The Midnight Heir

ANTHONY VS BENJAMIN

"So you're the man Grandmother was just telling me about. You really are a pig!" Benjamin stared coldly at Anthony.

"I can't believe Grandmother cares enough to talk about me with someone else." Anthony said then gave Patience a smile, honestly trying to charm her but was only annoying her more.

It's clear that none of them liked him and are only being cordial because other people were around, however, behind closed doors the story is completely different.

There's no form of bad treatment he hasn't received from them but because he's thick skinned, he always shakes it off. One of the things Annabelle likes about him.

 

Not saying anything back, Benjamin started trying to crush Anthony's hand in his while he smirked. However, doing that Benjamin noticed two things very unsettling.

"My eyes are down here Pig! Is there something you find interesting floating above my head or are you just admiring my haircut? I assure you, sell your organs or not but you can't afford it!" Benjamin addressed one of his concerns.

The other issue he had was the fact that no matter the force he used, Anthony didn't show any sign of discomfort from having his hand squeezed and he had to give up.

Anthony chuckled saying "Nope, nothing at all—" and then Annabelle interjected.

"Anthony, your hand is all stained with sauce! What exactly were you eating before coming here?!" Annabelle exclaimed after noticing that the finger tips of the hand he used to wrap around her had some sauce stains on them.

The moment that was said a vein popped on Benjamin's forehead as he realized that there must be some sauce stains on Anthony's dominant hand as well. The same hand touching his right now.

"What the hell!" Benjamin exclaimed, pulling his hand free only to find out that the end of his white inner shirt sleeve had been smeared.

Angry, Benjamin attacked Anthony by grabbing his collar, wanting to pull and punch him in the face but Anthony stepped back, evading the attack effortlessly.

Patience who saw this exchange got extremely mad because what Benjamin just did was very embarrassing but she glared at Anthony like it was his fault. Thankfully, it was averted before the rest of the guests noticed.

Candice quickly signaled Annabelle to let her know that she had to get herself and Anthony out of there before things get more out of hand and that Annabelle did, stepping back and pulling him along.

"Come, let's go get you cleaned!" Annabelle said as they separated themselves while she cleaned his fingers with her handkerchief.

"Grandmother—" Candice tried to speak to Patience but was cut off by a strong gesture and without wasting any more time in this uncivilized area, Patience walked off, leaving an angered Benjamin and Candice all by themselves.

"That bastard, I'll make him pay if it's the last thing I do!" if looks could kill, right now Benjamin would have been charged with murder and the fact that none of them tried to help him made him even more annoyed and feeling isolated

"Hey, aren't you going to help out with this?! I'm your guest after all and this was done to me by a member of your family. Don't you people have any manners?!" Benjamin scolded Candice and she got angry.

Candice looked at him through the corners of her eyes, and she said "What are you, a child?! If you have any problems then fix it yourself and if anything is not to your liking then you can go home. Goodbye Mr. Oswald!" Candice said then walked away, heading  straight for Anthony and Annabelle.

Benjamin got mad and left too, swearing revenge on Anthony.

"Anthony!" Candice called out his name and both he and Annabelle stopped then turned to face Candice.

"What is it?" Anthony answered, sounding a bit hostile but was met with an eye roll and a tongue smack from Candice.

"Listen, I don't wish to speak with a monkey this evening, especially after making grandmother angry on the day of her husband's birthday, so shut up! Earlier, I saw you and Grandfather leave the party and you were the only one who returned so I'll ask you this once, where is my Grandfather?!"

"Hmm, I don't know." He shrugged "After we finished with what we had to do he asked me to come back before him but I don't think he should—" Anthony was interrupted.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" From somewhere inside the main part of the mansion there was a very loud scream, disrupting the entire party to the point that even the music band had to stop.

"What was that?" Everyone asked themselves.

They all froze in shock until Candice started to run towards the source of the scream which ignited all of them to follow behind her.

"Wait right here okay, I'll go ahead and check what that was all about." Anthony told Annabelle, not wanting her to get crowded on before he went on to find out what just happened as well.

 

Just as Candice made it there, coming through the passage leading to the party hall was a distraught young lady who rushed towards Candice and  collapsed on her.

Candice helped support her disarrayed figure.

"Chloe, wasn't it your voice just now that screamed? Tell me, what happened?!" Candice peered right into Chloe Penn's confused eyes.

"Big sis, big sis it's, it's…" Chloe was finding it hard getting her words out, all the while pointing towards the area she was just coming from, leading Candice's focus over there where she saw something her head couldn't immediately wrap around.

 

"Who is that by the bottom of the stairs?" Candice saw someone lying unconscious by the bottom of the stairs but she couldn't quite make out who it was because of the distance.

Slowly, from what that person wore she was starting to get a better mental picture. However, before she could come to the conclusion herself, Chloe finally got her words out

"Big sis, it's Grandfather Grey, he's dead!" Chloe said and Candice's heart sank deep into her stomach.

Just then, staggering towards them, having her dress slightly ruffled, incompletely zipped at the back and a glass of champagne in her hand while also sharing laughs with a young man who was in similar condition was Carla Penn, Chloe's twin sister.

"Hey big sis Candice and Chloe, what's going on? Did someone die or something?" Carla said jokingly before letting out a hiccup at the end of her question.

Anthony who was trying to push his way through the crowd was getting pushed back because the people didn't want him touching them, cursing at him even but regardless he tried to push through. Meanwhile, from where he was he could manage to hear bits of what was happening in front.

Even though she had been intoxicated, Anthony saw Carla sober up quickly, passed her glass of champagne to her male friend then ran away when Candice instructed her to go call Patience. 

"I've got to get to the front too!" Anthony exclaimed, grimacing and struggling to pass.

It was up to Candice to address everyone since Patience wasn't here so she stood up.

"Alright everyone, my apologies for the interruption but there's an important family issue we have to handle at this moment so if you will all be kind as to exit the building, the party is over!" Candice instructed.

Even before the guests could express their concerns and or dissatisfaction, Candice called the security there and they were cleared the entire place of everyone who wasn't a Maple family member.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?!" Anthony exclaimed from among the crowd as he was being forced to leave as well and Candice who heard his voice didn't care about what was happening to him or bothered to help.

She had even purposely told the security to throw him out and that's what they were doing.

With the place cleared, Candice went down "Alright Chloe, tell me, did you see what happened?" She asked but Julius Penn, Candice's immediate younger brother who appeared out of nowhere interrupted.

"There's no need to ask our little sister any further questions. I saw everything that went down" Julius said.

It was at this moment Patience and Carla walked in to meet everyone while coming from the distance was Anthony who Annabelle had helped get through security.

Because he tried to struggle with the security before she came, his clothes ended up getting messed up and he was beaten and injured as well.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Patience commanded an answer and because Julius said he had seen everything prior to the scream they all looked to him for that "Julius! Don't you waste any of my time boy, speak!"

"Alright Grandmother." He turned to face her "I was just out by the garden making an important phone call when through the glass I saw Grandfather get pushed down the stairs"