Chapter 5 Dissolution of Trust

After Anna returned home to her own apartment, her cat greeted her. Alone there, emotionally spent, with her back to the door, Anna sat on the floor. Stroking Prince Brian Lumpmuffin Furboots of Seawood, Anna stared up at the orchids still on her entry table. She wondered if they were a clumsy form of love or evidence she was nothing but an afterthought to Jaxon. Anna watched the orchids, and could smell them.

Only her phone ringing pulled her back to where she was and what she was doing. She fumbled for her phone, it was Jaxon. She stared at it until it went to voice-mail. Anxiety drained from her temporarily as the screen turned black, only to return when it light up with Jaxon's face and number again.

She answered, "Hello?"

She heard a relieved sigh and Jaxon speaking quickly, "Anna, thank goodness. I was so worried..."

Anna felt her heart leap, "Oh I'm fine." She blurted as Jaxon continued, "...about my grandmother's ring."

The silence after soured awkwardly.

Anna cleared her throat as Jaxon offered, "I'm glad you're okay." Anna closed her eyes and offered, "I am sorry. I didn't mean to ... I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't... it wasn't on purpose. I am so embarrassed."

Anna's emotions were raw. They felt dulled and overused. Even the embarrassment had lost its sting. She reflected on this as she continued,

"I, it was all too much. We need to talk."

Jaxon interrupted her, "Babe, that's fine. We will talk, and I'm happy you're okay, but listen. Do you have the ring?"

Anna sat puzzled. She hadn't thought about it. She glanced at her hand half, knowing she couldn't have missed the 2 carat diamond. She stared at her vacant finger. Puzzled she checked her purse before prompting Jaxon, "Hold on." She looked everywhere but it was in nothing she got back from the hospital. She updated the impatient Jaxon as she started to scour places it couldn't even be. It wasn't in the car she hadn't driven. The bathroom she hadn't used, or the undisturbed kitchen. She felt as if she were losing her mind entirely. Breathless she returned to the phone.

"If it is here I can't find it Jack. I don't think I have it." Anna couldn't remember.

Jaxon's voice turned stern, "Babe, Dylan said you weren't even wearing it at the hospital."

Anna thought back and confirmed, "Maybe it fell out in the ambulance? "

Jaxon barked, "What ambulance, Anna? I had to fucking drive you to the hospital! In my Lamborghini, while covered in filth. Thanks for that, by the way. Did you lose it?"

Anna stammered, "I... I, no. They must have took it off at the hospital? Was I wearing it when you were there?"

Jaxon evaded the question, angry, and it reminded Anna of Maddie's anger, "I can't believe you lost it Anna! That's my grandmother's ring! What did you throw it away? Because you thought I was cheating on you? Yeah Dylan told me everything. Did you think you even talk to me about it? Did you fucking pawn it because you thought I was talking to another girl? Thats a family heirloom. Really?"

Jaxon erupted. Anna put the phone down and hugged her knees. It was too much. It was all too much. She sat there with Prince Brian purring, oblivious, as Jaxon continued to spew vitriol over the phone. She heard every word even when it wasn't on speaker.

Anna instantly felt guilty. Ashamed. His words pierced every vulnerable place that could still feel. She was gutted there, too weary to even sob.

"You're always so insecure, but Babe, that's not my problem. I've done everything to tell you how I feel. Everything. I fucking got humiliated just to ask you to marry me. You still think I'm flying around town fucking everything that walks. When would I have time? Huh? I'm always working or reassuring you. This is a YOU problem Anna, and obviously nothing I do is good enough or helps."

Wave upon wave of devastation washed over her. She said nothing, what was there to say? She choked out apologies, but they didn't assauge Jaxon's wrath. She waited until it settled down. She had never experienced this before, nothing like this. There was silence and just his smiling face on her phone. She moved to hang up the call until she heard him again, weak, "Anna-banana-bells, we need to find the ring."

Anna closed her eyes and shook her head. Still reeling from the verbal blows her mind wasn't fast enough to keep up with the rapid shift in emotions. She responded with a promise, "I'll find it." Followed by, "I'm so sorry" in litany.

