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[color=darkgray][indent][indent]When she’d set foot on the plane that would take her from New York to the Florida Keys, Amanda Woodall had promised herself to completely disconnect from everything and just focus on the weekend ahead. But in the end, the workaholic in her had prevailed, and she'd found herself checking her work inbox while waiting for her [url=https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/72681993_143738086993679_8453623123277774848_o.jpg?_nc_cat=109&efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&_nc_oc=AQn33MtxuLxeW_NMRdzPhI3_ekygeKZBmjBvbC8F33d_HrNVYMwViqfYCq1GobbPJgc&_nc_ht=scontent-atl3-1.xx&oh=95ffcfe26e8b1d9a28a7187c5715fd29&oe=5E24B28F]makeup[/url] to set. She scrolled through the emails of the usual people, but suddenly stopped when her eyes found a name that was not on her contact list. Her thumb hovered over the email of the unknown sender, torn between opening or deleting it. But that familiar feeling in her gut was urging her to click it open, that it would be wise for her to do so. And when Amanda followed her gut and read the email’s contents, she knew she’d made the right choice.

It took a few long, good reads for the woman to make sense of what had been sent to her. Surely this was all a big joke, right? Someone looking to play a nasty prank on her. But the more she read it, the more Amanda realized the person’s claim could be legitimate. Of course, there was one quick way to put her mind at ease: contact the subject in question.

It took all but two rings before the person on the other line answered Amanda’s FaceTime call. And in typical Amanda fashion, she wasted no time on small talk and went straight for it. 

[color=9D3DD0]"Benjamin… Do you know of a Nathan Montgomery?"[/color] the blonde asked sternly, her observant hazel eyes locked on her phone screen while she studied her husband's face for any telltale expressions.

His confusion about the suddenness of her question was quickly matched with the confusion the man had about the name and it showed in the blank stare he had towards his wife during their FaceTime video call. [color=0b5394]“I can’t say that I do, but it sounds like a nice name though. Like one that has many nickname potential. With a name like that, he could have a future in the acting business.”[/color] Benjamin mused in one of his usual rambles that Amanda has come to know as a regular thing. [color=0b5394]“Why do you ask?”[/color]

[color=9D3DD0]"What about a Gretchen Montgomery?"[/color] Amanda immediately pressed on in her brisk prosecutor manner, purposely avoiding her husband's question in her quest for the truth.

A moment or two of silence passed and Benji was doing his best to try and remember the face to that name. [color=0b5394]“Sounds vaguely familiar.”[/color] That was only partially true. It was more than familiar, but it was clear in Benji’s facial expressions that he was struggling with this particular recollection. [color=0b5394]“What’s with all these questions?”[/color] He asked her as suspicion about Amanda’s motive was starting to set in.

Once again, the blonde didn't answer the older man's question right away. Instead, her eyes focused on his telling expression. The name obviously rang familiar to Benjamin, and she wanted to know why he was choosing to avoid her questions instead of coming clean. [color=9D3DD0]"You do realize I prosecute people for a living, right? At this point, it's second nature to me to know when an individual is lying or hiding something,"[/color] Amanda said, with the thinnest suggestion of a threat lingering at the end of her statement. She rose to her full height and regarded her husband with a cold stare before continuing. [color=9D3DD0]"So I'll ask you again: do you know a Gretchen Montgomery?"[/color]

He took in a deep sigh, doing everything his therapist told him to do so he would remain calm in tense situations. Usually Amanda was pretty calm towards him. They rarely had any fights and if they did, it was caused by such an idiotic reason that they would laugh it off and call it a day. But bringing up someone he hadn’t thought about in years -- decades even -- was such an out of the blue action and her stubborn attitude towards it was starting to piss Benji off.

[color=0b5394]“I don’t understand why it’s even important, but yes, I know of a woman by that name whom I haven’t thought about since I was seventeen years old.”[/color] He inhaled again. Whatever crawled up his wife’s butt, he really wish it would exit stage left as soon as humanly possible.

Amanda could tell her husband was starting to get annoyed with the conversation: the tell-tale sign that she’d clearly hit a nerve she wasn’t going to stop pushing. [color=9D3DD0]"And is there any reason why her son, Nathan Montgomery, would have any credibility in his claim that you might be his father?"[/color] she finally asked point-blank, visibly furious now.

[color=0b5394]“You’re really going to make me say it, huh?”[/color] He rubbed his temples, his frustration growing to a point where therapeutic breathing exercises were proving to be useless. [color=0b5394]“We were involved once back in the day,”[/color] Benji calmly admitted. Unlike his wife, he didn’t think of it as a big deal.

