about the look they’d exchanged as he was leaving to find Anna made him nervous.

John jumped out of the car and pocketed his keys as he trotted up the front steps. He stopped short when he heard raised voices from the living room. Not again, he thought to himself as he closed the door soundlessly and slid into a closet right by the door to the living room. He felt foolish, but this way he could hear what was going on without being seen.

John cringed as he heard his sister talking, the words “lower class and bastard were thrown out as if she said them every day. John had never heard his sister talk to anyone that way before. He knew she had a mean streak but this was unnecessarily cruel.

John head Anna standing up for herself, for them and he was more proud of her than he ever had been. She was keeping her backbone even when faced with the two of them.

Melissa and May continued to spew venom and John felt sick as he listened. Why had he never seen them for what they are? Was he so blind because he wanted to be?

He listened for several more minutes, shocked by the revelations he heard. He had never thought that the mother and sister he loved could be so cruel. Anna had told him before that they were cruel to her but he always thought it was personalities clashing. Honestly, he knew his mother and sister could be bitches at the worst of times and overly difficult at others, but he had really thought they had his best interest at heart. Now listening to them decimate the woman he loved he knew he had been so wrong.

The crinkle of paper caught his attention and John was shocked at what he heard Anna say. If he’d found out any other way he wouldn’t have believed it. His mother was offering Anna money to leave him. He waited with bated breath as Anna replied. He felt his heart soar as she stood strong and declared her love for him.

“This is not over.” John heard Melissa hiss in a venomous voice. “I will find a way to get rid of you.”

“Bring it on.” John heard Anna say brightly, not at all cowed by her threat “I’ll be waiting with the truth.”

John’s head hurt as he leaned back against the closet wall. The door was still open and his head was swimming at the fact that his mother had just offered Anna money to leave him. John shook his head and went to open the door but jumped back as Isabel walked in the front door like she owned the place. She stopped outside the room and checked her reflection in the mirror. She smoothed a stay strand of hair and checked her dress. She turned as she heard the last of the conversation and John saw a slow, evil smile grace her lips as she pushed her way inside the room pretending to not know what was going on inside.

“God,” he thought as he stepped out of the closet and rubbed the bridge of his nose “Anna really is in Lion’s den in there.”

He grabbed his phone and stepped outside. He had never known how much heartache he was causing Anna by allowing his mother and sister to go unchecked. He knew now that no matter what he had to protect her from them. And now Isabel was proving more dangerous than he thought. He needed to make some changes in his life and he had to do it now. There was no way he was going to allow this to continue.

John flipped open his phone and began to dial.