Chapter 4 - My Sister's Version

We met Khloe in a private conference room at Harrison’s office at six that evening.

She arrived alone.

No makeup.

No silk blouse.

No expensive handbag.

Just jeans, a gray sweater, and a face that looked ten years older than it had the day before.

I did not hug her.

She noticed.

Harrison closed the door.

“You asked for this meeting.”

Khloe nodded.

“I want immunity.”

I almost laughed.

Harrison did not.

“From whom?”

“The police.”

“You do not get to order immunity from a conference room.”

“I know.”

“Then start with the truth.”

Khloe looked at me.

“I need you to understand something.”

“No.”

She flinched.

“I don’t need to understand anything before you tell the truth.”

“Natalie—”

“Do not explain yourself yet.”

My voice remained calm.

“Tell me what you did.”

Khloe looked at the table.

For several seconds, she said nothing.

Then she whispered, “I let him use Mom’s card.”

“How long?”

“Almost two years.”

“How much?”

“I don’t know.”

“Try.”

Her eyes filled.

“Forty thousand? Maybe more.”

I leaned back.

Harrison said nothing.

Khloe kept talking.

“At first, it was groceries and things for the house.”

“Your groceries?”

“Ours.”

“That money was for Mom.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“Yes.”

“Keep going.”

Khloe wiped her face.

“Julian had business problems.”

“What kind?” Harrison asked.

“He lost money on a development deal.”

“How much?”

“Two hundred thousand.”

“His money?”

“Investors’ money.”

Harrison’s expression changed.

“Was there litigation?”

“Yes.”

“When?”

“Last year.”

“Case name?”

“I don’t know.”

Harrison wrote something down.

Khloe continued.

“He said he only needed help temporarily.”

“So you stole from Mom temporarily?” I asked.

Her face crumpled.

“I know how it sounds.”

“It sounds accurate.”

“Natalie, I was stupid.”

“No.”

I shook my head.

“Stupid is forgetting a bill. Stupid is buying something you can’t afford. You watched our mother become afraid inside her own home.”

Khloe covered her mouth.

“I know.”

“Did you know Julian made her practice my signature?”

Her eyes lifted.

“Yes.”

The room went completely still.

I stared at her.

Harrison’s pen stopped moving.

“You knew.”

Khloe nodded once.

I stood.

“Natalie,” Harrison warned.

I did not move toward her.

I just needed distance.

“Why?”

Khloe started crying harder.

“He told me he needed handwriting samples because he was negotiating with a lender.”

“That sentence makes no sense.”

“I know.”

“You knew it made no sense then.”

She looked away.

“Yes.”

I laughed softly.

Again, no humor.

“So what did you think was happening?”

“I thought he was going to prepare documents.”

“In my name.”

“Yes.”

“Without my permission.”

“Yes.”

“And you stayed.”

“Yes.”

I looked at Harrison.

“I’m done.”

Khloe stood too.

“Wait.”

I turned toward the door.

“Natalie, please.”

I stopped.

“Why should I?”

“Because he has more.”

I looked back.

“What?”

“He has more than the blue folder.”

Harrison leaned forward.

“What does he have?”

Khloe sat again.

“A storage unit.”

My hand remained on the door handle.

“Where?”

“I don’t know the exact address.”

“Then how do you know?”

“I went with him once.”

“When?”

“Three months ago.”

“What was inside?”

“Boxes.”

“What kind of boxes?”

“Documents. Old laptops. A printer. Stamps.”

Harrison’s expression sharpened.

“Notary stamps?”

Khloe nodded.

“And blank forms.”

I slowly returned to the table.

“Whose storage unit?”

“Grant’s.”

“Julian’s brother.”

“Yes.”

“What did you see?”

Khloe closed her eyes.

“A folder with your passport copy.”

I felt cold.

“How did he get my passport?”

“You sent Mom a scanned copy two years ago for the house insurance.”

I remembered.

The insurance company had requested identification because I was the owner and lived abroad.

Mom had asked me to email it.

I had.

Khloe looked at me.

“Julian printed it.”

“What else?” Harrison asked.

“Bank statements.”

“Whose?”

“Mom’s. Some of Natalie’s old statements too.”

“From where?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you see signature pages?”

“Yes.”

“What about electronic devices?”

“Two laptops. Maybe three.”

“Phones?”

“A drawer full of them.”

Harrison sat back.

“This is organized.”

Khloe nodded.

“Grant knows how to make documents look real.”

I stared at her.

“How long has this been happening?”

“I don’t know.”

“Wrong answer.”

“Natalie, I really don’t know.”

“Did Julian plan this before he moved into the house?”

Khloe shook her head quickly.

“I don’t think so.”

“Why not?”

“Because moving in was my idea.”

I froze.

“What?”

She looked at the table.

“Our apartment lease was ending. Julian was already behind on payments.”

“You told Mom it was for two weeks.”

“I know.”

“You told me your building had water damage.”

