Chapter 35 - The Sister's Shadow
Success breeds visibility, and visibility occasionally attracts the ghosts you deliberately left behind.
I was walking out of a high-end coffee shop near my office, holding a latte and reviewing an email on my phone, when a fragile, timid voice called my name.
"Emma?"
I stopped. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. The voice was etched into my DNA, though it lacked the vibrant, arrogant spark it once possessed. I slowly turned around.
Claire stood on the sidewalk. My sister. The woman who had slept in my house, smiled in my face, and carried on a clandestine affair with my husband for years. The woman I had bought the silver bracelet for.
She looked terrible. The glamorous, carefree facade she used to project was entirely gone. She looked exhausted, her clothes were cheap and worn, and she carried the heavy, unmistakable weight of a life built on ruin. When Mark's financial crimes had come to light, the syndicate had turned on Claire, leaving her bankrupt and entirely alienated from our family.
"Emma, please," Claire whispered, taking a hesitant step forward. "I saw you on the news the other day. I... I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I have lost everything. I have absolutely nothing left."
I looked at her. I waited for the anger, the betrayal, or the sorrow to rise in my chest. But the well was completely dry.
"You didn't lose everything, Claire," I said, my voice perfectly level, devoid of any warmth or hatred. "You traded it. You traded your sister for a temporary illusion. And now you are holding the receipt."
"Please," she sobbed, tears spilling over. "I'm your sister."
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"I don't have a sister," I replied, adjusting my coat. "I have a fortress. And you are permanently locked outside."
I turned and walked away, not looking back once.
