Chapter 11 - CHLOE COMES TO MY DOOR
Three days after the wedding, I moved into my parents’ guesthouse.
Not because I needed money.
Because I needed quiet.
Dominic stayed in our house.
Reporters camped near the end of the street.
Vale Hospitality issued a short statement confirming that hotel security had preserved evidence and cooperated with law enforcement.
Nothing more.
My name disappeared from the statement.
That was my request.
Chloe ignored every request for privacy.
She gave one interview through her attorney.
She claimed the attempted framing had been “a cruel wedding prank that spiraled out of control.”
The public did not believe her.
Neither did the police.
Amanda accepted a cooperation agreement.
She turned over text messages.
There were hundreds.
Most were ugly.
Some were criminal.
One message from Chloe read:
MAKE SURE VIVIENNE IS THE FIRST PERSON WE SEARCH.
Another said:
DOMINIC WON’T STOP US.
That message hurt more than I wanted it to.
Chloe had known her brother well.
On the fourth afternoon, a car stopped outside the guesthouse.
Chloe got out.
She wore sunglasses and an oversized coat.
My security guard called me.
“Do you want her removed?”
I almost said yes.
Then I changed my mind.
“Give us ten minutes.”
Chloe entered looking nothing like the bride from four days earlier.
No makeup.
Hair pulled back.
No diamond ring.
She stood in my living room.
“You look comfortable.”
I stared at her.
“That’s why you came?”
“No.”
She sat without being invited.
“I need your help.”
I laughed.
Her face tightened.
“My attorney says Amanda’s testimony is destroying me.”
“I imagine so.”
“She makes it sound like I planned everything.”
“You planned part of it.”
“Not the insurance fraud.”
“I know.”
Chloe looked surprised.
“You believe me?”
“About that part.”
Her shoulders dropped slightly.
“My mother told me the ring was being cleaned.”
“That appears to be true.”
“I didn’t know she sold it.”
“I believe that too.”
Hope appeared.
Then I destroyed it.
“But you still tried to frame me for stealing the replacement.”
She looked away.
“It was supposed to embarrass you.”
“Yes.”
“Not send you to prison.”
“You announced to two hundred people that I stole a million-dollar diamond.”
“I was angry.”
“For three years?”
Her lips pressed together.
I leaned back.
“Why did you hate me?”
“I didn’t.”
“Try again.”
She stared at the floor.
Finally, she whispered,
“Because Dominic changed.”
I frowned.
“He stopped paying for things.”
“What things?”
“My apartment.”
I blinked.
“Your brother paid your rent?”
“For years.”
I had never known.
“He stopped after you got married.”
“I never asked him to.”
“I know.”
Chloe’s voice became bitter.
“He said he wanted to save for a house with you.”
That was true.
“He used to take me everywhere.”
“Chloe, you were twenty-eight when we married.”
“I know.”
She looked ashamed now.
“My mother kept saying you were taking him away.”
There it was.
Eleanor again.
But Chloe was an adult.
Manipulation explained choices.
It did not erase them.
“I was jealous.”
She finally said it.
“I thought if Dominic married someone impressive, I would feel better.”
I almost smiled.
“You thought I wasn’t impressive.”
“I thought you were nobody.”
“At least you’re honest.”
She began crying.
“I ruined everything.”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell the prosecutor I didn’t mean to hurt you?”
“No.”
She looked up.
“Why?”
“Because you did mean to hurt me.”
Her face crumpled.
I softened my voice.
“You may not have intended prison.”
I touched my stomach.
“But humiliation was the entire purpose.”
Chloe stood.
At the door, she looked back.
“Do you hate me?”
I considered it.
“No.”
She seemed surprised.
“I just don’t trust you.”
Her eyes filled again.
“That feels worse.”
May you like
“It should.”
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