Chapter 16 - The Deal with the Devil
While Carter sat in a concrete cell, I was pacing the hardwood floors of our Pasadena home, a storm raging inside my chest.
Eleanor sat on the sofa, watching me with a mixture of awe and concern.
She had spent the last twenty-four hours proving she wasn't the enemy, shielding Lucy from the chaos and coordinating with Marcus.
But Marcus’s phone call an hour ago had nearly broken me.
They were going to deny Carter bail.
They were going to lock him in a cage for years while his father laughed from a penthouse.
I stopped pacing and turned to Eleanor.
"Richard didn't forge those documents himself," I said, my voice steady and cold.
"He hired someone."
Eleanor nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"He has a fixer in the IT department."
"A man named Julian."
"But Julian is terrified of Richard."
"He will never testify."
"He won't have to," I said, walking toward the kitchen counter where I had left my keys.
"I'm not going after Julian."
"I'm going after the weak link."
Eleanor frowned.
"Who?"
"Chloe Vance," I said, grabbing my purse.
Eleanor stood up, her eyes wide with panic.
"Valerie, no."
"Chloe is vindictive and cruel."
"If she knows you're desperate, she will destroy you."
"She already tried," I replied, my voice hardened by the fires I had walked through over the last three years.
"Watch Lucy for me."
"I'll be back in two hours."
I drove to Beverly Hills, my knuckles white on the steering wheel.
I didn't have an appointment at the Vance estate, but I knew exactly where Chloe spent her Thursday afternoons.
The exclusive Country Club on Wilshire.
I marched past the valet and the bewildered hostess, walking straight onto the sun-drenched patio.
Chloe was sitting at a private table, sipping a mimosa, flanked by two of her wealthy friends.
When she saw me, her smug smile faltered for a fraction of a second before returning in full force.
"Well, well," Chloe purred, crossing her legs.
"If it isn't the Pasadena waitress."
"To what do we owe the tragedy of your presence?"
I ignored her friends and slammed both of my hands onto her table, rattling the expensive crystal glasses.
"Tell your friends to take a walk, Chloe."
"We need to talk."
Her friends looked offended, but Chloe waved them away with a manicured hand.
"Give us a minute, girls."
Once we were alone, Chloe leaned back in her chair, observing me like an insect under glass.
"Carter’s in jail, isn't he?" she smiled.
"Such a shame."
"I hear federal prison is rough on former billionaires."
"You forged the documents," I said, keeping my voice low.
"Your father and Richard."
Chloe let out a musical, mocking laugh.
"Don't be dramatic, Valerie."
"My father just provided the motivation."
"Richard handled the dirty work."
She leaned in, her eyes glinting with malice.
"But you can't prove any of that."
"Because you have nothing."
"You are nothing."
I stared into her cold, empty eyes.
"You're right," I whispered.
"I have no money."
"I have no power."
"But I have something you want."
Chloe raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"And what could a broke single mother possibly have that I want?"
"Carter," I said simply.
The smugness finally vanished from her face, replaced by a deep, ugly resentment.
"If you give me the evidence I need to clear his name," I said, my heart breaking with every word I forced out of my mouth.
"I will take my daughter, and I will disappear."
May you like
"I will leave Los Angeles tonight, and I will never contact Carter again."
"He will be yours."
