Silence Reveals Hidden Answers’ by Michael Anderson novel Chapter 109

Chapter 109

Jennifer Marie.

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“I think Harvey will look so stunning in an Italian tie,” Mom says, still fussing over the wedding planner like this is a royal ceremony and not my entire life being rearranged in real time. “What do you think, puppy?”

I stare at my phone, watching the minutes crawl by. Harvey is late. An hour and twenty five minutes late, if we’re being precise, and I’ve been precise about it since minute fifteen.

“Why is he not here yet?”

“I don’t know, Mom. Maybe the office.” I get up and walk behind the couch because we both know it’s no damn office.

He’s an hour late. Nate isn’t picking up. David isn’t picking up. That means he’s where he’s not supposed to be, and those friends of his are buying time before answering because once they do, I’ll be able to read their damn lies. I scoff, stabbing my finger against the screen to call that freak of a husband I have for the seventh time. He told me Jenna was blubbering, some whole performance about her father wanting to kill us, so if that wasn’t true, why does he seem to be missing?

We didn’t speak to each other last night. I ended up having dinner alone in my room, pushing food around a plate I couldn’t taste, and sleeping on my own too. This morning he left before I woke up, but Rosie told me he said he’d be joining the wedding meeting soon.

The wedding planner has been waiting for us while my mother plans the entire thing like she’s auditioning for a magazine spread. I probably should have mentioned that she’s a planner herself and has been waiting her whole life for this exact

moment.

Her greatest dream is to plan my wedding, so it makes sense why she drags me to tea parties with other socialites and has been collecting fabric swatches since before I even had a boyfriend. She’s having the time of her life with this, but she keeps asking about Harvey-

On the other hand, I’m freaking scared, okay?

My husband may be in harm’s way and I have to sit here sipping coffee and trying to play it cool before Mom sees that I’m absolutely not alright. But Harvey can fight. He’s a really good fighter.

I remember that much. But Jenna mentioned her father bringing every gangster in the city to our house, and that is one man against a room full of monsters. Harvey is a lot of things, but he is not Superman.

“Oh, should we go with a French tie, Jennifer?”

Mom’s socialite voice is on full blast, that particular pitch she uses when she wants something photographed. I look back to see the event planner scribbling furiously, noting the thousand changes she’s made in the last several minutes. If Harvey were here, he would have simply tried it on and we would have moved on from it.

“The French will surely be better.”

A different voice says it and I pull my phone from my ear only to see Winny approaching.

“W… Winny?

I keep forgetting this woman even exists, but right now it’s hard to forget that she does. She’s wearing something couture…1 think it’s the Emerald Couture 1918.

She’s dressed in furs like the queen of everything Prescott, removing a lace glove from her hand while her lipstick is bold

red.

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12:31 pm

Chapter 109

“Who is this?” Mom gets up.

0:71

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I don’t even need to answer as Winny takes off her sunglasses. Mom knows every socialite by their maiden name, every family tree, every whispered scandal. I don’t have to say anything.

“Winny Prescott. I don’t think we’ve had a formal exchange… yet.”

“Oh, really? Never heard of you,” Mom says.

My mouth falls open. Seriously?

Winny’s expression barely changes. “How is that possible? I don’t think there’s anyone in New York who hasn’t heard of me.”

“Oh, please. I’m around socialites every day. I’d know a Winny if I saw one. I’ve heard of Prescott, but I don’t think the ladies in the book club would know a Winny.”

“Book clubs? Rich and influenced women like me have our priorities. We’ve passed the level of book clubs long ago. But hey, not everyone can aspire to be like me.”

She steps closer, and the event planner….poor woman, caught between titans quietly dissolves from the middle of them. This is clearly book club versus qar of the pearls.

“Um.” I say it loudly to break the staring contest between my mom and Winny.

“What are you doing here?”

Her gaze softens just a little, but only in that terrifying way rich women do when they’re pretending to be kind.

“With Harvey’s father in the hospital, I’m the only parent here from your in-law’s side. So it’s my duty to make sure everything goes well. Plus, I know all about the budget, the venues that are best for Prescotts like us, the wedding invitations

“It’s not going to be the wedding of the century.” I cut her off before she starts ordering doves or something. I’m not about to have a Baxter and Nisha wedding

“Granted. But it still needs to be the talk of the season. You are married to the heir of Prescott Holdings, which means you are married to the next generation of this dynasty People from Harvey’s side of the family have to be involved. Aunts, uncles, cousins, nephew…you don’t know half of these people.”

And honestly, I can hear the logic in it.

But I’m too busy worrying about whether Harvey is alive or dead to argue properly. He’s supposed to be here making these decisions with me, because I don’t know enough about any of this and I definitely do not know whether he even wants half those people in the room.

“How many relatives are we looking at?” Mom asks. She loves numbers.

Winny snaps her fingers, and the event planner immediately signals someone off to the side.

“For starters? Two hundred.”

Mom’s eyebrows climb. “Two hundred?”

“The Prescott family is a lot. Just because they don’t live in the mansion here doesn’t mean they don’t exist. This house only belongs to you and the ones you allows to stay. But trust me, the whole dynasty is waiting for you to invite them so they can meet the newest Mrs. Prescott. The one who may favor them or dismiss them in the nearest future.”

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12:31 pm

Chapter 109

A staff member appears with champagne, and Winny accepts the glass like she was born holding it.

She sits down elegantly, and I realize she’s not leaving. She’s settling in.

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“You are not Harvey’s mother, are you?” Mom asks and I know that tone. That’s the tone she uses when she’s about to be impossible.

The thing about my mom is really no one can be lofty around her. She’s not going to back down. She’s been to enough charity galas, enough committee meetings, enough passive-aggressive luncheons to know every weapon in the socialite arsenal. Winny may have furs and couture and snapping fingers, but Mom has years.

I see the flare in Winny’s eye at the mention of Harvey’s mom. It’s quick, like a match struck and blown out, but I caught it.

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