Chapter 4 - The Fall of Chloe
While the federal case against my mother sent shockwaves through the financial news networks, my attention turned to the second person who had actively tried to destroy my family: my sister, Chloe.
Unlike our mother, who was driven by a ruthless thirst for financial power and social dominance, Chloe was driven by pure, spoiled spite. She had spent her entire adult life relying on my mother’s money and my corporate influence to bail her out of failed business ventures, unpaid tuition bills, and endless scandals.
After being evicted from the estate, Chloe had taken refuge in a luxury penthouse in downtown Manhattan—a penthouse that was leased under my corporate account.
At 2:00 PM on Thursday afternoon, Chloe sat in the living room of the penthouse, frantically scrolling through social media news feeds on her tablet. Every major news outlet in the state was broadcasting headlines about our family:
VANCE CYBERNETICS EMPIRE COLLAPSES IN MASSIVE EMBEZZLEMENT SCANDAL; MATRIARCH DIANE VANCE FACES 20 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON.
Suddenly, the electronic keycard lock on the front door of the penthouse chimed.
The door swung open, and I walked into the apartment, accompanied by two civil court process servers and a representative from the Manhattan Housing Authority.
Chloe jumped up from the sofa, dropping her tablet onto the cushions, her face pale with rage.
"Daniel!" she yelled, her voice dripping with venom. "How dare you come here?! Mom is sitting in a federal detention center because of you! Do you have any idea what the press is saying about us?! My friends are blocking my calls!"
"Your friends aren't blocking your calls because of the press, Chloe," I said, walking over to the floor-to-ceiling glass window that overlooked Central Park. "They're blocking your calls because your credit cards were declined at every shop on Fifth Avenue this morning."
Chloe’s jaw dropped. She pulled her phone from her pocket, frantically checking her mobile banking app. "What did you do to my accounts?!"
"I didn't do anything to your accounts," I said, turning around to face her. "I simply revoked your status as an authorized user on the Vance Corporate Trust. You don't have a bank account, Chloe. You never had one. Every dollar you’ve spent for the last four years was drawn directly from the account you and Mom embezzled from my company."
"You monster!" Chloe screamed, taking a step toward me, her eyes wide with hysterical rage. "I'm your sister! You owe me! You're supposed to take care of me!"
"I owed you guidance when you were a child," I said flatly. "I don't owe anything to an adult who locks a mother in a closet and leaves a newborn baby near an open window in sub-zero weather."
The civil process server stepped forward, handing Chloe a thick stack of legal documents.
"Chloe Vance?" the process server said formally. "You are being served with a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of Sarah Vance for intentional infliction of emotional distress, false imprisonment, and battery. The plaintiff is seeking fifteen million dollars in punitive damages."
Chloe stared at the legal papers in her hands, her breath coming in fast, shallow gasps. "Fifteen million dollars?! I don't have fifteen million dollars! I don't have fifteen hundred dollars!"
"Then you'll spend the next ten years in civil court having your future wages, assets, and tax refunds permanently garnished," I told her softly.
The representative from the Manhattan Housing Authority stepped forward next, holding a clip-board.
"Miss Vance, the lease for this penthouse unit has been officially terminated due to non-payment and corporate fraud," the representative announced. "Building security is currently outside the door. You have thirty minutes to pack your personal belongings into two bags and vacate the premises."
"Thirty minutes?!" Chloe shrieked, tears of pure panic finally spilling down her face. "Where am I supposed to go?! I don't have anywhere to live! I don't have any money!"
I stepped past her toward the front door, pausing at the threshold to look back at my sister one last time.
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"You can do what Sarah did, Chloe," I said coldly. "You can try to survive on your own. But unlike Sarah... no one is coming to save you."
I walked out of the penthouse, the heavy double doors clicking shut behind me, drowning out the sound of Chloe’s frantic, hopeless screams as building security walked in to enforce her eviction.
