Chapter 2 - THE SISTER WHO STOLE HER LIFE
The woman standing in the doorway wasn't a stranger.
She was wearing a stunning emerald-green dress.
Her hair was perfectly styled.
She wore a diamond bracelet that sparkled under the chandelier.
Rachel’s bakery box slipped from her hands. It hit the marble floor, the chocolate cake inside breaking apart.
“Sarah?” Rachel whispered.
The woman in the doorway didn't look guilty. She looked annoyed.
It was Rachel’s younger sister.
The sister Rachel had put through college. The sister who came over for Sunday dinners every week for the past twenty years.
Carmela stepped forward, her face twisting in sudden, ugly confusion.
“Anthony,” Carmela snapped. “What is Sarah doing here? I thought she was watching your daughter tonight.”
Sarah walked into the ballroom, her heels clicking against the floor. She didn't look at Carmela. She walked straight to Anthony and handed him a heavy silver keychain.
“The movers are done,” Sarah said smoothly. “Your things are in the new house, babe.”
Carmela let out a sound that was half-gasp, half-scream.
“Babe?” Carmela’s voice shook. “Anthony, you told me the new house was for us!”
Anthony wouldn't look at his mistress. He wouldn't look at his wife.
He just stared at Luca.
Luca Moretti hadn't moved. But the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.
“You bought a house, Anthony?” Luca asked quietly. “With what money? You told me last month you were completely broke.”
Anthony swallowed hard. “Luca, let’s talk in the office.”
“No,” Rachel said. Her voice wasn't shaking anymore. It was dead and cold.
Rachel stepped toward her sister. She wasn't looking at Sarah’s expensive dress. She was looking at the diamond bracelet on Sarah’s wrist.
“Where did you get that?” Rachel demanded.
Sarah covered her wrist, a flash of genuine panic in her eyes. “Anthony gave it to me for my birthday.”
“Take it off,” Rachel ordered.
“Rachel, stop causing a scene—”
Rachel grabbed her sister’s wrist and violently unclasped the bracelet.
Sarah shrieked.
Rachel held the heavy diamond bracelet up to the light. She turned it over.
Engraved on the back of the gold clasp were three initials. C.M.M.
Rachel looked at Luca.
“Luca,” Rachel whispered, her face pale. “These are your mother’s initials.”
Carmela touched her own neck, realizing her own jewelry was suddenly meaningless.
Luca stepped forward, taking the bracelet from Rachel’s hand. He stared at the engraving. His mother’s bracelet had gone missing from the estate vault three weeks ago.
Luca looked at Anthony.
“My mother’s jewelry,” Luca said, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper.
Anthony took a step back. “Luca, I swear to God, she gave it to me to sell! Carmela gave it to me!”
Carmela screamed, “I did not!”
Before Anthony could defend himself, Sarah reached into her designer purse. She pulled out a folded blue train ticket and threw it at Rachel.
“You want to play the victim?” Sarah sneered. “Go ahead. But your daughter isn't playing along. Mia didn't go to school today, Rachel. She took the train to New York.”
Rachel’s knees buckled.
I caught her before she hit the floor.
May you like
“What do you mean she went to New York?” Rachel cried.
“She found something in Anthony’s desk,” Sarah said, her smile vanishing. “Something she was never supposed to see. And now, thanks to you, she’s running.”