Amanda couldn't help but roll her eyes and scoff in disbelief. For a man who could potentially have a long-lost son, Benji certainly seemed to be cool about it. [color=9D3DD0]"Did you not hear me the first time, Benjamin? This man has contacted me with evidence that suggests he's your son! Do you not care about that?!"[/color] she asked him, her voice rising along with her anger.

[color=0b5394]“If this -- what you said his name was Nathan?”[/color] He scratched his head. [color=0b5394]“If this Nathan thinks he’s my son, then okay. Cool. Always wanted to have a son, but I’m not going to overreact or be angry about it,”[/color] he openly admitted with nothing but a lax attitude. [color=0b5394]“You’re the only one making this into a big deal, dear.”[/color]

Amanda had to close her eyes for a moment and take a few deep breaths to stop herself from pulling her hair out and screaming. [color=9D3DD0]"So you're saying that if any of the countless whores and sluts you've fucked throughout the years come to you out of the blue and say you're the sperm donor of their bastard children and you owe them child support money, you're just going to be fine with it?! Just like that?!"[/color] she cried out, color rising to her fair-skinned face. [color=9D3DD0]"How is this not a big deal to you?! Have you lost your fucking mind?!"[/color]

[color=0b5394]“If the DNA tests match up and say that I’m the father, I’m not going to turn my back on any potential child I have,”[/color] Benji told her, remaining as calm as he could given his wife was in the middle of blowing this all out of proportion. [color=0b5394]“It took me a long time to understand what values my father instilled into Wesley and Cassie. Sylvester died long before he could see it but I’m not going to be a deadbeat father, Amanda. So if this young man ends up being mine, I will do whatever I can to make sure he has a father.”[/color]

[color=9D3DD0]"And it hasn't occurred to you that this… person… might only be after a fat paycheck?"[/color] she retorted, her voice dangerously dropping an octave. [color=9D3DD0]"You seriously think their intentions are honest? Because, why come out of the woodwork now and not when you were a broke has-been back in Arizona, huh? You don't think it has to do with that Forbes article of Hollywood composer Benjamin Cross and his ADA wife and vineyard heiress Amanda Woodall currently having a combined net valued in the millions? We have worked hard to earn what we have, and I am not letting some broke bastard try to scam us out of it!"[/color]

Benji didn’t know why but he laughed at her last comment. [color=0b5394]“Funny. You always say how it’s [i]your[/i] money whenever I might want to buy something or might see an investment in something, but the second something that might even be a mild discomfort, suddenly it’s an ‘us’ thing.”[/color] Benji rolled his eyes. [color=0b5394]“I’ve had to deal with a lot of shit from your family, your fucking passive-aggressive comments when we’re at [i]your[/i] galas and whatever fucking meetings you drag me to-- but honestly, Amanda? I’m not in the mood for this. Whether or not this Nathan is mine is, quite frankly, none of your fucking concern.”[/color] Taking calm breaths were out the window now, so Benji decided to throw all caution into the wind. [color=0b5394]“Given he is claiming to be [i]my[/i] son, it’s [i]my[/i] problem and [i]I[/i] will handle it however I want to!”[/color]  Benji clicked off in anger before Amanda would get another word in.

For the longest time, Amanda simply stared at the device in her hand in utter disbelief, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. She could feel tears starting to burn in her eyes, but she furiously blinked them away before they even had a chance to attempt an escape. She’d never been a crier, and she sure as hell wasn't about to start now. Once she felt like she’d gotten some sort of control over the fury bubbling up in her stomach, Amanda unlocked her phone and sent Benjamin a voice message containing a piece of her mind.

[indent][color=9D3DD0][i]"You have until Sunday to get your shit out of my house. I don't want to see any trace of you when I get back next weekend, and I'm throwing away anything you leave behind. I don't care where you go or what you do, but I’ll make sure the divorce papers reach you even if you’re sleeping on the subway. Go to hell, Benjamin, and never come back. I want nothing to do you in my life ever again.”[/i][/color][/indent]

Once she was sure the message had been received and heard, Amanda locked her phone and threw it onto the bed before aggressively slipping the wedding bands from her finger and flinging them in the direction of her open suitcase. She didn’t care about where they landed or what happened to them-- it’s not like she’d be wearing them again, and they were probably cheap and from some dingy pawn shop anyway. Starting tonight, Benjamin Cross would be completely cut off from her life, and her marriage to him would soon be dissolved. He could handle all his life’s problems by himself forever now.

