Athena Tyler is an Italian-American musician who rose to fame as the lead singer of a girl band with her sisters, called 'Sorelle'. She has amassed millions of dollars and now lives alone in a luxurious mansion. Although she no longer sings, she has...
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March 3rd, 1994
A few weeks later, everything was peaceful in the Tyler-Jackson household. Athena and Michael were both busy with work, both working on new and exciting things for their careers. Of course, Athena still went by Athena Tyler publicly, and she signed the paperwork to change her name to Tallarico-Jackson in her private life, as she promised.
She knew they would have to talk about her name again in the future, but for now, she was enjoying life.
As the days went by, Athena found herself becoming more accustomed to her new name, Tallarico-Jackson. She practiced writing it out on scraps of paper, trying out different variations of signatures until she found one that felt right. The hyphenation felt like a compromise between her past and her present, a bridge between the person she had been and the person she was becoming.
One evening, Athena was sitting in her and Michael's room at Neverland Valley Ranch when Michael was out in meetings. As she read one of Shakespeare's many plays, she couldn't help but think of the ways Shakespeare had captured the complexities of love and identity. She paused as a particular line stood out to her: "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." The words resonated with her, making her ponder the significance of names in defining who people are and how others see each other.
Athena's phone suddenly rang, and she reached over to answer it without taking her eyes off the page, "Tyler."
"Long time, no see—Athena Tyler," a chilling voice said from the other end.
"Alex," Athena said, recognizing the voice, the play in her hands forgotten as she shot up from the bed, "What do you want?"
"I have Janet," Alex's taunting voice said, "Your husband's little sister."
Athena's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Janet, her mind racing with fear and concern for her husband's sister. She had hoped that her past with Alex was just that—in the past. But it seemed he was back to haunt her once again.
"What have you done to her, Alex? When did you get out of jail?!" Athena asked, her voice trembling with a mixture of anger and worry.
"Oh, don't worry, Athena," Alex laughed, "She's perfectly fine. For now."
"What do you want?" Athena asked again, trying to keep her voice steady.
"Money, my sweet little Athena Tyler," he stated in a voice that sent shivers down her spine, "A lot of it."
"How much is a lot, Alex?"
"Oh, just....you know, five million dollars," Alex shrugged casually, "And I want it by 2:00 PM today."
Athena looked down at her watch and saw that it was already 12:01 PM, "Alex, that's in less than two hours. It's impossible."
"Well, figure it out. I'll send you the drop-off details. Might want to get bags together. Five million dollars takes up a lot of room," Alex said, "And don't even think about telling your husband or his security. Don't tell anyone. Or you'll get your sister-in-law back in pieces."