Jaxon paused, "I still love you. It is you, and only you. I'll tell you as many times as you need to hear." And terminated the call without a good bye.

Anna sat there, devastated looking as her phone screen turned to black again. Jaxon's face vanished. Her mind wrestled with his words. Instead of reasoning that the man just lamblated her for feeling insecure must be lying when he promised to reassure her, Anna felt as if doubting him, despite what she saw with her own eyes, was her fault because she was insecure.

After awhile it was evident Anna was stuck. Anna had no clue where the ring was, let alone how she felt about that call. She, instead sent herself to the shower. Once she was done she changed and sprawled on her bed. She didn't dare turn on the television. As she stared at the ceiling she wondered.

Marissa wouldn't know. She got there after Dylan. She couldn't call Maddie and just tell her that the ring was missing, besides Anna suspected that Maddie knew if Jaxon knew. Dylan was a loss. Ceaser and Jaxon left at the same time. The more Anna thought about it, it became clear who to ask. Anna called Genny.

Anna didn't relay everything that happened with her and Jaxon but finally asked, "So, was I wearing it when you got to the hospital?"

Genny was smart. Observant. This caught her off guard. Surely she would have noticed a huge ring, right? She focused and with absolute certainty said, "No. You weren't. Mom and I held your hands so much. I would have noticed. We had to clean you up. Mom took your dress and things to the cleaners today. You didn't have it from the moment you got out of the car. I'm sure of it. We hurried you inside, the reporters were already there. You absolutely didn't have it."

Anna frowned and bit her thumbnail as she watched the ceiling, "What if it fell off at the venue under all the glitter?"

Genny sighed, "Jesus. You'd think if it was such and important heirloom someone might have thought to..."

Anna interrupted, "It's my fault. This is all my fault."

Anna, in her poor addled brain thought this made sense. After all she was the one talking about infidelity in earshot of Faith. She never bothered to figure out what Jaxon was doing. She was indeed insecure with him. She drank the champagne. She caused a mess, and she lost the ring. Anna reasoned if she hadn't told Marissa what she saw, maybe Faith wouldn't have sent those pictures to Honor.

Genny knew exactly where this was going. She had witnessed her sister play puppet to the Baileys for a decade now. Genny firmly stated, "I know it feels that way, but your anxiety is lying to you. This isn't your fault."

Anna rejected this, "No. This... this is all my fault if I hadn't..."

"What, Anna? At the worst made an honest mistake? Sorry, but when did you get to stop making mistakes. And anything beyond regret for a simple mistake is them manipulating you."

"Stop Gen. Please."

"No. Because no one wants to speak the truth. They want you to feel and be guilty so you keep putting up with their shit Anna. This is the truth. You didn't have the ring at the hospital. It must have fallen off in the car or at the venue."

Anna thought back but couldn't remember. The solidified their plan of action. She hung up the phone with Genny after good-byes and well wishes and turned on her laptop.

Anna hesitated but searched for videos of that night. She watched Jaxon put on the ring. It was there, on her finger. Confetti, glitter. She fast forwarded through the next part and watched as she gracelessly collapsed into a heap on the ground. Frame by frame she resumed. Glitter blithely fluttering to the ground amidst balloons and hanging ivy. She paused again but couldn't see her left hand. She peered at Jaxon who was motionless until Dylan and Cesar nearly collided with Jaxon. Emily rushed toward Maddie, whose face was straked with black eyeliner as she wailed. Faith popped her phone back into her purse and stood, beckoning her sister Hope to follow in the direction of Honor. The video tilted and turned as screams and more people rushed the center of the ballroom. Anna still could not see her left hand.

She tried something different. There were photos of her being carried from Jaxon's car by Jaxon. Her mother and sister were there. So was Erica, Dylan, and Cesar. Orderliness were rushing into the frame. Dangling below her were her arms. Both hands and all fingers ring-free.

Anna lost track of time until her phone startled her. It was Maddie. Anna picked up right away, "Mads, I was about to call. I think we need to call the police."

Maddie interrupted, "Why? What happened? Oh God, is Jaxon there?"

Anna halted, "No. Why would he be here?"

