Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem



Elliot shot a look at his dad, lips pursing in disdain, "Kid stuff, pops. Stay out of it."

With that, he closed his eyes to sleep.

Tarquin was left speechless, sensing the disdain but clueless about the cause.

The night passed without incident.

The little rascals slept soundly through the night, not a peep from any of them.

Even Evan behaved himself.

Tarquin grew more puzzled and, once Elliot was awake, he couldn't help but ask, "Weren't you guys planning to settle the score with the Thornes? What happened to that?"

Elliot's response remained, "It's kid stuff, dad. Mind your own beeswax. Worry about your own issues."

Thinking of his rocky marriage, he was speechless.

But he couldn't spill the beans yet, not wanting to jeopardize their plan.

---

In the following days, the Bradfords were on the brink of insanity!

After finally tracking down Daphne and clearing over twenty million in debt, the family of three vanished into thin air that very night!

The Bradfords searched frantically but to no avail. Instead, they received debt collection calls and a video of the Thorne family, now hostages. The captors claimed Blake owed them ten million, threatening harm if not paid.

Weighing their options, the Bradfords chose not to involve the police, grinding their teeth as they transferred ten million to the kidnappers. Shortly after, a second debt notice arrived for twenty-five million, complete with Blake's fingerprints, again with the threat of violence if unpaid. Furious yet considering Daphne's importance, the Bradfords begrudgingly transferred another twenty-five million.

But on the third day, a demand for a whopping one billion landed on them!

This pushed the Bradfords over the edge. No amount of wealth justified such extortion.

"This is blatant blackmail. Paying this billion could lead to endless demands!"

"With the Thornes' modest means, losing twenty million in gambling was already a stretch. How could they possibly owe so much? This has to be a scam. We can't keep bleeding money into this pit."

"But if we don't pay and they harm Daphne, who will we use to leverage Tarquin and Elysia? If those wild kids officially become Bradfords, it's not just money at stake. And all the millions we've already paid will have been for nothing!"

"If push comes to shove, we can drop Daphne. Tarquin and Daphne's marriage is legit. Exposing their marriage certificate should be enough to brand Elysia a homewrecker!"

"That makes sense, but who can expose their marriage certificate? Do you think Tarquin will give us a chance? The reason we kept Daphne hidden was to avoid Tarquin's interference."novelbin

"So, what now? Keep paying? A billion dollars! That's a hefty sum from each family! Paying off the Thorne's debt is infuriating just to think about!" Amid the chaos in Gideon's villa, where everyone's arguments gave Gideon a headache, he finally made a decision, "Enough! We'll pay the billion. I'll cover five hundred million, the rest of you can split the remaining amount."

Given the stakes involved, the families were forced to pool their resources, each taking a significant hit.

Gideon was willing to cough up five hundred million because he still had his eyes on that 10% stake.

Compared to securing that stake, this amount seemed trivial.

But to negotiate with Tarquin about the shares, he first needed to solidify those kids' status as illegitimate offspring. Only then would he have the leverage to talk business.