Chapter 5 - Chloe's Midnight Visit
At 2300 hours that evening, the heavy brass knocker on my front door rattled aggressively. My home security system chimes echoed through the hallway. I pulled up the camera feed on my tablet and saw my sister Chloe standing on the porch, wearing a designer trench coat over a cocktail dress, her eye makeup smeared from crying.
I pressed the intercom button. "Go home, Chloe."
"Elena, please! Open the door!" she sobbed into the speaker, her voice trembling with hysteria. "Julian left me! He packed his bags and went to a hotel! You have to let me in so I can explain what happened!"
I hesitated for a moment, then remotely unlocked the door. She stumbled into the foyer, bringing the scent of stale champagne and expensive perfume with her. She looked at me sitting in my wheelchair, my arm bound in a rigid sling, but there was no empathy in her eyes—only panic for her own collapsing world.
"What did you do to Dad?" she screamed, pointing a trembling finger at me. "Julian’s father got a call from his lawyers tonight! Rumors are already spreading through the country club that Vance Enterprises is under federal investigation for attempted wire fraud! Julian said he married into a family of con artists and filed for an annulment three hours ago!"
"I didn't do anything to Father, Chloe," I said calmly, rolling my wheelchair forward until I was just inches from her. "I simply refused to let him rob me to pay for your fake lifestyle."
"It was just money!" Chloe cried out, dropping to her knees on the hardwood floor and clutching the armrest of my wheelchair. "You have your military salary! You don't care about clothes or society or estates! You live like a monk! Why couldn't you just sign the paper and let us save the family name? My entire life is ruined because of your selfish pride!"
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I looked down at my younger sister—the woman I had spent my entire youth defending from our parents' high expectations. I reached out with my uninjured hand, gently prying her fingers off my wheelchair.
"I called you eight times while my chest chest tube was draining blood into a vacuum canister, Chloe," I whispered. "You read my message. And then you smiled for a photo with your champagne glass. Get out of my house."
