Chapter 5 5

The broken springs of the lobby sofa pressed painfully into Adriane's thighs.

She sat in the dim, dirty entrance of her cheap apartment building in Brooklyn. Her phone was gripped tightly in her sweaty palm. She was waiting for Deandre to call her back about the funds.

Outside, the quiet purr of a luxury engine cut through the street noise. A black Maybach pulled up to the curb.

Kassidy stepped out. She wore limited-edition red-bottom heels that clicked sharply against the cracked pavement. She walked into the lobby alone.

Kassidy's eyes darted around the room. She looked up at the corner of the ceiling. The red light on the security camera was off. It was broken. Perfect.

She walked straight to Adriane and threw a heavy manila envelope onto her lap.

The smack of the envelope hitting her legs made Adriane jump. She fumbled with her hands, feeling the rough paper.

"Chase stayed up all night finalizing these," Kassidy said. Her voice dripped with arrogance. "He waived the thirty-day waiting period. The check is inside. He just wants you gone."

Adriane's heart skipped a beat. She quickly tore open the envelope. Her fingers brushed against thick legal paper and a stiff piece of cardstock that felt like a check.

She didn't know it, but the papers were entirely forged. The check was fake. Kassidy had printed them herself to ensure Adriane would leave with nothing.

Kassidy leaned down. Her lips brushed close to Adriane's ear.

"Look at you," Kassidy hissed, her voice sounding like a snake sliding over gravel. "Selling your dignity for a piece of paper. You are nothing but a beggar."

Adriane's hands shook violently. She gripped the fake papers so hard they crumpled. The humiliation burned her chest like acid.

"At least my pain is real. Everything about you feels borrowed, Kassidy. You're just a perfect, hollow copy."

The words hit Kassidy's deepest, darkest secret. The "life-saving" debt Chase owed her was stolen from Adriane.

A flash of pure, murderous rage crossed Kassidy's face.

Just then, the sound of another car engine approached the building. It was Chase. Kassidy had texted him five minutes prior: Chase, I'm a little scared to give Adriane the papers alone, she seems unstable. Please hurry. Her timing was flawless.

Kassidy's eyes widened in calculated brilliance.

She lunged forward. She grabbed Adriane's right hand-the hand holding the papers-with a vice-like grip.

"What are you doing?!" Adriane panicked, trying to pull her arm back.

The glass doors of the lobby pushed open. Chase's tall, imposing figure stepped inside.

In the exact fraction of a second that Chase's eyes landed on them, Kassidy used Adriane's hand to slap herself violently across the face.

Smack.

The sharp sound of the slap echoed loudly in the empty lobby. A bright red handprint instantly appeared on Kassidy's cheek.

Kassidy let go of Adriane and threw herself onto the dirty floor, bursting into loud, pathetic sobs.

Adriane's hand hung frozen in the air. Her fingers tingled from the impact. Her blood turned to ice.

A vicious roar ripped from Chase's throat.

He charged forward. He grabbed Adriane by the shoulders and shoved her violently backward.

Adriane's back slammed into the peeling plaster wall. The fake documents scattered across the dirty floor.

Chase dropped to his knees. He gently pulled Kassidy into his chest. He looked at the red mark on her face. When he turned his head to look at Adriane, his eyes burned with a hatred so intense it made Adriane stop breathing.

"I just... I just came to give her the check," Kassidy cried into his shirt, her voice trembling perfectly. "And she attacked me."

Chase stood up, shielding Kassidy behind him. He looked at Adriane as if she were a piece of rotting garbage.

"You are a monster," Chase snarled, his voice vibrating with rage. "You get nothing. And tomorrow, my lawyers will serve you with a restraining order."

He wrapped his arm around Kassidy and walked out the door. The Maybach sped away.

Adriane slid down the wall until her knees hit the floor. She blindly swept her hands over the dirty tiles, gathering the scattered, useless papers, completely unaware that she had just fallen into a legal trap that would ruin her life.