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  Ironically, while Lucy’s looks put her in a higher social class, Stewart was leaps and bounds ahead of her economically. Stewart’s family was flush with money. The Diamond’s lived in a sprawling mansion in Hyannis. Lucy had a much more modest upbringing.

  Lucy was trying to overcome such meager beginnings both by dating up and dressing up. To a less discerning eye, it would look like Lucy was decked out in designer threads. But Chloe could tell they were all knock-offs, from her dress to her shoes and handbag. That wasn’t the kind of thing a geek like Stewart would notice, but to Chloe, it was clear as day.

  Marty meanwhile hated hearing his son talk back to him. He wasn’t shy about voicing his displeasure. He also seemed surprised by it, like he expected Stewart to never dare to disagree with him.

  “I am your father. You should respect me and my wishes above all,” Marty declared.

  Stewart began to get jittery.

  Lucy squeezed Stewart’s hand and urged him on. “Tell him how in love we are.”

  Marty glared at Lucy. “I didn’t ask your opinion.”

  “No, but my opinion still matters, as does Stewart’s,” Lucy replied.

  “I’m talking to my son here. Why don’t you help yourself to some free food, just like you’re trying to help yourself to his future inheritance?” Marty said.

  Lucy looked incredibly offended.

  Suddenly, Stewart shed any apprehension that he had about standing up to his father.

  “How dare you talk to her like that?”

  It didn’t take long for Marty’s legendary temper to come out. According to Kristina, he blew his top pretty often at work. He attributed it to being passionate about his business. Kristina had a different term for it—being a jerk. For Chloe, it was an odd thing to witness. Certainly a huge contrast to his TV persona as a lovable, earnest guy trying to do his best to give customers the lowest prices.

  “No, how dare you even talk to the daughter of Patrick Lemke, no less date her after what her father did to our family?” Marty countered.

  Lucy became more outraged than ever. “A pile of mattresses fell on my dad in your warehouse, breaking both his left arm and leg. He still walks with a limp to this day.”

  “That doesn’t mean he has a right to sue me for a million dollars,” Marty argued.

  “What was he supposed to do, just walk it off? Besides, you and that sleazy lawyer of yours made sure my father got the bare minimum payout possible,” Lucy replied.

  “You’re just like your father, hungry for every dollar you can get your grubby little hands on,” Marty said.

  Lucy went nuclear. “You heartless scumbag. If you weren’t Stewart’s father--”

  Marty interrupted. “You’d have no interest in him.”

  “I was going to tell you off, but I don’t think it would do any good,” Lucy stammered.

  “You’re right, it wouldn’t. Stewart may not see what you are, but I do,” Marty replied.

  “And just what am I?” Lucy asked.

  “A shameless, low class, gold digger,” Marty said.

  Lucy turned to Stewart.

  “You’re not going to let him talk to me like that, are you?” she asked.

  “If he’s smart he will. It’s time he realized the truth about you,” Marty said.

  Stewart finally cleared his throat and spoke up again. “The truth is, I love her.”

  Marty shook his head. “You’re even dumber than I thought. I raised you better than that.”

  “No, you raised me to believe that second place was just the first loser,” Stewart explained.

  “Because it is,” Marty said.

  “Not everyone is as cutthroat as you. Some people aren’t born with a killer instinct. I’m different than you,” Stewart replied.

  Marty scoffed. “You say that like it’s a good thing.”

  “There’s more to life than money,” Stewart reasoned.

  Marty laughed. “That’s funny, considering every dollar you have is because of me.”

  Stewart skipped right over that point. “Look. The fact is, I’m in love with Lucy.”

  “You may be in love with her, but she’s not in love with you,” Marty argued.

  “How dare you tell me what I am and am not?” Lucy replied.

  “Oh, come on. A geek like my son couldn’t get a woman like you to talk to him when he was growing up, so now all of a sudden I’m supposed to believe you find him irresistible?” Marty scoffed. “Hardly. The fact is, money will get you everywhere in life, and you’ve been eyeing a big payday.”

  Lucy leaned in and gave Stewart a kiss.

  “Don’t listen to him. I love you from the bottom of my heart,” she said.

  Stewart smiled, then turned to his father. “And there you have it. See, there’s nothing you can do to tear us apart.”

  “Of course there is. I can, and I will,” Marty insisted.

  Stewart was confused. “What are you talking about?”

  “One phone call to my estate lawyer and you’re out of my will. That’s just the beginning too. If you’re not careful, I’ll take away your job at the Mattress Mart as well. Then we’ll see how much she really loves you. My bet is, with no job and no inheritance, you’ll soon have no girlfriend either,” Marty said.

  “Are you threatening me?” Stewart asked.

  “No. I’m just seeing how much you truly love her. You want to keep your job and your inheritance? All you have to do is break up with Lucy,” Marty said.

  Lucy exploded, her voice cracking the whole way. “That’s so devious. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  “You seem panicked. What’s the matter, are you afraid of losing Stewart, or all the money you thought you’d be able to pocket?” Marty asked.

  Stewart had a different reaction. “I can’t believe you’re doing this to me. I thought you wanted me to be happy.”

