BEHIND THE MASK- BOOK II

TWENTY-FOUR: BUTTERFLY

TWENTY-FOUR: BUTTERFLY

A few days past since the family reunion event. Both Riley and Cameron were preparing to meet with Ben and his lawyer and the rest of the family in the courthouse today. However, Sylvia wasn't going to attend. Her time of healing had officially begun after Cameron tried to contact her the night she left and couldn't get her. It seemed as if she turned her phone off the minute, she landed wherever she was heading to.

Wearing a sleek, black suit, Riley made sure to grab her things before they left their apartment. Cameron made sure that he had her medication on her hand in case it was time for her to take it. Then they headed towards the parking garage.

"Which car are we taking this time?" Riley asked him.

"The Porsche."

She nodded and they made their way to the courthouse.

***

The press was already here, lined up waiting for someone, anyone for that matter to answer their question. Neither Riley nor Cameron could blame them. It's their job. They'd do anything to get a story on you—sometimes exploit your privacy even. Cameron parked right across from the courthouse, drawing the press' attention to them. The couple walked right pass them like the power couple they truly were. Both wearing shades that matched each other, and their suits with similar design.

Cameron and Riley looked like they owned the place. As they walked by, the press went into a frenzy asking them about Sylvia and Clara, about their whereabouts. Neither of them answered and went inside the courthouse. When they got inside, they stopped in their tracks taking a double take. They saw someone they didn't expect to see at all, but they still kept their cool. Clara was standing in the center of the hall, waiting. And words couldn't explain how she looked, but Riley knew the look in her eyes way too well.

Clara wore a black pencil skirt with a white button-up shirt. However, she looked as if she had gone to hell and back—and that alone could be an understatement.

"I didn't think you would show up to your husband's trial," Riley told her amused. "In all honesty, I'm a little surprised you're here considering the sudden disappearing act you pulled since your kids were discharged."

"Spare me the slander, I've had enough of it," She said tired of everything. "I only came because I needed to see it through."

Cameron smirked. "You want to see your husband go to jail? That's not like you at all, Mrs. Carson."

"It's Jones. And no. I want him dead."

To say Riley was surprised was an understatement although she didn't show it. "What's gotten into you, Aunt Clara? You're not the type to wish for someone's death."

"Don't act like you know what I'm going through, Riley," she sneered.

Riley then chuckled. "Oh, I do know what you're going through, Aunt Clara. I know exactly what you're going through. You're angry because you realized that I was right about him all along. You're angry because you found out the truth. You're angry because all this time everyone has been using you as a steppingstone to get what they want. You're angry because Sylvia saw right through your father's true motives, and you couldn't. You're angry because you allowed your thirst for money and power to cloud your judgement. You're angry because your own kids saw it too and you didn't. All of that happened because I waltzed right back into the family picture and helped my mother expose it all."

"H-how—"

"Because I took the most damage, Aunt Clara. Everything my mother ran away from, everything that happened to Casey and Cassidy except the selling off part happened to me. No matter how many times you say that I ruined everything, there's one thing you can't deny. If it weren't for us exposing Ben to the world, your kids would be dead. Sylvia would be dead. I would be dead and none of you would've had the slightest clue."