Chapter 48 - The Knock at the Door
Late Thursday evening, a heavy, hesitant knock sounded at Chloe’s apartment door. When she opened it, she found Megan standing in the dim hallway, shivering in a thin coat, her face pale and streaked with tears.
"Chloe, please... you have to help us," Megan choked out, leaning against the doorframe. "Dad collapsed an hour ago. The stress of the news articles and the financial blacklisting... his blood pressure spiked dangerously. He’s currently at Mercy General in the cardiac care unit."
Chloe looked at her sister, feeling a complex mix of cold detachment and lingering human empathy. She had spent years fighting for her place in the world, refusing to let her family's toxic architecture dictate her self-worth.
"I'm sorry to hear that he's sick, Meg," Chloe said calmly, keeping her posture upright and steady. "But health crises don't erase accountability. He built an empire of lies, and now the market has corrected itself. I cannot fix the wreckage of a life founded on stolen mail."
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Megan fell to her knees in the hallway, sobbing brokenly. "He’s our father, Chloe. He’s already broken. He just wants to look you in the eye before it’s too late."
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