Chapter 5 - THE SISTER’S TRAPWhile Arthur and Ethan were rotting in high-security holding cells awaiting trial without bail, there was still one viper left in the nest: Chloe Vance, Ethan’s twenty-six-year-old sister.
Chloe had always played the role of the innocent, spoiled socialite. She lived in a high-end luxury high-rise penthouse funded entirely by her family’s illicit accounts, pretending to run an "influencer lifestyle brand" that was actually a front for money laundering.
Two days after Arthur’s arrest, I was sitting in my attorney’s office when my phone rang. An unknown number.
I pressed speaker. “Hello?”
“You think you’ve won, don’t you, you pathetic little leech?” Chloe’s venomous voice hissed through the speaker.
My attorney, Sarah, immediately hit the record button on her desk terminal.
“Hello, Chloe,” I said calmly. “I see you haven’t been arrested yet.”
“I won’t be arrested, Elena, because I’m smarter than my idiot brother and father,” Chloe sneered. “They were sloppy. But I have something that belongs to you. Something you’d die to get back.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What are you talking about?”
“Your mother’s heirloom diamond necklace,” Chloe taunted. “The one piece of jewelry your mom left you before she died of cancer. The one you kept in the wall safe in the guest bedroom.”
I felt a sudden coldness spread through my chest. That necklace was the only physical memory I had left of my mother.
“You broke into my house?” I demanded.
“It’s not your house, Elena. It’s my family’s house,” Chloe laughed darkly. “I took it before the police padlocked the doors. And right now, I’m standing on the balcony of my penthouse. If you don’t meet me here in thirty minutes, alone, with a signed affidavit withdrawing your testimony against Ethan, I will drop this necklace into the industrial trash incinerator in the basement.”
“Chloe, don’t do this,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady.
“Thirty minutes, Elena. Come alone, or your mother’s memory becomes ash.”
The line went dead.
Sarah looked at me, horrified. “Elena, you can’t go there! It’s a trap! She’s desperate!”
“She has my mother’s necklace, Sarah,” I said, rising from my chair, my jaw set firm. “It’s the only thing in this world I care about recovering from that evil family.”
“Then at least take the police!”
“If she sees a police cruiser, she’ll throw it down the chute immediately,” I replied, putting on my coat. “I know Chloe. She’s arrogant, vain, and cowardly when confronted alone. I’m going.”
Thirty minutes later, I stood outside Penthouse 12B of the Grand Horizon Towers.
I pushed the door open. It was unlocked.
The interior was lavish, filled with expensive art and marble floors. Standing near the floor-to-ceiling glass balcony doors was Chloe, holding a small velvet box in her hand.
“You actually came,” Chloe smiled cruelly. “Where’s the affidavit?”
I pulled a folded piece of paper from my coat pocket. “It’s right here. Hand over the box first.”
Chloe chuckled, taking a step toward me. “You really are gullible, aren’t you? You think an affidavit solves this? My family’s life is destroyed! Our accounts are frozen! Our reputation is gone!”
She suddenly produced a small silver knife from behind her back, her eyes wild with unhinged malice.
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“You’re not leaving this apartment alive, Elena,” she snarled, advancing on me. “I’m going to make it look like you came here to attack me out of revenge, and I acted in self-defense. And once you’re dead, my lawyers will drag your memory through the mud!”
She lunged at me with the knife.
