Chapter 20 - The Abyss of Doubt
By Monday morning, the grand ballroom of the Plaza Hotel in New York was packed shoulder-to-shoulder with TV cameras, photographers, and journalists from the world's top financial outlets. The joint press conference of the Carter sisters had generated colossal anticipation.
In the green rooms backstage, Emma adjusted her jacket in the mirror. Beside her, Sora flipped through the pages of their joint statement, the one where they would publicly resign from the holding company and expose Richard's crimes.
"Are you ready?" Emma asked, looking at her through the reflection.
"I was born ready," Sora replied with a faint smile. "We're finally going to be free, sister."
A production assistant knocked on the door. "Five minutes to air, Ms. Carters."
Sora walked out into the hallway first. Emma grabbed her purse to follow her, but as she moved her folder of documents, Sora's cell phone—which she had accidentally left sitting on the vanity—lit up with an incoming call.
The caller ID on the screen made Emma's heart stop dead:
INMATE: RICHARD CARTER - OTISVILLE
The phone kept buzzing. Right below the incoming call, a pop-up text notification flashed across the locked screen. Emma leaned in to read the text:
Everything is going exactly to plan, Sora. Emma bought the maternity story hook, line, and sinker. The second she gets on stage and signs that resignation, all the assets transfer automatically to your exclusive offshore trust in the Caymans. Congratulations, my daughter.
The air vanished from Emma's lungs.
Outside, the roar of the crowd and the flashing strobes meant Sora was already standing at the microphones. Emma looked down at the text message on the screen, then at the open door leading to the stage.
May you like
Was the message one final, twisted trap set by Richard to sow discord between them at the eleventh hour, or had Sora been playing an impeccable double game from the very beginning?
Emma grabbed her lapel mic, clenched her fists, and took her first step out into the blinding light of the stage.
