Chapter 5 - The Collapse of Chloe Davis
By Friday afternoon, the high-end Tribeca coffee shop on West Broadway was nearly empty.
Chloe Davis sat in a corner booth, wearing dark sunglasses and a trench coat that looked slightly rumpled. Her signature confident posture was gone; she kept glancing nervously toward the glass door every time the bell chimed.
The door opened, and Sarah Vance walked in.
Sarah wore a simple cream-colored trench coat and black slacks, looking rested, composed, and entirely in control. She sat down across from Chloe without ordering anything.
"You asked to see me," Sarah said, placing her phone face down on the marble table.
Chloe pulled off her sunglasses, revealing dark, swollen circles around her eyes. Her manicured nails were chipped—a detail Sarah noticed instantly.
"Sarah... please," Chloe’s voice was high, frantic, stripped of the slick mock-sympathy she had used on the recorded phone call two weeks ago. "You have to tell your lawyers to stop."
"Stop what?" Sarah asked politely.
"They've frozen my personal checking account!" Chloe sobbed, burying her face in her hands. "The bank seized my car yesterday! They said... they said the down payment came from fraudulent corporate wires from Vance Architectural!"
"It did," Sarah said mildly. "William used money from the company’s payroll tax reserve to buy you that Audi A6. That constitutes receipt of stolen property, Chloe. My legal team is simply reclaiming assets that belong to the corporation's shareholders."
"I didn't know!" Chloe pleaded, reaching across the table to touch Sarah’s hand. Sarah pulled her hand back with immediate, icy disgust. "I swear to you, Sarah! Will told me he was worth fifty million dollars! He told me the company was entirely his! He said you were just an ex-accountant who lived off his trust fund!"
"William lies," Sarah said flatly. "You should have audited him before you slept with him."
Chloe wiped a tear from her cheek, her chest heaving. "I have nowhere to go. My landlord locked the Tribeca loft this morning. All my clothes... my bags... everything is inside!"
"Your clothes were purchased with funds stolen from my family's estate," Sarah replied without an ounce of pity. "They are currently being cataloged by a court-appointed receiver. They will be auctioned off next month to pay for Leo’s medical bills and the back taxes William owes to the state of New York."
Chloe stared at her, horrified by the absolute, unyielding coldness in Sarah’s eyes.
"You're a monster," Chloe whispered.
Sarah leaned forward, her eyes narrowing into two sharp points of green glass.
"No, Chloe," Sarah said softly, her voice carrying a terrifying weight that made Chloe shrink back into her seat. "A monster would have let you keep the apartment and let you watch William go to federal prison without warning you. I am simply an accountant settling a ledger."
Sarah reached into her bag, pulled out a single bus ticket to Ohio—Chloe’s hometown—and placed it gently on the table beside Chloe’s coffee cup.
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"Your mother still lives in Akron, doesn't she?" Sarah asked softly. "I suggest you take the six o'clock bus, Chloe. Because by tomorrow morning, the New York State Attorney General will be releasing the indictment list for the Vance Architectural fraud case. And your name is on page four."
Chloe looked down at the paper ticket, then back up at Sarah. But Sarah was already standing up, buttoning her trench coat, walking out into the crisp afternoon air without looking back once.
