Chapter 4 - Chloe’s Favorite Weapon
Noah met Chloe three days later.
Not by accident.
Emily had told him very little about the family drama.
Only that she and her sister were not close and that Ryan had been part of the reason.
Noah did not push.
That made Chloe’s plan harder.
She found him online through his photography business.
Then she booked a consultation under a false last name.
Noah arrived at a café expecting to discuss professional headshots.
Instead Chloe sat waiting.
He recognized her immediately from family photographs Emily had shown him.
“You’re Chloe.”
She smiled.
“So she talks about me.”
“Not much.”
That annoyed her.
Chloe gestured toward the chair.
“Sit.”
Noah remained standing.
“Why did you make an appointment?”
“To help you.”
“With what?”
“My sister.”
Noah’s expression did not change.
Chloe leaned back.
“I’m guessing she told you I stole some guy she liked.”
“She said your relationship is complicated.”
“Of course she did.”
Noah said nothing.
Chloe continued.
“Did she tell you she threw a ceramic plate at me?”
“Yes.”
That stopped her.
“She did?”
“She also told me she slapped you.”
Chloe frowned.
“And you’re okay with that?”
“No.”
Noah pulled out the chair but did not sit.
“She said she regretted losing control.”
Chloe looked frustrated.
“She’s manipulating you.”
“I’m sure Emily has flaws.”
Chloe laughed.
“You don’t know the half of it.”
Noah finally sat.
“Then tell me.”
Chloe leaned forward.
She told him Emily had been obsessed with Ryan.
That Emily monitored his house.
That she had imagined a relationship that did not exist.
That she attacked Chloe out of jealousy.
Some statements contained pieces of truth.
Most were distorted.
Noah listened.
When Chloe finished, he asked, “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because you deserve to know.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“That isn’t why.”
Chloe stiffened.
“You don’t know me.”
“I know you booked a fake business meeting to tell a stranger negative things about your sister.”
Chloe’s face changed.
Noah stood.
“If Emily and I ever have problems, we’ll deal with them ourselves.”
“You think she’s better than me.”
“I don’t know you well enough to compare you.”
That answer stung more than an insult.
Noah picked up his coat.
“But I do know something.”
“What?”
“Emily warned me that you might try to hurt her again.”
Chloe stared.
“And I told her I’d judge people by what they did in front of me.”
He looked at the empty coffee cup.
“Thanks for making that easy.”
He left.
Chloe sat alone.
Twenty minutes later, Emily received a call.
“I met your sister.”
Emily closed her eyes.
“What did she do?”
Noah explained.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For her.”
Noah paused.
“Emily, I don’t need you to apologize for somebody else.”
Emily pressed her fingers to her forehead.
“I should’ve warned you more.”
“You warned me enough.”
“What did she say?”
“Things I’d rather hear from you, if they matter.”
Emily appreciated that.
That night, she told him everything.
The crush.
Ryan.
The cake.
The plate.
The slap.
The humiliation.
When she finished, Noah was quiet.
Emily said, “You can think less of me.”
“I don’t love that you threw something at her.”
“I don’t either.”
“But one bad moment doesn’t tell me who you are.”
Emily looked at him.
“What does?”
“Patterns.”
He smiled slightly.
“Patterns tell you almost everything.”
That sentence became important later.
Because Chloe had patterns.
So did Ryan.
And so did someone else Emily had not yet noticed.
Her mother.
Susan had been behaving strangely ever since Chloe returned home.
Whispered phone calls.
Mail hidden in a kitchen drawer.
A checkbook that disappeared when anyone entered.
Emily noticed because she was a bookkeeper.
Numbers were her language.
One evening, she saw an overdue notice on the counter.
Mortgage payment.
Thirty-two days late.
Emily stared.
Her parents had lived in the house for thirty years.
The mortgage should have been nearly paid off.
When Susan entered, Emily held up the notice.
“What is this?”
Susan’s face drained.
“Nothing.”
“Mom.”
“Your father is handling it.”
“Why is the mortgage late?”
Susan sat down.
Emily waited.
Finally Susan whispered, “We refinanced.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
Emily’s stomach tightened.
“Why?”
Susan looked toward the hallway.
“For Chloe.”
Emily went still.
“What?”
“Her business.”
Emily remembered.
Sixteen months earlier Chloe had announced she was launching an online fashion store.
Three months later she stopped mentioning it.
“You borrowed against the house?”
“Your father didn’t know at first.”
Emily stared.
“How much?”
Susan whispered the number.
“One hundred eighty thousand.”
Emily almost laughed because crying felt too frightening.
“Where did the money go?”
Susan looked away.
“Chloe said inventory, marketing, consultants…”
“Did you see invoices?”
“No.”
“Bank statements?”
“No.”
“Mom!”
“I trusted her!”
Emily stood.
“Does Dad know now?”
Susan nodded.
“He found out six months ago.”
“And nobody told me.”
“It wasn’t your problem.”
Emily stared.
“You’re about to lose the house.”
“We’re not losing it.”
“You missed a payment.”
Susan began crying.
Emily sat again.
“When did Chloe stop paying you back?”
“She never started.”
That evening Robert joined the conversation.
He looked twenty years older.
“I should’ve told you.”
“Yes.”
“I was embarrassed.”
“Dad, where is the money?”
Robert shook his head.
“We don’t know.”
Emily did.
At least she knew where to start.
She requested bank statements.
Susan had transferred funds into an account owned by Chloe.
From there, money moved through payment apps, travel bookings, luxury stores, restaurants, and cash withdrawals.
There had never been a real business.
Emily spent two hours reviewing transactions.
Then she went upstairs.
Chloe was painting her nails.
Emily put the bank statements on the bed.
“What’s this?”
Chloe looked.
Her face changed.
“You went through my account?”
“I went through Mom’s transfers.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“You took one hundred eighty thousand dollars from them.”
“I borrowed money.”
“You spent eleven thousand dollars in Miami.”
Chloe stood.
“That trip was for networking.”
“You spent four thousand at a jewelry store.”
“Brand image.”
“Seven thousand at a casino.”
Silence.
Emily looked at her.
“Casino?”
Chloe’s eyes hardened.
“It was one night.”
“You gambled with money secured against Mom and Dad’s house.”
“I was going to win it back.”
Emily stared.
There it was.
The pattern.
Chloe did not only take things.
She believed consequences were temporary inconveniences other people would eventually absorb.
Emily whispered, “They could lose this house.”
“They won’t.”
“Because who will save them?”
Chloe looked at her.
Emily understood.
“You thought I would.”
“You have savings.”
Emily laughed in disbelief.
“You stole their money assuming I’d cover the damage?”
“I didn’t steal.”
Emily gathered the papers.
“I’m not paying this for you.”
Chloe followed her into the hallway.
“Then Mom and Dad lose the house.”
Emily stopped.
Chloe realized too late what she had revealed.
Emily turned slowly.
“That’s your plan?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“You just did.”
Chloe stepped backward.
Emily looked at her sister with a clarity more painful than anger.
May you like
Ryan had not been the worst thing Chloe had taken.
Not even close.
