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If you’re shaking your head at me, hear me out, okay? Can you really deny the possibility that Michael Anders—who we already know is capable of seducing a man and then blackmailing him about it for the rest of his life, including to force him into giving him his only daughter’s hand in marriage so he can carry on a charade—wouldn’t stoop to the level of setting this whole thing up to blow up in our faces?
I’m sorry to start throwing conspiracy theories out there, but it’s gotta be fucking said. Who’s to say that Michael didn’t just plant a reporter in here to ask Jocelyn the question that got her tripped up? If you’re thinking the election, think about how many pity votes he could come out getting as the husband who’s wife cheated on him. How many women would vote for him based on the fact that they don’t like cheating? And we know he polls not so well with women.
That’s why despite all the planning, I still wanted to be close in case anything like this went down. Because when push comes to shove, I’m going to protect Jocelyn over my stepfather.
“At the end of the day, Michael Ander’s first and true love is public service and holding office,” I say into the microphone. “He’s better suited than his wife. He lives and breathes for something like that. Neither Jocelyn and I are like that.”
The cameras continue to roll and I can tell it’s time to bring it all home.
“Let me be clear and make this final point,” I say in a commanding voice. “I was rescued from my aimless and stagnating ways by this woman standing next to me. It takes a lot of courage to come up here and admit you did something wrong, and
she did that with class, grace, and humility. I admit that I did wrong as well. I’ll probably have to atone for my sins one day, but right now, I want to move on with my life and I’m sure she wants the same. There’s nothing nefarious going on in that.”
“Lance,” a female voice shoots out. “Did the estrangement of several years cause you any contributing desire in addition to your attraction for going down this path and potentially torpedoing his campaign?”
She thinks I fucking planned this out?
“I think you give me too much credit,” I quip back sharply. There is a light ruffling of laughter. “All I did was find two unhappy people when I entered their lives.”
I look to Jocelyn and she smiles at me. “Hopefully by the time I leave at least one of those people is happier with me.”
“But you still engaged in an improper affair, did you not?” the reporter follows up. She’s not letting this one go.
I sigh. “Is it cheating if there is no love in the marriage?” I ask.
There’s several murmurs of discussion and the voice replies back. “If there was truly no love, why didn’t your father and Mrs. Anders file for a relatively simple divorce? Why go through the pitfalls of cheating on a spouse?”
Fuck.
Where did that come from?
In my pause, the reporter pounces. “In fact, isn’t it true that the only reason you’re standing here today is because Mrs. Anders got pregnant? That if she hadn’t, you would simply carry on as before.”
Fuck, he’s just backed me into a corner.
Michael made it explicitly clear not to air the dirty laundry, but I don’t know what else I’m supposed to do now to defend Jocelyn and me. I can’t talk about the specific cases where the marriage looks fucking fake, because it’ll make dad look bad. And he’ll retaliate with enough overkill to steamroll us.
But on the other hand, I can’t talk about knowingly cheating, or helping a woman cheat.
Seriously, this smacks of a Michael Anders setup, doesn’t it?
I look to the right of me and see Jocelyn standing there, placing her complete faith in me.
I just wish I knew what to say.
That's when another voice comes from behind the crowd.
“He didn’t cheat, because the marriage was never proper to begin with,” the voice states with commanding authority.
I can’t see who it is, but I see the people part—similar to how Moses parted the Red Sea.
And out of the corner of my eyes, I see the front row begin to split up in different sides.
And my dad comes walking out.
He turns his back to me and faces the cameras. “Maybe I should say some words now too, give my side of the story.”
Yeah, he’s definitely up to something.