  “Not if I end up unhappy because of it. So, which is it going to be?” Marty wondered.

  A decision like that was hard enough to make under any circumstances. To have to do it in a split second was excruciating. Stewart started looking around the party to stall on answering. As he scanned the barbecue, he spotted something peculiar.

  “Hey wait, what’s Walter Gold doing here?” Stewart asked.

  Marty groaned. “Don’t try to deflect from the question at hand.”

  Stewart didn’t deviate from his statement. He pointed at the man across the party talking to his mother.

  “I’m not deflecting. For some strange reason Walter Gold is here talking to mom,” Stewart said.

  As Marty turned around and saw Walter talking to his wife, he became enraged. He barreled over to Walter.

  Chapter Four

  It was at that moment that Kristina returned from the bathroom and rejoined Chloe at the party.

  “Did I miss anything?” Kristina asked.

  “Insane levels of dysfunction,” Chloe replied.

  “So, the usual then?” Kristina deadpanned.

  By that point, Walter Gold was walking away from Marty’s wife. When Marty finally caught up with him, Walter had handed Marty’s wife an envelope and was making his move to leave the barbecue.

  Chloe could sense serious trouble ahead. She was glad to be a safe distance away and only a spectator at that moment. After all, Marty and Walter had a serious history.

  The Cape was home to two self-proclaimed mattress moguls. Marty Diamond was one. Walter Gold was the other. They just so happened to hate each other’s guts. This was a Hatfield and McCoy’s style rivalry. They went at each other like cutthroat politicians during an election year, slinging mud with extreme prejudice. Their chosen platform was schlocky TV commercials that doubled as attack ads. But apparently they were happy to duke it out in person as well.

  Marty wasted no time in going at it with Walter.

  “What are you doing talking to my wife?” Marty barked.

  Walter smirked. “Catching up on old times.”

  Walt
er Gold had little in common with Marty, except their mutual desire to unload as many mattresses as they could for maximum profit. Walter was a short, stocky man, which made it all the more ironic that he wore green suits like they were his only articles of clothing. The comparisons to him looking like a real life leprechaun were not only warranted, it was hard to think of anything else when around him.

  “You stay away from her, you hear?” Marty warned.

  “Don’t tell me what to do,” Walter replied.

  “You had your chance with her years ago, and the better man won,” Marty said.

  Marty puffed out his chest and smiled, making it obvious that he thought he was the better man in this scenario.

  Walter didn’t skip a beat. “Or so you thought.”

  Marty became enraged. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

  “I’m here to settle a score,” Walter replied.

  “I’m warning you, Gold. You’d better get out of here before I make you regret coming here in the first place,” Marty threatened.

  Walter laughed.

  That got Marty more outraged. “What’s so funny? “

  “The fact that you think you have the upper hand here,” Walter said.

  Marty lost none of his bluster. “When dealing with you, I always have the upper hand.”

  “I have a number of explosive pictures that say otherwise.”

  “Wipe that smirk off your face. No one gets the best of Marty K. Diamond.”

  Walter shook his head. “You fool. You don’t even realize the storm that’s coming.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I have pictures of you canoodling with your little mistress, and now your wife has copies of them too.”

  Marty’s bluster immediately evaporated. His jaw nearly dropped. He quickly turned and looked around for his wife.

  Walter meanwhile continued his gloating. “The first rule of war is to know your enemy’s weakness. The private detective I hired found a big one.”

  Marty was in complete shock. He kept looking around for his wife but didn’t see her.

  Walter wasn’t finished. “You’re done, Diamond. While your wife is taking you to the cleaners in divorce court, I’m going to steal your market share.”

  Marty turned back to Walter, looking like a volcano that was ready to erupt. “You scumbag. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  Walter nodded. “I’ve finally gotten payback. And let me tell you, revenge is sweet.”

  The panic was gone from Marty’s voice suddenly. It was replaced by a smirk of his own. “It sure is. Fine, you want to start World War Three, you got it. But if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me.”

  Walter was defiant. “You have nothing on me.”

  “Oh yeah? Then how do I know about Candice McDowell?”

  Walter’s face went as white as a sheet. That name touched a serious nerve.

  Walter began to stammer. “How do you know about Candice?”

  “That part isn’t important. All that matters is by the time I’m through, every press outlet in town will be running stories about Candice McDowell.”

  Panic set in for Walter. “You can’t do this.”

  “So you can dish it out, but you can’t take it, huh? Well, you’re the one who did this to yourself.”

  This time, Walter was the one to get fire in his eyes. “I’m warning you, leave the Candice McDowell story alone.”

  “No. I’m warning you Walter, get away from me right now, and stay away,” Marty said.

  Just when their standoff was at its peak, another shouting match broke out across the party. This one was between Marty’s wife, Delia Diamond and a woman named Jennifer Carter.

  Marty suddenly got another panicked look on his face.

  Chapter Five

  As an outside observer, Chloe picked up on some uncanny similarities between Delia Diamond and Jennifer Carter. Other than the nearly twenty year age difference, Delia and Jennifer looked strikingly familiar. Both were blondes with petite figures and oval faces. Some men had a definite type when it came to women. Marty Diamond clearly did. It was almost as if he’d gone out and found a younger version of Delia.

