Chapter 6 - The Sister’s Bargain
Three weeks later, the reality of federal prison was breaking my sister.
Julian and I were summoned to the federal detention center. Chloe’s public defender had begged for a meeting, claiming she had "vital information" to trade for a lighter sentence.
We sat in the sterile, gray interrogation room behind a thick sheet of plexiglass.
When the guards brought Chloe in, I barely recognized her. The glowing, arrogant socialite was gone. Her hair was greasy and unkempt. She had lost weight, her cheekbones jutting out sharply. The orange jumpsuit looked completely unnatural on her.
She picked up the heavy black phone on her side of the glass. Her hands were shaking violently.
I picked up the receiver on my side.
"Elena," Chloe wept, her voice cracking. "Elena, please. You have to help me. I can't survive in here. The women in my block... they know I'm a rich girl. They're torturing me."
"You aren't a rich girl anymore, Chloe," I said flatly.
"I have information!" she pressed her hand against the glass. "I know where Dad hid a safety deposit box! It has untraceable diamonds in it! Three million dollars' worth! I’ll give you the location, I’ll give you the key! Just... please, use your Vanguard lawyers to get me a plea deal. Tell the judge I was manipulated!"
I looked at her. She was still trying to bargain. Still trying to buy her way out of the consequences.
"We already found the safety deposit box, Chloe," Julian’s voice echoed through the speaker. He leaned into the frame. "We found it two weeks ago. The diamonds were surrendered to the DOJ to pay off the employees your father stiffed on pensions."
Chloe’s eyes widened in absolute despair. Her final bargaining chip was gone.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Chloe sobbed, banging her head against the glass. "I'm your sister! I'm your blood!"
"Because you stole my life's work," I said, my voice cold and steady. "Because you convinced the world I was crazy so you could steal my success. You fired me, you humiliated me, and you tried to seduce my husband at my own wedding."
I stood up, preparing to hang up the phone.
"Wait! Wait!" Chloe screamed through the glass. "What about Dad? He's trying to throw me under the bus! He told the prosecutors I orchestrated the whole thing!"
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"Then I suggest you get a very comfortable pair of shoes, Chloe," I said. "Because you two are going to be fighting in federal court for a very long time. Enjoy the trial."
I hung up the phone, cutting off her desperate, pathetic screams.
