"Dawn, don't pay attention to Anne. You know that they are speaking lies." He pressed her hand, which was cold. "By this time you have to get acclimatized to those who love to fabricate a web of lies. They are so dishonest, so corrupt that no amount of therapy will help them. And I don't want my wife to be upset about a situation that doesn't even exist."
Dawn was feeling miserable. She stifled a cry and said in a croaky voice, "But Daryn she has spoken it in the media. In our Management classes they said that lies travel six times faster than the truth. It means that I have to make six times extra efforts to clean up my image. Anne has simply beaten me now. Every time they catch me unaware."
"It's nothing," said Daryn. "See how I make her withdraw that statement in one go."
She looked at him with interest. "You can do that?"
"Yes baby. Watch me." He took his phone out. "But you have to promise me one thing."
"What?" she breathed out. At one point of time she wondered if she should take Daryn's help, then she let her Alpha take over — for now. Her plan to combat Anne was already in place.
"You will do whatever in your capacity to take that woman down. As for Helena, leave her for me."
"I won't promise you that Daryn," she said looking intensely in his black eyes. "Because I will take them both down."
His lips curled up. "That's like my girl." He punched a number and sent instructions to Neal.
The waiter came back with the food some twenty minutes later, and during that time neither of them wasted time on speaking about the interview that Anne had given.
After Dawn had left the court, Anne and Helena had gone back to where the journalists were standing and covering the most popular case of the year. Their plan was great—to shame Dawn so that she got rattled. When they walked towards the journalists, they staged to avoid them but obviously, as soon as the journalists caught such crucial people in the case, they ran after them. The women appeared as if they were being hounded by the press, when in reality they let themselves fall into the 'clutches' of the paparazzi.
As soon as the interview was over, they dashed out of the court premises. In the car, Helena let out a hearty laughter. "We have done a great job Anne."
Anne flicked her hair back. "Of course, we have! If that bitch thinks that we are going to let her off easily, then she is living in a dream. We are going to make her life hell," she gritted her teeth.
"It's all your influence Helena. Had it not been your support, I wouldn't have known what it was to experience all the wealth that Luke had earned and was giving it all to Clare and his kids!" She gripped her hands on the wheel. "That bastard! Not once did he invite me to help him in the business. He didn't give any of his company to me to run. I knew he feared me. I knew that always. He was protecting his wife and kids." She let out an evil laughter and then as if addressing Luke, she said, "See what I have done to your kids, Luke! That bitch daughter of yours can only dream of getting this company."
Helena stroked Anne's hair. "Calm down kitty, calm down."
"Mother is going to be so proud…" she murmured.
"Where's David?"
"Still with Rose."
They reached home in another hour. Anne ran to Lily's room to give her the report of the day's events. She was so proud of herself that she couldn't help hopping like a deer. She opened her mother's bedroom and squealed, "Mother!"
Lily was sitting in her room. She hadn't gone to the court on the advice of her lawyers because they had acquired that certificate in which it was written that she had memory issues. They had to bribe a doctor with a large sum of money in order to get a fake document. The doctor's endorsed document was submitted in the court and they were hopeful that the case against them would be dismissed.
The lawyers had also told her that her statements might not be admissible in the court, so there was no point in going. Besides, she was asked to avoid the media at all costs for now. So Lily had chosen to stay at home.
She was watching the news when the screen flashed with her daughter making a statement about Dawn. She was stunned. Her mind became numb. She switched on to another channel but everywhere the news was the same. "Dawn Wyatt is a shameless daughter!"
Suddenly her phone rang. She picked it with shaky fingers.
"Mrs. Lily Wyatt, this is the Silver House's Company Lawyer. It seems that you are unhappy with your last defamation lawsuit. This is to inform you that the Silver House is slapping yet another case against your daughter, Mrs. Anne McDow, for spreading false information in the media." A pause. "She had said that you had invited her to join the company, whereas in reality you attacked her, tried to murder her and even drugged Cole. We have got instructions from our CEO to present those evidence in the court today itself and sue you for fifty million dollars."
Lily blanched. The phone fell to the ground.
"Mother!" she heard Anne squealing from behind.
Anne ran to her and hugged her excitedly. "Guess what? I have shamed that harlot in the media!" She had a proud gleam in her eyes. "What do you think?"
Before she could say anything else, a resounding slap boomed in the room. Anne stumbled on her feet as her mouth fell. Her cheek stung with pain as her mother's handprint sat on it. "We are getting sued for another fifty million dollars and I might go to jail now," Lily said in a hoarse voice.
Anne's face blanched. She thought that her interview in the media would rattle Dawn, instead she was out of countenance and utterly humiliated.
Back in the restaurant, Dawn's happy laughter rang like church bells in his ears. Proudly, he said, "I told you!"
By the time they had finished their lunch, they knew that Anne must have been running around to reach her. When they walked out hand-in-hand out of the restaurant, the TV screen showed news that Miss Anne had issued an apology to Ms. Dawn. "Anne McDow said that whatever she blurted in the court, was at the spur of the moment and that Dawn Wyatt is like her own daughter. She should forgive her."
Dawn looked boastfully at her husband. She heard someone saying, "The tables have turned one-eighty within an hour! Anne is giving a mother-daughter angle? Wow!"