Khloe’s eyes closed.

“That was a lie.”

I stared at her.

“Was any of it true?”

“Julian was in trouble.”

“That is not what I asked.”

“No.”

The answer came quietly.

“The building was fine.”

I leaned back slowly.

Six years overseas.

Every video call.

Every smiling update.

Every carefully framed lie.

“You planned to move in permanently.”

“At first I thought maybe a few months.”

“At first.”

Khloe flinched at the repetition.

“Then Julian started saying it didn’t make sense for Mom to have such a big house alone.”

“So you took the master bedroom.”

“He said it was better for us.”

“And Mom?”

“She said she didn’t mind.”

“Because you pressured her.”

Khloe said nothing.

I leaned closer.

“Did you move her belongings?”

“Yes.”

“Did you write the chore list?”

Her face changed.

“No.”

“Who did?”

“Julian.”

“The line that said no excuses?”

“Julian.”

“Did you ever remove it?”

“No.”

“Then it might as well have been yours.”

She cried silently.

Harrison let the silence sit.

Then he asked, “Why are you talking now?”

Khloe looked at him.

“Because Julian scared me.”

“When?”

“This morning.”

“What happened?”

“He said the loan was frozen because Natalie found the folder.”

“He blamed you?”

“Yes.”

“What did he do?”

“He threw my phone against the wall.”

I looked at her hands.

A bruise marked her wrist.

I had not noticed it before.

Khloe pulled her sleeve down.

“He said if he went down, I was going with him.”

“That may be true,” Harrison said.

She nodded.

“I know.”

“He also said something else.”

“What?”

Khloe swallowed.

“He said there was enough paperwork to make it look like Mom had given us permission for everything.”

“That does not explain a forged deed from Natalie,” Harrison said.

“He said Grant could fix that.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

Harrison’s voice sharpened.

“Khloe.”

“I don’t.”

She pressed both palms against the table.

“But I heard Grant say they needed the original pages before Friday.”

“What original pages?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where?”

“The storage unit.”

I looked at Harrison.

“Can we get in?”

“Not without consent, a warrant, or legal process.”

Khloe whispered, “I know the gate code.”

“That does not give us permission to search someone else’s unit.”

“But it gives you the facility.”

Harrison’s eyes stayed on her.

“Do you know the unit number?”

She nodded.

“Three fourteen.”

He wrote it down.

“Anything else?”

“Yes.”

Khloe reached into her bag.

I tensed.

She pulled out a small brass key.

Harrison did not touch it.

“What is that?”

“Julian’s copy.”

“How did you get it?”

“I took it from his suitcase before I left.”

“You understand that we cannot simply use it.”

“I know.”

She placed it on the table.

“But the police can.”

Harrison looked at me.

Then back at Khloe.

“What else did you take?”

Khloe hesitated.

A long hesitation.

Too long.

Then she reached into the bag again.

This time she pulled out a small black flash drive.

My stomach tightened.

“What is that?”

“I don’t know exactly.”

“Where did it come from?”

“Julian’s laptop case.”

“Did you open it?” Harrison asked.

“No.”

“Why bring it?”

Khloe looked at me.

“Because I heard him tell Grant that if anything went wrong, the backup would protect them.”

Harrison stared at the drive.

Then he slowly pulled an evidence bag from his briefcase.

He did not touch the device directly.

“Khloe, from this point forward, you do not access anything else. You do not copy files. You do not delete messages. You do not contact Grant. You do not warn Julian.”

She nodded.

“Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Your cooperation does not erase your conduct.”

“I know.”

“And I am not your lawyer.”

“I know.”

“You need your own.”

Khloe looked at me again.

“I’m sorry.”

I felt nothing at first.

Then too much.

Anger.

Grief.

A strange memory of two little girls sharing a bedroom because thunderstorms scared her.

I stood.

“I’m not ready to hear that.”

Khloe’s face crumpled.

“I understand.”

“No.”

I looked at my sister.

“I don’t think you do.”

Then I left the room.

Harrison found me in the hallway several minutes later.

He held the sealed flash drive.

“What now?” I asked.

“I call the detective assigned to the fraud complaint.”

“And the storage unit?”

“We give them probable cause and let them do it properly.”

“How long?”

“Hopefully not long.”

I looked through the glass wall toward Khloe.

She sat alone at the conference table, shoulders shaking.

“What do you think is on the drive?”

Harrison turned it between two gloved fingers inside the evidence bag.

“If Julian called it backup?”

“Yes.”

His expression went flat.

“Something he believed could save him.”

I looked back at my sister.

“Or bury him.”

May you like

[COMPLETED] She waited ten years for her fiancé, but the night she marri...

[COMPLETED] Five Years After My Mafia Husband Chose Another Woman, He Me...

[COMPLETED] I CALLED MY HUSBAND 18 TIMES WHILE OUR SON WAS DYING. EIGHT...

Harrison nodded.

“Those are often the same thing.”