Maddie was frantic at this point, "He's your fiance, stupid. No one can find him. Why else would you call the police?"

Anna stopped again, "What? Jaxon is missing?"

Maddie explained rapidly that a few hours prior he called and was manic. Maddie explained how Jaxon said they got in a fight, and he was upset. He said he was going for a drive hours ago. Maddie had thought maybe he had gone to Anna's to apologize. Anna closed her laptop and explained to her friend about the ring, the fight.

Maddie paused, "So you lost the ring?"

Anna hesitated, "No, I mean it is missing. I looked everywhere. I called the hospital. Genny was headed to the venue. I tried looking at the videos and I'm not even wearing it at the hospital. I'm afraid it's lost, or someone stole it. I'm hoping it just fell off in the commotion and got swept up in all the cleaning."

Maddie sighed, "I wonder if he went to look too. That makes sense. There's no way he's not looking for it."

Anna hesitated and for the first time dared to ask, "How much was the ring worth?"

Maddie also hesitated and tried ger hand at diverting the topic. Anna insisted. Maddie held her breath and then explained in a small voice, "Grandma bought that at an auction. It belonged to a set of royal jewels in some place, maybe Belgium. Anyway she paid ten million euros for it. "

Anna had no way to know how much that was. Maddie made it worse by explaining, "It is appraised at twenty one million dollars right before the engagement, Anna. It's practically historic."

Against her better judgement, and despite she was exhausted, Anna threw on her clothes and bid Maddie good-bye. Anna hopped into her car and drove into the city. 25 minutes later she was getting out of her car. She noticed Genny and Jaxon's cars already there. She immediately rushed to the Hotel lobby as the street lights came on.

Immediately the saff recognized her from the event and subsequent viral video. The concierge assured her they already were going through everything looking for the ring. That's when Anna spied Jaxon and rushed to find both him and Genny. She jogged to Jaxon, out of breath and he turned to her immediately.

Jaxon knew he had an audience and wrapped Anna in a huge hug. Anna was taken aback by this, Jaxon wasn't a hugger with her. Jaxon kissed her maybe three times since they started dating. While he let women drape themselves over him before he hadn't touched her the same.

"Babe." He said holding her close. Her arms found their way around him and it felt forced and unnatural. She held him anyway, and he repeated again, "Babe."

"It's almost like you call them all that so you don't have to keep their names straight." Genny chimed as she walked up to Jaxon and Anna with Cesar beside her.

"Wow Gen. Get to see you twice in an hour. I'm just so lucky." Jaxon groaned, releasing Anna.

Anna noted Gen and Cesar looked like they had been working hard. They were covered in grime and dust. Anna glanced at Cesar Hernandez. He was the third son of an important government official in Ecuador. He looked like a warrior. He wasn't as tall as Jaxon but he was built as if life expected him to throw punches. He was not just fit, he was solid through and through. Quick and powerful. Anna had never really taken the time to learn much about the dark and handsome Cesar, except his family was one of the more influential ones in Seawood. Here he was probably shifting through trash like a peasant.

Anna turned to Jaxon and the other staff, "Where can I start looking?"

Anna, Genny, and Cesar spent the next five hours sorting the trash with the staff price by sickening price. Jaxon, however got a call thirty minutes in and had to run home to handle the family problem. Anna knew what he meant. She searched harder and finally explained, "This is pointless. We need to go to the police."

Instantly the concierge protested, "No. Your little group has done enough to tarnish this hotel. Maybe in your world you run to the police but here we clean up our own problems. "

Anna stared, shocked. She chanced a glance to Cesar and Genny. Genny shrugged her shoulders, "I say go to the police too." Cesar however shook his head. He spoke low with a deep and grounded timbre to his voice, "He's right. I know you both don't know a lot of things like this... but this is how the rich handle things. They work or pay their way out of it."

Genny scoffed, "You mean you have OTHER people work. I'm not even getting paid."

Cesar shook his head, " You don't understand... You can't understand how important legacy is. You'll have to once you marry Jaxon." But Cesar agreed, "But this is stupid. I have an idea to help this go much faster than hand picking though two more tons of trash."