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Fifteen minutes after the fateful conversation with her soon to be ex-husband, Amanda was making her entrance to the outdoor venue where the cocktail party was taking place. Dressed in a [url=https://66.media.tumblr.com/9384f02a13a4ee7c01952f23ec79724f/8852a8a0c4ec3125-2a/s640x960/b306d9288bb5f3e24e7666228925e6f0dd92f846.jpg]light peach, long bell sleeve, Prada mini dress that hugged her thin waist and hit mid-thigh[/url], a pair of [url=https://img-static.tradesy.com/item/23827287/christian-louboutin-gold-artydiva-120-platine-bow-ankle-strap-sandal-platform-heel-pumps-size-eu-395-0-0-960-960.jpg]gold, ankle strap Louboutin heels[/url], thin gold hoop earrings and a few gold rings, the hostess of the weekend carefully walked down the steps leading towards the poolside tables. Her long, blond waves cascaded down her back, lightly bouncing with every step she took. Before she could busy herself embark in any reminiscing, the young attorney wanted to be polite enough to acknowledge her guests and thank them for their presence. Even though she didn’t care for most of them back in the day, she was still truly thankful that they’d taken the time out of their busy lives to attend an event with her name on it.

The first person Amanda noticed in her welcoming path was none other than Grace Pruett, currently sitting alone by one of the tables. Their eyes met for the briefest uncomfortable moment, broken only by the blonde giving the brunette her a curt nod before continuing on her trek. Amanda knew she needed to get with Grace and sort things out before the weekend ended, but [i]that[/i] was a can of worms that would be best open when she wasn’t so prone to lashing out in anger.

Next up were a handful of the King’s Men, who were already busy catching up from what the blonde could tell. Frankly, Amanda was pleasantly surprised to see that Tessa hadn’t been wrong when she’d said their old male classmates had certainly glowed up. Fatherhood and the beard had turned Alexander Shields into someone she wouldn’t mind having an indiscretion with, and even the insufferable Brent Santiago could hit it if she was five shots into tequila. Of course, neither of them would ever come close to the stunner that was Sebastain Jace Russo.

It had been ten years since the last time she’d been face to face with Jace, but even now he still had that power to leave her breathless from the second their eyes met. Ten years apart had done nothing to quell the butterflies that were wildly going off in a frenzy in her stomach, or to dull the pain of the heartbreak when their relationship had ended. Maybe now that they were both back home and available they could get another chance… But it was much too soon to think like that. For all she knew, Jace was seeing someone, or he’d been the bigger person and gotten over their old feelings for each other. Either way, this was not the time to dwell on the subject.

[indent][i][color=9D3DD0]Just say hello, thank them for coming and move on. If anything is meant to happen, destiny will have it so.[/color][/i][/indent]

Taking in a deep breath, Amanda finally approached their table. [color=9D3DD0]“Hello, gentlemen,”[/color] their old classmate greeted them with a polite smile, taking up position between Alexander and Brent. [color=9D3DD0]“Glad to see you could all make it. Do enjoy yourselves, okay? That’s what we’re here for,”[/color] she told them, her gaze resting a second longer on Jace’s face than any of the others before walking away in the direction of the bar.

It was on this last part of her welcoming trek that she sensed things were [i]not[/i] going well. Amanda couldn’t help but roll her eyes and let out a sigh of resignation. The tension in the air was obvious, and there was no mistaking the way the group of females around the bar was looking at the lone male in their midst. She knew via others that each of the women there had a bone to pick with the man, because he’d somehow managed to hurt their soft little feelings at some point during high school. But was it really necessary for them to ruin the event so soon because they weren’t capable of moving past someone calling them ‘ugly’ ten years ago? In all honesty, it was disappointing, and she hoped she’d arrived on time to put an end to whatever petty drama was starting to bubble up before anything serious happened. 
 
[color=9D3DD0]“Good evening, ladies,”[/color] Amanda called out to the group in more of a warning than a greeting, her shoulders straight and her face with the usual authoritarian expression she wore so well. [color=9D3DD0]“We didn’t come all the way down here to stir up some stale, decade-old drama up, did we? I’d like to think we’re all mature enough to move past that,”[/color] she said sternly, taking a moment to peer at each female face in front of her before shifting her attention to the lone male in the group, closing the distance between them.

[color=9D3DD0]“Are any of these women bothering you, Grayson? I know some of them can be a little… [i]intense[/i],”[/color] she added as an afterthought, shooting a quick glance towards Tara and Tessa before fixing her softened expression back on the man.[/indent][/indent][/color]