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PART 2
My breath caught in my throat.
I opened the image, my thumb trembling against the glass screen.
It wasn’t a photo of Melanie. It wasn’t a picture of baby clothes or a house in the desert.
It was a photograph of a legal contract.
At the top, in
crisp, bold lettering, was the letterhead of a Denver estate-planning firm. Beneath it was Lucas’s signature alongside another name I recognized immediately.
My own sister.
Chloe.
Beneath the document was a second photo—a screenshot of a wire transfer receipt dated two weeks earlier, showing fifty thousand dollars moved from Lucas to Chloe’s personal checking account.
The phone screen blurred as the pieces slammed together.
Lucas hadn’t acted alone.
Chloe was the one who had convinced me to move my inheritance into the joint account.
“Keep your marriage strong, Claire. Trust him. Shared wealth builds a shared future.”
She hadn’t been giving me sisterly advice.
She had been helping Lucas set me up.
In exchange, he had promised her a share of the money once he gained access to my inheritance and disappeared.
A second text chimed from the unknown number.
“Look at the front gate. I’m outside.”
I didn’t panic.
I stood up, walked to the front window, and slowly parted the sheer curtains.
Parked at the curb was a sleek black sedan.
Leaning against the hood was a young woman in oversized sunglasses, one hand resting protectively on her visibly swollen stomach.
It was Melanie.
I didn’t run to hide.
I unlocked the heavy oak door and stood at the threshold, waiting.
Melanie walked up the stone pathway, her steps hesitant, her face pale.
She didn’t look arrogant.
She looked terrified.
“Claire?” Her voice barely carried through the crisp Denver air.
“You have five minutes,” I said, my voice cold and steady.
“I didn’t know you existed,” Melanie whispered, tears instantly filling her eyes. “I swear to God, Claire. He told me he had been divorced for years. Later, he told me his former wife had died. I believed him.”
She held up her phone, her hands shaking.
“He told me the Palm Springs condo was for us. For me and the baby.”
I said nothing.
“Two days ago, I found emails between him and your sister Chloe,” she continued. “That’s when I realized he had lied to both of us.”
Her voice cracked.
“He promised Chloe a share of the money from your joint account if she helped him gain access to your inheritance and keep you from asking questions.”