  As Chloe overheard the words that were being screamed, she knew Marty had dug a deep hole for himself.

  “You hussy homewrecker. Your social-climbing days are over,” Delia said.

  “Mrs. Diamond, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jennifer replied.

  “You think I’m going to let you play dumb? I’m too smart for that. You’re fired,” Delia declared.

  Jennifer became outraged. “You can’t do that.”

  “Watch me.”

  “You have no authority to fire me. This is your husband’s company.”

  “Not for long. The free ride is over.”

  Just then, Marty rushed over. “What’s going on here?”

  Delia glared at her husband. “You’re even dumber than I thought.”

  “Look, about those pictures--”

  Delia wasn’t about to let her husband finish that sentence. “They’re all I’ll need to fry you in divorce court. Congratulations, your libido has just cost you everything.”

  Jennifer then jumped in. “Honey, don’t let her get away with this. Do you know she tried to fire me?”

  “So all of a sudden he’s your honey now? And I did fire you,” Delia said.

  Marty went into spin mode with his wife. “Delia, I made a simple mistake. Don’t you think divorce is a little harsh?”

  “Oh no, you don’t. You may be good at hocking mattresses, but you are not going to sell me on staying married to you,” Delia insisted.

  Jennifer was suddenly grappling with some outrage of her own. “Mistake? Is that what I am to you, Marty? I thought you loved me. That we were building a life together.”

  Marty became short with Jennifer. “Not now. I’m in the middle of something important.”

  The hurt kept building on Jennifer’s face. “I thought I was important.”

  Delia laughed. “You really thought you’d be able to sleep your way to the top, didn’t you? Well let me tell you something, the only thing that is important to Marty is money.”

  Jennifer stared into Marty’s eyes. He averted his gaze.

  Jennifer became disgusted and stormed off.

  Instead of going after his mistress, Marty turned and pleaded to his wife.

  “Let’s be honest. You don’t really want to divorce me,” Marty said.

  “Are you kidding? There’s nothing I want more,” Delia replied.

  “What good will a lengthy, bitter, legal battle in court do, especially when so much of my money is hidden away where no lawyer can find it, no less touch it?”

  “I’m still going to get plenty from you. And every dollar I take out of your pocket will bring a smile to my face,” Delia said.

  “But there’s a better way.”

  “Don’t you dare suggest we stay together.”

  “Look, I’m not going to pretend what I did was right, but if you stay with me, I’ll make sure you’re taken care of financially. On top of that, the business I’ve worked so hard to build can stay intact,” Marty explained.

  “Are you trying to bribe me to stay married to you?” Delia asked.

  “No. I’m simply offering you a business arrangement that would be mutually beneficial.”

  Delia shook her head. “You are truly disgusting. I’m going to make you pay for what you’ve done to me.”

  “You’re going to regret that decision.”

  “No. You’re going to be the one who is going to come to regret this. I’m going to make sure of it,” Delia declared.

  Delia started to walk away.

  “I’m warning you, my gloves will come off in divorce court. I hope you’re ready for a fight to the death,” Marty threatened.

  His wife turned around and slapped him. “I’m counting on one.”

  Delia stormed off as Marty stood there
shocked.

  Delia’s son Stewart looked at the anger in his mother’s eyes, then glared at his father. After expressing his disgust for his father, Stewart ran off to comfort his mother.

  Chapter Six

  By that point, Chloe had seen enough drama for one day. The tension in the air was thick. Chloe wanted to cut through it and lighten the mood a little.

  “It’s a shame today is so uneventful,” Chloe joked.

  Kristina laughed, then replied with a zinger of her own. “If you like this, you’d love the office Christmas party.”

  “Now I have something to look forward to.”

  When Kristina spotted the mystery man talking with Marty across the way, the joking came to an abrupt end. The mystery man seemed to be trying to calm Marty down.

  It wasn’t working.

  Marty was livid. It was more than just anger. He looked like he wanted to unload on someone.

  Kristina pitied his chosen target. “Uh oh. It looks like Marty is ready to go completely nuclear.”

  “We should probably get out of the blast radius then,” Chloe suggested.

  Kristina nodded. “Especially since I have a feeling like I’m his next target.”

  Chloe and Kristina turned and started walking away.

  They didn’t get far.

  Before they knew it, Marty was quickly approaching behind them.

  “Kristina, where do you think you’re going?” Marty yelled.

  Kristina gulped. Oh dear. This had the makings of a serious disaster. Marty sounded like a man possessed. Kristina had to get out of this conversation. Otherwise she’d end up taking the brunt of all of Marty’s frustration.

  Chloe saw the petrified look on her friend’s face and realized she’d have to be the one to mastermind the escape.

  Luckily, Chloe had an idea. She clutched her stomach and forced herself to wretch.

  “I don’t feel so good,” Chloe said.

  Marty paid no attention to Chloe. His focus remained squarely on Kristina.

  “We need to talk,” Marty demanded.

  Chloe wretched again.

  “But boss, my friend really isn’t feeling well. We have to go,” Kristina insisted.