Chapter 10 - Chloe's Confession
I returned to the bistro feeling like a hollow, empty shell of a person.
The grief of losing my father crashed over me all over again, this time entirely poisoned by rage.
As I unlocked the back office, I heard a pathetic, sniffling sound coming from the alleyway.
I walked around the dumpsters and found Chloe sitting in the mud, clutching a luxury handbag.
She looked entirely ruined, her designer clothes torn and covered in absolute filth.
"Samantha, please," she begged, scrambling to her feet.
"Mom left me behind, she took the last of the cash and just abandoned me."
I crossed my arms, refusing to show her a single ounce of pity.
"Why should I care, Chloe?" I asked coldly.
"Because I know exactly where she is hiding," Chloe blurted out desperately.
"She is trying to charter a private boat out of the marina to escape into international waters."
"If you give me ten thousand dollars to start over, I will tell you the exact dock number."
I stared at the greedy, pathetic girl who had made my life a living hell for years.
Even now, with her mother on the run for murder, she was still trying to extort me for cash.
I pulled my cell phone from my pocket and dialed Detective Ramirez's direct line.
"Put the phone down!" Chloe screamed, lunging at me.
Julian stepped out of the back door, catching Chloe mid-air and tossing her roughly back into the mud.
"Detective, my stepsister is currently at my restaurant, and she knows exactly where Eleanor is hiding," I said clearly.
Chloe began to sob hysterically, realizing she had just lost her final bargaining chip.
"You ruined my life!" Chloe wailed into the dirty pavement.
"No, Chloe," I corrected her quietly.
May you like
"You and your mother ruined yourselves."
I walked back inside, leaving her crying in the garbage where she belonged.
