Silence Reveals Hidden Answers’ by Michael Anderson novel Chapter 70

Chapter 70

Jenna.

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With the contact names in my hand for Jennifer, I knock on her door but that smile on my face dies and turns to ashes, when Harvey opens it. His huge muscled arm is leaning against the doorframe, flexed, blocking the entrance like a bodyguard while he looks at me coldly.

What the hell. What is he doing here in her apartment? They’re broken up!?

I push past him into the apartment, and they all look at me like I’ve lost my mind. The upscale patio doors are open to the living room, and before I can even turn to glare at Harvey, Jennifer steps out in a t-shirt that’s hanging to her mid-thigh.

“Um, what are you doing here?” Jennifer’s friend, Tinka, asks me.

But I’m stuck on the exact words Harvey just said. He called her his girlfriend!? Like they’re back together!? No…no way! I refuse to believe it. Why would she date him again after what he did to her father?

“You called her-”

“My girlfriend?” Harvey completes the sentence, just like I heard him say the first time. He walks right past me to stand beside Jennifer. I watch as he puts his hands on her waist.

“y-”

I’m not even done speaking when he leans down and starts kissing her sensually. I see her hand tremble as he makes her place it on his chest, and he pulls her so close not even a breeze could pass between them. I hear the soft sound of their lips moving together, how his calloused thumb grazes her lower lip to open her further.

Harvey with all his muscles, just… melts against her. He pours himself into the kiss like he’s pouring something hot and sweet down her throat.

Harvey makes it impossible for me to look away. I have to watch him devour and he doesn’t stop until she’s boneless against him, until the kiss is the only thing holding her

Then he looks back at me, eyes cold. “We’re dating again.”

It feels like I want to die. Something tight and painful seizes my chest. How?

“Um, can you excuse us?” Some guy says, stepping between me and the scene. Tears are pricking at the back. of my eyes in a painful way.

“Were we disturbing…we’re having a small party to celebrate Harvey and Jennifer being together again.”

He opens the door wider. I see Harvey turn Jennifer away from looking at me, tucking her into his side.

I move my steps back, numb, until I’m out in the hallway. I don’t even make it to my own apartment before furious tears burst out. After everything? After everything I did?

12:34 Wed, Feb 11 d.

Chapter 70

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She’s a damn bitch. Letting him touch her. Letting her lips be where mine belong. Kissing Harvey. She’s a cheap, desperate cunt. A used-up toy he’s decided to play with again because she’s easy. She opens her mouth for him like a common gutter slut, begging for his scraps!

I sink my fingers into my hair and pull tight as I slide down against my door, trying to make sense of it, but I can’t. An ugly sob tears from my throat as my shoulders shudder.

I thought I had the tools to make sure they never got back together. How did it not even last? Jennifer isn’t from our world. She should never be able to forgive a guy like him after what he did to her dad. So how… how come… he kissed her like that in front of me? A kiss I’ve dreamed of him giving me ever since we broke up.

My hands are shaking. Tears are blurring everything. The more I think about the way they kissed, the way he held her…I couldn’t stand it back in Italy, and I don’t have the ability to watch it happen all over again. The anger boils over until it become red-hot.

I start phoning Reign with shaky, wet hands.

“Hey, sis-”

“I want to hurt Jennifer!” I say it, and I mean it. I don’t have time to devise another stupid, subtle plan. She’s the girl he’s loved for four years. It’s not going to be easy to tear them apart. So if I just hurt her, put her in a coma or something… then Harvey would have to pay attention to me.

“No.”

“Why not!?” I get up and yell into the phone.

“I said yes to helping you break them up, but I’m not going to hurt someone who didn’t do anything to you.”

“But she is doing something to me! She’s dating Harvey again! He just kissed her in front of me. Everything we did, Reign… everything made no difference! He’s still with her!”

“And he’s not the only man in the world.”

“Reign!” I scream at him. He’s my brother. He should be on my side.

“You saw the fight between Harvey and me just because I sent a stalker after her. If you hurt her, he’s probably going to end you and I. Because he’ll have nothing left to lose. Don’t be stupid.”

I think about it as I pace around the apartment, biting my lip until I taste blood while my vision is blurred with jealous tears.

