The Bennetts

The Bennett Household

“Where is this idiot?” Mrs Bennett snapped, glaring at her phone as she paced the living room. Her thumb furiously tapped Monique’s number again and again, but it kept going unanswered.

“Why don’t you just leave her alone?” Lydia said, slouched on the couch with a wine glass in hand.

Mrs Bennett shot her daughter a sharp, withering look and continued dialling.

“I’m tired,” Mr. Bennett muttered, standing from his recliner and heading toward the bedroom. “I’m going to bed.”

“Useless,” Mrs. Bennett hissed under her breath as the door closed behind him.

Lydia rolled her eyes and took another sip. “I don’t know why you’re still interested in her. You already have everything. Ryan made sure she couldn’t get anything back. So what’s the point? Why are you still calling her?”

Mrs Bennett turned to her daughter sharply. “Because she is a Moffat,” she snapped as if Lydia were too dumb to understand the weight of that name. “A Moffat by herself is priceless. We still need her in our corner. We still need her.”

Lydia frowned. “I don’t understand. What’s your plan, exactly?”

Before Mrs Bennett could answer, her phone lit up. She glanced at the screen and cursed under her breath.

“Who is it?” Lydia asked.

“It’s your brother,” Mrs. Bennett replied, already answering the call with a change in tone. “Hello, my handsome boy, Ryan! How are you? And Ariana, is everything okay there? I hope she’s not too mad....”

“Have you seen Monique?” Ryan cut her off, his voice tense. “Did she come there?”

“She did,” Mrs. Bennett answered smoothly.

“So she’s still there?”

“No, honey,” she said, walking slowly toward the window. “She left.”

“She left?” Ryan exploded through the line. “Where the hell is she? Where did she go?”

Mrs. Bennett hesitated, glancing at Lydia. For once, she didn’t have all the answers. And that made her uneasy.

“Mother!” Ryan snapped, his voice slicing through the phone when his mother remained silent too long.

“I don’t know, honey,” Mrs. Bennett finally replied, her voice tight. “I don’t know where she went after she left.”

Ryan exhaled sharply, frustration simmering. “I knew she had no one in this country. No one in this city who really knew her. I knew the moment she left, she was coming there. And I was really counting on the fact that you were going to keep her there until I had everything under control.”

“I know,” Mrs Bennett replied, defensive now. “But I wasn’t expecting her to just show up. You didn’t tell me beforehand.”

“I didn’t think I was supposed to,” Ryan said with an edge in his voice. “What did she say when she got there? What happened?”

Mrs Bennett exhaled slowly. “She already knew the truth. So all we did was confirm it when she started talking crazy.”

“Talking crazy?” Ryan asked, his tone rising. “What the hell was she saying?”

“She was talking about her parents, their properties… taking everything she’s ever given you back,” Mrs Bennett answered casually, brushing it off.

Ryan let out a low, mocking laugh. “Classic. Stupid Monique.”

He paused for a beat, then asked, “I thought you'd put someone on her. At least to follow her, to know where she is or went.”

“Why didn’t you?” Mrs Bennett snapped back. “Why didn’t you put someone on her when she left your house?”

Ryan sighed again, slower this time. The irritation in his voice was now joined by a tinge of regret.

“She surprised me,” he admitted. “All the time I’ve known Monique, she’s always done things after telling me first. She came to the house and caught me off guard. That’s why I didn’t think of it… because I also knew she had nowhere to go. The only place she would ever think to run to was you. And I knew that when she told you everything, you’d be smart enough to keep her there.”

He paused. “I’m really disappointed in you, Mother.”

Mrs. Bennett swallowed hard at his words. They stung more than she expected. “Like you said,” she murmured, voice lower now, “she knows nobody. She has no friends and no other connections. I’m sure… she’ll come back.”

“I hope you’re right, Mother,” Ryan muttered, his jaw clenched. “I really do.”

“I am right,” Mrs. Bennett replied, trying to sound confident, though even she could hear the uncertainty laced in her voice. “I mean, I know her. Where would she go? She has nothing. No money...."

" She still has access to the credit cards I gave her, and I haven’t frozen them yet.”

“Then you should,” her mother cut in sharply.

“No,” Ryan replied firmly. “Not yet. It’s not time to get aggressive. This is just the first wave. The first time she’s finding out the truth. Of course, she’s mad. So the only thing we need to do now is find her, wait for her to calm down… and then talk. Effectively.”

Mrs Bennett narrowed her eyes. “Effectively? What does that mean, Ryan?”

Ryan sighed. “I mean, we need a strategy."

"What’s your take on this whole situation? How did Arianna take it?” Mrs. Bennett’s voice dipped with concern.

“What do you think? She got angry. Now she’s demanding that I divorce Monique.”

“You can’t divorce Monique,” she added quickly.

“I know that,” Ryan snapped, irritation flashing in his voice. “I know that. But first things first....”

“I told you,” Mrs. Bennett interrupted. “I told you it was a bad idea bringing Monique to that house. Why didn’t you just get her another place? Buy her another property?”

“You think I haven’t tried that?” Ryan bit out. “But she’s obsessed with that house. I don’t know if it’s because Monique and I lived there, or what, but she wants that house. And I was going to give her whatever she wanted.”

His voice hardened with bitterness. “I was planning to surprise Monique with a new property I bought for us.... before she went ahead and ruined everything.”

Mrs Bennett exhaled slowly, her fingers tightening around the phone.

“So… what am I supposed to do now?”

“Find her,” Ryan ordered. “Call her. Do whatever you have to. Just find her.”

“I have been calling,” Mrs. Bennett said. “She’s not picking up.”

“Then keep calling,” Ryan said coldly. “And find someone to look for her. I don’t care who or how. I need to know where she is. And fast.”