“SHE THOUGHT WE WERE IN PARIS!” — MY FAMILY BROKE INTO MY $3M PENTHOUSE TO STEAL MY INHERITANCE, BUT GRANDPA’S SECRET SAFE LEFT THEM IN HANDCUFFS!

The following morning, the visitor’s room at the Suffolk County House of Correction was thick with the smell of floor polish and despair. Chloe sat across the Plexiglas partition, her appearance a grotesque caricature of her former glamorous self.

Her manicured nails were bitten down to the quick. Her blonde hair, usually styled in pristine beach waves, hung greasy and matted around her sunken cheeks. She was wearing an orange institutional jumpsuit three sizes too large for her thin frame.

When she saw Olivia sit down, she slammed her cuffed hands against the glass.

“You have to drop the charges!” Chloe shrieked, tears immediately cutting tracks through her smeared mascara. “Olivia, look at me! Look at what they’re doing to me! They put me in a cell with real criminals! I haven't slept in thirty hours! Tell the prosecutor it was a misunderstanding! Tell them Dad had permission to enter the apartment!”

Olivia picked up the receiver and held it to her ear, staring at her sister without a single flicker of emotion.

“Why would I do that, Chloe?”

“Because we’re sisters!” Chloe sobbed, pressing her face against the partition. “Family forgives! You’ve always had everything—Grandpa loved you more, you got into Harvard, you got the fancy art restoration firm, and I was always the screw-up! Dad and Mom only tried to help me because they knew you’d never share the money!”

“Share the money?” Olivia echoed, her voice quiet through the handset. “You sold my home to loan sharks, Chloe. You let two armed thugs come to my lobby last night to threaten my life.”

Chloe’s expression flickered with panic. “What? No... Victor wasn't supposed to threaten you! He was just supposed to scare you into signing!”

“And what about Grandpa?” Olivia asked, her voice dropping into a deadly, freezing cadence. “Did Dad and Mom tell you what they did to Grandpa on November 14th?”

Chloe blinked, suddenly shifting uncomfortably in her plastic seat. “What are you talking about? Grandpa had a heart attack.”

“They tried to suffocate him, Chloe.”

The color drained completely from Chloe’s face. “N-no. That’s a lie. Dad wouldn't...”

“I have the high-definition video,” Olivia said. “Recorded on Grandpa’s private security system. Mom held his arm down while Dad tried to force a pen into his hand to disinherit me. When he refused, they ripped his medical alert necklace off, stole his safe deposit key, and left him to die. That isn't family, Chloe. That is a pack of rabid animals tearing apart an old man for his scraps.”

Chloe began to hyperventilate, her cuffed hands clutching her throat. “I didn't know! I swear to God, Olivia, I didn't know about that! I just needed the money! If I don't pay the rest of that casino debt, even in prison, those people will find me!”

“You should have thought about that before you put your signature on forged land deeds,” Olivia said calmly. “The District Attorney is offering you a plea deal. Testify against Richard and Margaret. Provide the court with the physical records of the notary who stamped that forged deed, and confess to the conspiracy.”

Chloe looked up, her eyes wild with terror. “Testify against Dad? He’ll disown me! He’ll make sure I never see a single dime of the family trusts!”

Olivia let out a short, humorless laugh.

“Chloe, there are no family trusts left,” Olivia said. “Bennett Capital is in federal receivership. The IRS is seizing the estate in Dover. By the end of this month, Richard Bennett won't have enough money to buy a cup of coffee from a vending machine.”

Chloe stared at her older sister, the absolute finality of her words crashing through her manufactured delusion. The entitlement that had defined her entire existence evaporated, leaving behind a terrified, bankrupt twenty-seven-year-old facing a ten-year prison sentence.

“If I testify...” Chloe whispered, her voice trembling, “will you pay off the rest of the syndicate? Will you save me from them?”

Olivia leaned forward, her eyes locking onto Chloe’s through the thick scratched glass.

“The State Police arrested the entire syndicate ringleader team at their Boston hideout two hours ago based on Victor’s phone records,” Olivia said. “You don't need protection from them anymore, Chloe. You need protection from yourself. Take the plea deal, or spend the next decade in MCI-Framingham. That is the only choice you have left.”