Chapter 9 No.9

The night air was freezing against her wet skin. Kalea walked onto the patio, her heels clicking on the stone. The wind whipped her dress around her legs.

Behind her, she heard the commotion. The cleanup crew. The shouts.

She walked to the edge of the infinity pool. The water was lit from below, glowing an eerie turquoise. It looked peaceful.

"Sister!"

Haleigh came running out onto the terrace. She was followed by three of her "friends"-socialites who lived for drama.

Haleigh stopped a safe distance away. She was breathing hard. She reached into her clutch and pulled out a pair of earrings.

"Look!" Haleigh shouted, making sure her friends heard. "I have the real earrings right here! Jennie just found a cheap replica! You got upset over a misunderstanding!"

It was a brilliant lie. Gaslighting at its finest.

Kalea turned slowly. She touched the heavy emeralds in her ears.

"If those are real," Kalea said, her voice carrying over the wind, "then what are these?"

Haleigh froze. She hadn't realized Kalea was wearing the ones from the floor.

Reporters had followed them out. Cameras flashed, blinding in the darkness.

Kalea walked toward Haleigh. Jennie and Franco appeared in the doorway.

Kalea pointed at Jennie. "Homewrecker," she said. The word hung in the air.

Jennie shrank back into Franco's chest.

"Security!" Franco roared. "Get her out of here!"

Kalea ignored him. She stepped closer to Haleigh. "You're lying, Haleigh. Just like you lie about where you go on weekends. Just like you lie about who you sleep with."

Haleigh's eyes darted frantically to the side, toward the shadows of the pergola.

Kalea looked.

Standing there, smoking a cigarette, was Aidan Alexander. Her brother. The heir.

He watched Haleigh with a look that was too intense, too possessive for a brother. He didn't move to help. He just watched.

Kalea felt sick. The corruption in this family went down to the bone.

Eleanor ran out. "Kalea! Stop it!"

Kalea backed up to the edge of the pool. Her heels teetered on the coping.

She reached up and unclasped the earrings. She held them over the water.

"They're dirty," she said. "I don't want them."

She made a motion to throw them.

"NO!" Eleanor and Haleigh screamed in unison. "Those are worth millions!"

Kalea stopped her hand mid-throw. She looked at their terrified faces. They cared more about the stones than her life.

She laughed. She clipped the earrings back onto her ears.

"Kidding," she said. "Grandma left them to me. You don't deserve to touch them."

Franco charged. He had lost his patience. He was coming to physically drag her away.