Chapter 8 - Alliance of the Defeated
Emma walked back to her apartment as the snow began to stick to the asphalt. A hard, cold rage had completely replaced her fear. For years, she had believed her father was the victim of a frivolous, treacherous mother, but reality was infinitely more twisted: Richard Carter was a sociopath pulling the strings of everyone around him.
Her doorbell rang. When she opened it, she was met with a pathetic sight. Victoria Carter stood in the hallway. She was wearing a ratty mink coat, her makeup smeared from the rain, and her eyes hollow from exhaustion.
"Emma..." Victoria croaked, taking a hesitant step forward.
"Don't even think about taking another step," Emma ordered, blocking the doorway. "What are you doing here? How did you find my address?"
"Julian gave it to me. I know you spoke with him."
"And the two of you came to finish me off? See if you can get a cut of the last bit of ruin I have left?"
Victoria dropped her purse to the floor and, for the first time in her life, completely broke down. She leaned heavily against the doorframe and began to sob uncontrollably, shedding every ounce of the bourgeois composure that had always defined her.
"I swear on my life I didn't know about your grandfather's trust fund," Victoria sobbed between hiccups. "I only found out about the forgery last week, when my lawyer tried to access our marital assets. Richard threatened me, Emma. He told me if I tried to warn you, he would leak the compromising photos his private investigators took of Julian and me, just to destroy me entirely."
Emma watched her coldly, but couldn't completely suppress a pang of pity. The influential, tyrannical woman had been reduced to a human wreck.
"Richard gets out tomorrow morning," Emma said, stepping aside to let her in. "If we're going to keep him from sending me to prison and leaving you all out on the street, we have to make our move tonight."
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"What are you planning to do?" Victoria asked, wiping her tears with her coat sleeve.
"I'm going to do what I do best in this family: strike where it hurts the most."
