Chapter 5 - The Confrontation at the Threshold
Thirty-six hours after they departed for Cabo, Derek and Clara stepped off a red-eye economy flight, looking like ghosts of their former selves.
Their luxury luggage was gone—confiscated by the resort to cover their unpaid twenty-thousand-dollar bill. Clara was wearing a crumpled, sweat-stained jumpsuit, her eyes bloodshot behind cracked sunglasses. Derek was disheveled, his designer shirt unbuttoned, smelling of cheap airport liquor.
Desperate and terrified, Derek drove his rental car straight to his luxury penthouse suite in the city—the penthouse I had helped decorate, the penthouse whose lease was under my name.
When they arrived at the top floor, Derek shoved his keycard into the electronic lock.
Beep. Red light.
"Dammit!" Derek slammed his fist against the door. He tried again. Red light.
"Try it again, Derek!" Clara sobbed, clutching her designer handbag. "I need to get inside! The press is standing outside my apartment complex! My phone won't stop ringing!"
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the penthouse opened from the inside.
Two men in black uniforms stepped out, carrying heavy cardboard boxes filled with Derek’s designer suits, expensive watches, and personal belongings. Behind them stood Nolan, holding an espresso cup, and me.
I was wearing a tailored ivory jumpsuit, my hair styled in soft waves, looking every bit the heiress I was born to be.
Derek froze. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. "E-Emily?"
"Hello, Derek. Hi, Clara," I said softly, taking a slow sip from my porcelain tea cup. "Welcome back from Cabo. How was the champagne?"
Clara gasped, dropping to her knees right there in the hallway. "Emily! Please! It’s not what you think! He forced me! Derek threatened to ruin my business if I didn't go with him! He manipulated me!"
"You traitorous bitch!" Derek roared, turning on Clara with venom in his eyes. "You came to me! You begged me for money because your agency was bankrupt! You told me Emily was a boring, naive child!"
"Shut up! Both of you," Nolan’s voice cut through the air like a razor blade.
The corridor went dead silent. The two traitors trembled under my brother’s terrifying gaze.
I stepped forward, leaning down until I was eye-level with Clara. I reached into my bag and pulled out the crumpled cardboard welcome sign I had dropped at Terminal 3—the sign that read: Welcome Home, Big Brother!
I tossed it onto Clara’s lap.
"I stood in Terminal 3 for two hours waiting to welcome my brother," I said, my voice dropping to a whisper that vibrated with immense power. "Instead, I watched my fiancé kiss my maid of honor. I watched the two people I loved most in this world throw my trust in the trash."
"Emily, baby, please!" Derek burst into tears, dropping to his knees beside Clara, reaching out to touch the hem of my pants. "I made a mistake! I was under so much pressure with the company! I love you! Only you! We can still get married in twelve days! We can fix this!"
I pulled my leg back in disgust.
"There will be no wedding, Derek," I said calmly. "The venue has already been canceled. The caterers have been dismissed. And your ring..." I pulled the five-carat diamond ring from my finger and held it up in the ambient light.
Derek’s eyes filled with desperate hope. "Emily... please..."
I opened my hand and let the ring drop. It clinked against the marble floor and rolled directly into the open elevator shaft grate, disappearing into the dark depths of the building.
Derek gasped in horror.
"That ring was bought with my trust fund money anyway," I said coolly. "And speaking of money... the police are downstairs."
Right on cue, the elevator doors chimed open. Four uniformed police officers and two federal investigators stepped out onto the penthouse floor.
"Derek Thorne? Clara Montgomery?" the lead officer announced, pulling out two sets of handcuffs. "You are under arrest for grand larceny, corporate embezzlement, and wire fraud. You have the right to remain silent."
"No! Emily, please! Nolan! Save me!" Derek screamed as the officers forced his arms behind his back, pushing his face against the cold tile floor.
Clara screamed and sobbed as metal cuffs clicked around her delicate wrists. "Emily! We were sisters! How could you do this to me?!"
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I adjusted my jacket, looking down at them without an ounce of emotion left in my heart.
"You did this to yourselves," I said. "Take them away."