“Then why don’t you go after her? You like her, Reign. I know you do. Go after her. Act interested. It’ll bring out Harvey’s true character even more, and she might finally see how toxic he really is.”

“You’re not thinking straight-”

“Reign, it’s either you do something to actually help me, or I hurt this girl. And you know I can!”

“Fine.” He spits the word, and I end the call before he can change his mind.

12:34 Wed, Feb 11 d

Chapter 70

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I throw my phone. It sails across the room and lands somewhere with a crack that’s probably fatal. They’re having a celebration party for getting back together? No. I don’t think so.

I storm out of my apartment and take the elevator to the highest service level of the penthouse…the electrical room. Anita, the building manager, mentioned it during my tour, in case of “emergencies.” Well, this is an

emergency.

I’m a Don’s daughter. I’ve watched my brother do shady things a hundred times. One of his favourites is killing the power to a whole building to cause chaos. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Ruin their little party.

I find the main electrical panel. It’s a mess of wires and switches behind a locked metal grate, but the lock is flimsy. A hard yank with the heel of my boot, and it gives way. I don’t know exactly what I’m doing, but I know what destruction looks like. I grab a heavy metal pipe left by a maintenance worker and start smashing. I hit the main breakers, the transformers, tearing at wires until sparks fly and the acrid smell of burnt plastic fills the small room.

Then, total, absolute darkness plunges down thirty-six floors!

I can hear voices instantly…shouts of confusion, annoyance….echoing up the stairwell. The silence of a powered building is replaced by the murmur of a startled hive. I take the stairs down quickly. On all floors, people are already spilling out of their apartments with their phone flashlights.

“What the hell?”

“What happened?”

“It’s a power outage!”

“In this building? Are you serious?”

It’s nearly midnight in an upscale place like Ocean Springs. Things like this aren’t supposed to happen. It’ll take management hours to get an electrician here to fix the mess I’ve made.

“Somebody call management or something! I have a game to watch-”

“There’s not even a storm!”

People shuffle past me, dragging their feet. I’m just another shadow. Then I smell a perfume…or a person that’s uniquely Harvey. A buff figure is illuminated by someone’s flashlight beam. It’s him.

“Where’s the outage area?” His voice cuts through the chatter. Yeah, that’s definitely his voice! Is he going to try and fix it? I scoff internally. Good luck.

“Jennifer?” I hear Tinka’s voice.

“What, Tinka?”

“Harvey?” someone else calls for him.

“I’m going upstairs to check it out.”

12:34 Wed, Feb 11 d

Chapter 70

72

55 vouchers

“What do you know about electrical stuff?” Jennifer asks and I hear his footsteps heading for the stairs.

No one else follows him immediately. I wait a beat, then start up the stairs after him, moving as fast and quiet as I can. I want to see if he can actually do anything. It’s three flights up to the service level. I’m on the second-floor landing when I hear Jennifer calling after him, her own flashlight beam bobs in the darkness.

Shit. I quickly duck into a side hallway, pressing myself against the wall as her light sweeps past. Then I see her phone slips from her hand. It clatters down a few steps and the light snuffs out, plunging that section of the staircase into total black.

She goes down the steps she’s already on, feeling her way to find it. She’s at the edge of a long, steep flight of stairs. It’s so dark. If I pushed her… I’m not trying to kill her. But eighteen steps down? She could break a leg. Hurt her face. Get a concussion. Enough to make her recover for the next one year.

I start moving down to try my thought. She’s completely focused on finding her phone and is unaware that I’m few feets behind her. My heart hammers against my ribs. This is it. A little nudge is all it would take.

Just as I’m within arm’s reach, I hear Harvey’s footsteps rushing back down from above, his flashlight is cutting through the darkness from the higher landing.

I freeze, then scramble back up the stairs, retreating into the shadows of the hallway I came from.

“Who’s there!?” Jennifer hears my frantic movement and whips around, but it’s too dark for her to see me.

“Jen?” Harvey’s voice calls as he descends and his light now finds her.

“Harvey, gosh… I thought someone else was behind me. My phone… it dropped.”

“I’ll get it.” His voice is tight. He stops her from searching to search for the device a few steps below.

“What about the outage?”

“I can’t fix it. Looks bad. Let’s just all go to my house tonight.”

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