5: Exposing the father-in-law

Jeffrey Kruger let out a forced, nervous chuckle, trying to smooth over the suffocating tension.

“Finn, when you put it like that... it was Dad’s arrangement, after all. I’m sure Theo wouldn’t dream of going against it. Kimberly Holland is Theo’s one and only rightful wife. No one can ever overstep her position.”

He shot a sharp, pressuring glare at his son. “Theo. Hurry up and give your uncle a proper answer.”

Theo’s jaw clenched so hard his cheekbones threatened to pop.

He sat there in brooding, sullen silence, every fiber of his being rebelling against the unfairness of it all.

“Hey!” Jeffrey growled under his breath, his fingers digging brutally into Theo’s forearm. “Theo! Your answer! Now!”

Theo hissed, flinching at the vice-like grip on his arm.

He glared furiously at his father before shooting up from the couch. “Fine! Great! The one and only wife of me, Theo Kruger, can only ever be her, Kimberly Holland!”

Kimberly’s eyebrows twitched.

She let out a loud, dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes so far back into her head she almost saw her own brain.

Beside them, Vivian looked as if she’d been slapped, her face draining of color and she cast her eyes down in bitter disappointment.

Satisfied, Jeffrey waved a dismissive hand at the two younger women. “Vivian, Lucy, you two leave us. Now.”

“Dad!” both girls whined in unison, putting on their best tearful, aggrieved faces.

Jeffrey’s eyes flared. “I said get out!”

Without a choice, the two dragged themselves away, the sharp, angry clack-clack-clack of their stiletto heels echoing furiously against the floor.

Finnick remained draped across his armchair, utterly unfazed, his aura dangerously relaxed.

“So long as you understand the stakes,” he said lazily. “The next generation of the Kruger bloodline will not be spawned by some low-tier mistress or a wife’s opportunistic sister. It would permanently tarnish the Kruger name. And as for the old Patriarch...”

He flicked a cold glance at Jeffrey. “…you would find it entirely impossible to answer to him.”

Theo raised an eyebrow, a smug realization suddenly dawning on his face.

He smirked at Finnick. “You don’t need to worry about that for a second, Uncle. Once the child in Vivian’s womb is born, I’ll naturally have the baby raised under Kim’s name...”

Kimberly slowly turned her head toward Theo, her eyelids pulling back in shock. “...Hmm?”

Theo carried on, completely enamored with his own brilliant scheme. “We’ll simply announce to the press that it’s mine and Kimberly’s child. A legitimate heir. No one outside this room will ever know the difference.”

Jeffrey nodded approvingly, a sleazy, proud smile spreading across his face.

Kimberly sat frozen.

She genuinely couldn’t tell if she was suffering from severe oxygen deprivation or if her ears were playing a sick cosmic joke on her.

Then, a short, breathless laugh of sheer disbelief burst from her lips.

“Yes, Finn! Rest assured, I’ll personally break the news to Dad,” Jeffrey chimed in, practically rubbing his hands together. “Our Kruger bloodline has been starved for heirs. When the old man hears a grand-child is on the way, he'll naturally be happy!” He let out a booming, self-congratulatory laugh.

Finnick, ignoring his brother completely, kept his dark, calculating gaze locked onto Kimberly’s shifting expressions.

“If she agrees...” he said quietly, testing the waters.

Theo scoffed dismissively. “She’ll naturally agree…”

“Agree my foot!” Kimberly roared.

Theo recoiled, pointing an agitated finger at her face. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

Kimberly sprang to her feet, her hands jammed firmly on her hips as she towered over them.

“Do I look like a braindead clown to you?! Is the word ‘SUCKER’ tattooed across my forehead in neon ink?! You keep saying ‘naturally’ like I’m some brainless, obedient golden retriever! Or... or did I desecrate your entire ancestral graveyard in my past life that I have to sit here and swallow this radioactive humiliation?!”

Finnick closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as a mild migraine began to form.

Jeffrey and Theo stared up at her in utter, paralyzed shock.

The silent, timid doormat they had abused for three years was suddenly barking like a rabid pit bull.

Kimberly immediately turned to Finnick, her face dropping into a tragic, theatrical pout as she wriggled her shoulders. “Uncle... please, you have to be my judge! Look at what Father-in-law just said! The Kruger family is ‘starved for heirs’?”

She let out a cackle, turning a mocking gaze back to a thoroughly bewildered Jeffrey. “You aren’t lacking heirs, you’re only lacking legitimate ones! What about the busty blonde hiding out at Apple Street? Or the brunette with the penthouse at Rain Harbor?!”

Jeffrey’s jaw dropped.

The color instantly drained from his face as a cold, terrifying sweat broke out across his forehead.

Theo scratched the back of his neck, desperately pressing his lips together to smother a sudden, traitorous laugh as he watched his own father get mercilessly exposed.

“And don’t even get me started on mistresses number four, five, and six!” Kimberly ran her mouth at bullet-train speed, pointing wildly at Jeffrey. “Father-in-law’s illegitimate bastards scattered around the city number in the dozens, to put it mildly!”

Finnick slowly raised a single, arched eyebrow, turning his gaze toward his older brother.

Jeffrey frantically whipped his face away, burying his head in his hand to hide his panic.

Kimberly pressed her advantage, tossing her damp hair dramatically over her shoulder. “If that’s what you call an ‘empty bloodline,’ what do you need next? A starting lineup for a professional soccer team?!”

“Kimberly Holland!!” Jeffrey roared, slamming his fist onto his knee, his face turning a dangerous shade of purple. “What outrageous, slanderous nonsense are you spouting?!”

Underneath his rage, however, his mind was screaming: ‘How in God’s name does she know about all that?!’

Kimberly scoffed, flicking her hair again with a sneer of triumph.

‘Cry about it,’ she thought, her inner monologue cackling madly. ‘I’m the one holding the master script! There isn’t a dirty secret in this entire universe I don’t know about. You want to scheme against me? Bring it on, old man. Let’s throw down. Who’s afraid of who?!’