Chapter 9 - CHLOE VERSION
I met Chloe in the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour diner.
Maya stayed inside within sight of us.
Chloe wore the same sunglasses she had worn at LAX, though it was nearly midnight.
Her hands trembled around a paper cup.
I almost reached for her.
Then I remembered her smirk when my cheek was swollen.
Why did you enter my apartment? I asked.
Dad said you had taken something that belonged to Grandma's estate.
Did he tell you what?
He said a key.
And the man with you?
A security consultant, Chloe said.
I asked whether she knew his name.
She shook her head.
I told her the cameras had recorded both of them.
She began to cry again.
I know it looks terrible.
You broke into my home, Chloe.
You helped someone take my grandmother's property.
Her tears slowed.
Dad said you would ruin us if you found the box.
I asked what box.
Chloe looked toward the diner doors.
I don't know, she said.
But Mom has been fighting with Dad about it for weeks.
That was the first useful thing she had told me.
She confessed that she had not been paying her own rent even after graduation because our parents had assured her I would cover it indefinitely.
When I stopped the transfers, they couldn't immediately replace the money.
Her landlord had posted a late notice.
Her car insurance was due.
She had assumed I would get over my anger.
Instead, I had made an entirely different life possible.
I told her I would not resume payments.
But if she wanted to tell the truth to investigators, I would help her find an attorney independent of our parents.
She stared at me.
You're really not going to save me?
I said I would help her take responsibility, not erase the consequences.
For a moment, she looked like the child who used to crawl into my bed during thunderstorms.
Then her face hardened.
You always think you're better than us.
I stood.
No, Chloe.
I spent years believing I wasn't allowed to be better treated than you.
As I turned away, she caught my sleeve.
There's something else.
Dad said the box contains a recording.
What kind of recording?
Her eyes filled with fear.
Something Grandma made before she died.
May you like
And he said if it ever came out, Mom would go to prison.
