Not Us: Briggs & Jacqueline

Chapter 14

Chase's POV

Fuck that was a good release. Dad and I had been tag-teaming Josey for a few months now. He was missing Mom and I was missing Jacqueline, and I was also trying not to kill Ruth. I wanted to smother her daily with that annoying ass voice of hers. Always complaining about my mother and how she's been blacklisted. She's not the fucking only one! I have to drive at least two hours out for any and all services I might need. Work on my car? Out of town. Need a haircut? Out of town. Want to go shopping? Two hours out of town.

I'm just tired of all this shit. That's what it is. Shit.

I thought I heard heels clicking on the floor, but just as quickly as I'd heard them, they were gone. Weird. I peeked out the door, unable to see anyone, so I returned to Dad's office and finished getting dressed to head back to hell. I mean home. Thank god the apartment we were sharing was under a legally binding lease, or Mom probably would have pulled strings to get us booted from there.

In under a week, she made Ruth, her mom, Dad, and me all fucking pariahs in this town. I don't know how, but Mom has influence. I thought it was just her being married to Dad because he has money. But they've separated, and the divorce is ongoing. It's looking rough because Mom is sticking to the cheating clause in their prenup, which basically leaves Dad with nothing.

Though, I guess if you think about it, he did violate the prenup and that's some shit that will fuck you legally. At least I knew that much. Dad is still trying to fight it, but even his lawyers are telling him that there's no point. Mom's going to win. She's done nothing but me a devoted wife to a man who father seven illegitimate children.

One of whom, is apparently from a woman he did fall in love with. And he wanted to marry and have a life with. That woman is Lennon's mother. Lennon...who is slowly working her way into every part of this company. Fucking Lennon, who has Dad wrapped around that annoying fucking finger! I don't fucking get it! That's part of the reason why when I started fucking Josey, and she told me she's fucking him too, I suggested she get him on board so we can have some bonding time.

Or so I can at least have something to hold over him.

I need some sort of upper hand in this. I know we have like three board members on our payroll, but I need more. She's picking up on how to run this company like it's nothing and I'm over here fucking struggling to stay afloat. How? How is she this fucking good?

I'm not losing to her. I'm not losing to a girl who came out of left fucking field with this shit. Nope. Not happening.

Walking through the door of the apartment, it's quiet. Too quiet. I flip a light on and see suitcases and boxes by the door. I see a light on in the spare room we've started prepping for the baby which should be along in a few months. I open the door and see Ruth sleeping on the pull-out couch in there. She may be annoying, but she's still the mother of my child. Looking at her face, I see tear streaks where it looks like they had dried coming down her cheeks. Why was she crying? And why is there shit packed and stacked by the door? I don't have the mental capacity to think about this right now. I pick her up and carry her back to our room. She needs to sleep on a bed. She'll be hurting in the morning and I don't feel like listening to that shit.

After getting her settled, I go into the bathroom, shower the smell of sex, and Josey off me. I crawl into bed next to her and drift off to sleep.

Jacqueline's POV

It's been two weeks since Briggs left, and I miss him. A lot. Therapy is going really well, and I was talking to my therapist about the idea I'd come up with for Bean. I wanted to get a necklace made that had a pendant the size of what he or she was when we lost them and have the name 'Bean' written on it. I'd been talking to Odette about it. We'd been working hard on getting the house ready to either sell or turn into an Airbnb.

I liked the idea, but I needed someone I could trust to come in and clean it and take care of it. I had a meeting today with Lennon and Johannah. Maybe I could ask them? Because Odette said she was coming with me. If I moved out to Cali to be with Briggs, she was coming too. We had our first trip out there booked. We leave in two days. Thank god.

I miss him.

We Facetime and talk on the phone and text all the time, but it's not the same as actually having him there in front of us. He thinks that if I ask Johannah to be the person to check on the house for me, she will, considering how motherly she is towards Lennon and me. It's like she's got all the motherly instinct that she needs to use somewhere. Maybe I would. They'd be here soon.

It was going to be our last meeting. We officially had brought down Ruth. We had enough to bring down Chase, Johnathon, and Josey. The plan was to execute next month. Rumors about the three of them had been circulating the company, and they ranged from, 'They're working together to push Lennon out', to 'Johnathon loves Lennon like he's wished for all these years, and now he's happily handing over the company to her, but Chase is having legal look for a loophole'. Both are probably true.

But both reasons don't matter.

The knock at the door brings me out of my thoughts. Looking through the peephole, I'm alarmed to find Ruth there. She looks like an absolute mess. I pulled out my phone and texted Odette that she was standing at our front door. Then I called Briggs. If she was going to try something, I wanted him to hear it.

"You've reached Briggs, leave a message," I didn't know how long it would record so I slid the chain across hoping that would stop her if she tried to barrel in. Slowly opening the door, I sent one last text to the girls. I needed them to know she was here and I had no idea why.

"You know I could have a restraining order brought against you, right?" She was sobbing, hard, as she nodded her head like a bobblehead, "Then why are you here Ruth?" I raised an eyebrow, looking at her with suspicion. She held her phone out and there was a video on the screen. I took the phone through the small opening in the door and hit play.

The scene that unfolded before me made me want to vomit. On top of a desk was Josey, riding Mr. Smith, while Chase fucked her also. I don't know where or how and I don't want to know.

"I know," her voice was wobbling, "You're working with Chase's mom to destroy us. Please use this. I'm leaving town. I'm taking my baby and we're leaving." She wiped her nose as I sent the file to myself.

"I'm really sorry for everything I did to you, Jacqueline. I really am." I just nodded and handed her phone back to her. She turned and walked away, looking very sad and very unlike the girl I grew up with. I miss that girl. Not whoever she turned into.