Hi Daddy! I'm Live!
Amber Ann looked at the text messages over and over again. It all felt like a suffocating dream. She had made a decision to step aside, thinking it would give Dan happiness and her peace of mind; now, that choice felt like a ludicrous overreaction. Even after she turned her phone off, the messages remained etched into her brain like the blinding after-image of a bright light.
When Jessica announced her pregnancy, many things had raced through her mind. She agreed with both Virginia and Cristina that it felt like a lie. Her heart ached at the thought of someone else having Dan's baby, and her brain buzzed when she tried to imagine Jessica carrying a baby to full term.
But she never imagined Dan contacting her and freely admitting a mistake—honestly stating that he might be the father and that he had been with Jessica after Amber left. He had really changed.
The fact that she could actually see his transformation made her palms sweat. It returned a hope to her that she thought she had smothered out completely. Yet, she was a different person now. Her goals had changed, and the way she saw the world had shifted. She wasn't sure if Dan fit into her new existence.
She shut off her phone and went to sleep.
The next day, she rose and went straight to work. She busied herself, refusing to think about Dan or their marriage. She worked in the bakery early, baking most of the day's breads and pastries herself. From there, she went to the bathhouse—The Blue Serene Mineral Baths and Spa—to oversee the work on the mud processing and plumbing systems.
Finally, she went to the boutique hotel. She had planned to head to her next construction site, but the air seemed to tremble with foreboding. Amber looked up from the building plans in her hand and saw a silver sports car speeding toward her like a streak of liquid metal, eager for a destination—and maybe even recognition.
The car came to a shuddering halt right before Amber, the heat from the engine blazing harshly against her skin. Jessica stormed from the car in a rage. For the briefest of seconds, she paused, looking up at the hotel in mild awe. The expressive mix of driftwood and river stone played against her eye in true boutique style. Its deep-set windows were inviting, its exquisite materials looking like something straight out of an expensive architectural magazine.
Jessica's fury intensified as she wondered how Amber Ann could own something she herself wanted to experience. She could not comprehend how this was a manifestation of her "plain, dreary" middle sister. She collected herself and rounded on Amber as if her sister had physically assaulted her.
"Who do you think you are? You have ruined everything, Amber Ann!" She spat the name as if it were poisonous. "You knew from the beginning that Dan was mine. Things could have been fine between us. I could've been happy. Now look at me!"
She looked down at her belly dramatically, as if it were already swollen with her twins.
Amber's eyes were drawn to it, and for a moment, her mind returned to that day in the hospital. The harsh lights causing her tear strained eyes to hurt. The smell of antiseptic and illness all around her. She thought of the blood on her hands and the vacant look in Dan's eyes as the reality of his unborn daughter's death spread through him.
She closed her eyes for half a breath, trying to steel her trembling heart.
Those memories helped her break the stupor. She shook her head, forcing her mind to align with the present. Tiffany was gone, and her marriage was as good as done. What right did Jessica have to berate her?
Amber cocked her head and narrowed her eyes. "How is it possible that you are the most heartless bitch on the planet? What exactly do you want, Jessica? I already gave you my husband."
The words were calm, but they hit Jessica like a hammer. Amber truly had become ultra-confident. But Jessica never allowed herself to feel defeated.
"Gave him?!" Jessica scoffed, a malicious smile creasing her lips. "How can you give what you never even had, little sister?"
She looked at her sister's expensive work pants and how they were made of sturdy, high quality fabrics, and anger rose up in her again. Why did she have everything. Who said Amber ever deserved any of it. Amber deserved nothing and she deserved everything. She narrowed her eyes just as Amber sighed.
Amber calmly looked into her sister's eyes as she spoke.
"Fine. If I never had him, then this conversation is moot."
"Moot!" Jessica said the word with contempt, as she rolled her eyes. She took a step toward Amber, her heels distributing the gravel loudly beneath them. "Who says that? Why must you lord your education over everyone? Can't you just sit down and, and—"
"And allow you to walk all over me however you please? No, sister dear. That was the old Amber Ann. If you have a problem with whom I have become, it has nothing to do with me and everything to do with you. Get some self-esteem, my dearest Jessica. This feral look is not good on you."
Jessica looked at her sister in fury—and then she noticed the smirks aimed at her. She blinked several times. Were they filming? Amber Ann spoke as if she had heard the question in her sister's mind.
"Yes, eldest sister, there are always social media influencers here now. You are probably on a Live right now. Turn to the camera and wave hello to Daddy."
Amber smiled broadly, took her own advice, and turned toward the cameras. With a wave, she spoke in earnest. "Hi Daddy! We love you!"
The air left Jessica's lungs; she actually wheezed for a second. She let out a feral grunt and scrambled back into her car. Gravel shot into the air as her wheels spun, trying to gain traction before she sped off. Amber scoffed as she pulled her phone from her pocket.
Text:
If you truly want me back, Dan...
PROVE IT.
She closed her texting app - her mind blank and her body relaxed. She smiled as she watched her sister's car speed toward the arch, exiting the resort. She had left the marriage quietly; it was Jessica who was making this something dramatic and obscene.
The new Amber was ready to give Jessica exactly what she deserved.