Chapter 12 - The Sister's Final Supper
I returned to the house,
the adrenaline still humming through my veins,
a dark,
intoxicating energy that made my senses razor-sharp,
and immediately picked up my cell phone,
dialing Elise’s number.
"Hey,
sweetie,
how was the doctor?"
she answered,
her voice bright,
cheerful,
and utterly deceitful,
making my stomach churn with a violent wave of disgust.
"It was exhausting,
Elise,
I am just so tired of feeling like this,
I really need my big sister tonight,
can you please come over for dinner?"
I pleaded,
injecting just the right amount of desperation and vulnerability into my tone,
playing the helpless victim she needed me to be.
"Of course,
honey,
Nicholas told me he was working late on a big merger anyway,
I will bring some wine and we can just relax,"
she promised,
falling right into the trap I had carefully laid out for her.
I spent the next two hours preparing a lavish dinner,
cooking all of Elise's favorite dishes,
roasting a chicken with rosemary,
preparing a delicate asparagus risotto,
setting the dining room table with our finest crystal and silver,
creating the perfect stage for a psychological execution.
When she arrived,
she looked surprised by the effort I had put in,
her eyes scanning the beautiful spread with a mixture of delight and suspicion,
clearly not expecting the supposedly heavily medicated woman to be capable of such a feat.
"Sophie,
this looks incredible,
are you sure you should be on your feet this much?"
she asked,
setting a bottle of expensive red wine on the counter,
looking at me with that fake,
cloying concern that I now recognized as her signature weapon.
"I felt a sudden burst of energy,
I wanted to do something nice for you,
since you have been helping me so much with Julian,"
I replied smoothly,
smiling warmly,
masking the intense hatred that was screaming inside my head.
We sat down at the long mahogany table,
the soft glow of the chandelier casting warm shadows across the room,
and I poured her a generous glass of wine,
watching her take a long,
greedy sip,
oblivious to the fact that she was dining with a woman who held her entire future in her hands.
"So,
how is the boutique doing?"
I asked casually,
cutting into my chicken,
keeping my gaze focused on my plate,
acting completely innocent.
Elise stiffened slightly,
a barely noticeable flinch,
but my heightened senses caught it instantly,
a small crack in her confident armor.
"Oh,
it is great,
we are actually expanding our winter collection,
sales have never been better,"
she lied seamlessly,
taking another nervous gulp of wine,
her eyes darting away from mine.
"That is wonderful,
Elise,
I am so proud of you,
it takes a lot of capital to keep a business afloat in this economy,
doesn't it?"
I pushed,
the question hanging in the air,
heavy with unspoken implications,
watching the color slowly begin to drain from her cheeks.
"Yes,
well,
I manage,"
she muttered,
suddenly losing her appetite,
pushing the risotto around her plate with her silver fork.
"I am glad,
because Nicholas was telling me something strange the other day,
before my memory got all foggy again,"
I continued,
my voice light,
conversational,
as I slowly raised my eyes to lock onto hers,
letting the silence stretch until the tension in the room was suffocating.
"What did he say?"
she asked,
her voice trembling slightly,
her knuckles turning white as she gripped the stem of her wine glass,
the fear starting to bubble up to the surface.
"He mentioned a loan,
a very large loan,
and something about a collateral agreement that depended on my mental health evaluation,"
I said,
dropping the bomb with terrifying precision,
watching the explosion register on her beautiful,
treacherous face.
Elise dropped her fork,
the silver clattering loudly against the fine china,
her mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish,
unable to form a single coherent word as the reality of my knowledge crushed her.
"Sophie... I... I don't know what you are talking about,
your medication is making you confused again,"
she stammered,
falling back on the same pathetic gaslighting technique Nicholas used,
trying desperately to regain control of the narrative.
I laughed,
a cold,
hard sound that echoed off the dining room walls,
entirely devoid of humor,
a sound that made Elise physically recoil in her chair.
"I am not taking the medication,
Elise,
I haven't been taking it for days,
I know everything,
I know about the fake records,
I know about Dr. Evans,
and I know you sold me and Julian to Nicholas for a quarter of a million dollars,"
I stated,
my voice devoid of anger now,
replaced by a chilling,
absolute certainty that paralyzed her completely.
Tears welled in her eyes,
spilling over her perfectly applied makeup,
ruining her beautiful facade,
revealing the desperate,
selfish coward she truly was underneath.
"He threatened me,
Sophie,
my business was dying,
I was going to lose everything,
and he said you were sick anyway,
that Julian would be better off with him,"
she sobbed,
reaching across the table to grab my hand,
but I snatched it away violently,
looking at her with pure,
unadulterated disgust.
"You are dead to me,
Elise,
you are no longer my sister,
you are just another obstacle I am going to destroy,
and when I am done with Nicholas,
I am coming for your store,
I am coming for your reputation,
and I will make sure everyone in this city knows exactly what kind of monster you really are,"
I promised,
my words striking her like physical blows,
leaving her sobbing uncontrollably over her untouched plate of food.
I stood up,
leaving her crying in the dining room,
walking upstairs to the nursery,
feeling lighter,
feeling stronger,
May you like
knowing the final battle was rapidly approaching,
and I was armed to the teeth.
