Chapter 6 - The Betrayal of Chloe
With no money, no home, and his own family refusing to take his calls, Richard sought refuge at the only place left: Chloe’s high-rise luxury apartment downtown—an apartment he had quietly paid the lease on for the past two years using stolen corporate funds.
He arrived at her door in the pouring rain, pounding on the polished wood, desperate for someone to validate his grief, to tell him that he was a victim of cruel circumstance and an unforgiving wife.
When the door finally opened on the chain, Chloe didn't look like a grieving girlfriend. She was dressed in a sharp business suit, her hair pulled back neatly, with three cardboard boxes piled in the hallway behind her. Standing directly inside her living room were two agents from the IRS Criminal Investigation Division.
"Chloe, please let me in," Richard begged, pressing his hand against the doorframe. "I have nowhere else to go. My accounts are blocked, Elena took everything, and... and Leo is dead. My little boy is dead, Chloe."
Chloe looked at him through the narrow gap, her expression entirely devoid of warmth. She didn't open the door any wider. Instead, she let out a cold, impatient sigh.
"I know about your son, Richard. The federal agents told me everything during my proffer session yesterday," she said, her tone clinical and detached. "And honestly? It makes you look like an absolute monster. Do you have any idea how bad it looks for me to be associated with a man who was drinking tequila on a beach while his kid died?"
Richard stared at her, stunned. "A proffer session? What are you talking about?"
"I cut a deal, Richard," she stated flatly. "I’m twenty-four years old. I am not ruining my entire life because you couldn't keep your hands out of the company cookie jar. I turned over your personal iPad, your encrypted backup drives, and all the voice memos you sent me bragging about how you were hiding assets from Elena."
"You... you betrayed me?" he whispered, his chest heaving. "I bought you everything! I paid for this apartment!"
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"You paid for it with stolen money, which means the government is seizing this lease by Friday," she snapped back, stepping away from the door. "My lawyer told me to have zero contact with you. If you don't step away from my door right now, the agents inside are going to arrest you for violating the terms of your pre-trial release by trying to intimidate a federal witness."
She shut the door in his face, the heavy brass deadbolt clicking firmly into place. Richard stood alone in the hallway, dripping wet, realizing that every single relationship he had built on money and deception had crumbled to dust the exact moment the checks stopped clearing.
