Chapter 4 - The Weeping Traitor
Back at the private clinic, Clara was sitting upright in a customized, high-tech wheelchair that her mother’s engineers had brought in.
She looked immaculate, dressed in a tailored silk blouse, her posture radiating a newfound, unbreakable strength.
The heavy mahogany doors of her suite opened, and two of Victoria’s operatives dragged Elise into the room.
Elise was a pathetic sight, barefoot, disheveled, and weeping so hard she could barely breathe.
They dropped her onto the plush rug in front of Clara’s wheelchair, stepping back to guard the exits.
“Clara! Please, you have to listen to me!” Elise begged, crawling forward and attempting to grab her sister’s hands.
Clara pulled her hands away, looking down at her younger sister as if she were a stranger.
“You watched him take away my emergency medication, Elise,” Clara said, her voice eerily calm.
“You stood on those stairs and smiled while my throat closed up.”
Elise choked on a sob, shaking her head frantically in denial.
“He manipulated me! He told me you were going to cut me off, that you hated me!”
Clara let out a bitter, humorless laugh that echoed sharply in the quiet room.
“I paid your debts, I gave you a career, and I gave you my unconditional love.”
Clara leaned forward, her eyes boring into Elise’s terrified, tear-streaked face.
“And in return, you tried to help my husband murder me for a payout.”
“I’m sorry! I’ll do anything! Please don’t let mom lock me in that dark room again!” Elise wailed, pressing her forehead against the floor.
Clara stared at the woman she had shared childhood secrets with, feeling nothing but profound emptiness.
“You are going to sign a full confession detailing every illegal thing Julian has done over the last ten years,” Clara commanded.
Elise nodded violently, desperate for any shred of mercy.
“After that, you will be stripped of your trust fund, your shares, and the Sterling family name.”
Elise froze, looking up with wide, horrified eyes.
“Clara, no, please… I’ll be ruined. I have nowhere to go.”
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“You have exactly one hour to sign the papers, or you go back to the bunker with Julian,” Clara said softly.
Elise buried her face in her hands, her hysterical cries filling the room as she realized her glamorous life was permanently over.
