My Pregnancy Record Proved I Cheated? Then Why Did My Sister Panic? Chapter 09

My Pregnancy Record Proved I Cheated? Then Why Did My Sister Panic? Chapter 09

The verdict came down in Chloe’s case. 

She was convicted on multiple charges stemming from the false accusation, forged medical records, 

and online harassment. The combined sentence 

was two years. 

Dana sent me a copy of the court’s decision while 

I was watering the plants on the balcony of my 

new place. 

I read it twice from beginning to end, took a 

screenshot, and saved it in the 

password–protected folder. 

Three days after the sentence came down, I went 

to see Chloe at the jail. 

The visitation room was small, with dull gray walls 

and fluorescent lights humming overhead. 

I saw Chloe through the glass. 

She had lost a lot of weight. Her cheekbones stood out, and her face had gone sharp and 

hollow. 

Her hair had been cut short, and she wore a faded 

jail–issued uniform with frayed cuffs. 

She sat down without crying. 

She didn’t say my name. 

She only stared at me for a long time before. 

picking up the receiver. 

“You got what you wanted.” 

It wasn’t a question. 

Her voice was raw and hoarse. 

“This isn’t about what I wanted. You did what you 

did, and now you have to live with the 

consequences.” 

She smiled. 

There was no humor in her eyes. Her mouth. twisted into an ugly smile that made her face look. 

more distorted than if she had been crying. 

“You know what I hate most about you?” 

“You never had to fight for anything. Everything 

just fell into your lap.” 

“You got good grades. Everyone liked you. Mom 

and Dad always claimed they never played 

favorites, but they set aside three times as much 

money for your wedding as they did for mine.” 

“Nathan wanted you. His mother looked down on 

our family, and he still insisted on marrying you.” 

Her voice began to shake. 

It wasn’t hurt. 

It was years of hatred finally breaking loose. 

“Why? Why did you get everything without even 

trying, while I fought for everything and still ended. 

up with nothing?” 

“I practiced smiling and crying in front of the 

mirror every day. I calculated how every single 

person at that wedding would react.” 

“I planned for everything.” 

“I was one step away.” 

She stared at me through the glass as her eyes 

slowly turned red. 

Not the kind of redness she could produce on cue 

whenever she was putting on a show. 

This time, she had reached her limit. 

“There’s something else you don’t know.” 

I brought the receiver closer. 

Her pupils constricted. 

“He never told you. You never knew.” 

“The day after he took me for the abortion, he took. 

you to pick out your wedding rings.” 

“That afternoon, the same hand he used to pay for 

those rings was the hand that had signed my 

procedure paperwork.” 

Chloe’s tears fell one after another, landing on the 

receiver with soft, dull taps. 

Her lips trembled. Her entire face shook as tears 

ran down her chin and soaked the front of her 

uniform. 

“You spent your whole life hating me. You ruined 

my wedding.” 

“You humiliated Mom and Dad in front of more 

than three hundred people.” 

“You bet your entire life on a man, and in the end, 

that man never chose you.” 

I kept a steady grip on the receiver. 

“Chloe, never build your entire life around a man.” 

She lowered her head, and her shoulders began to 

shake. 

Her sobs came through the receiver in broken, 

uneven bursts, like a radio signal cutting in and 

out. 

Her fingers clenched around it until her knuckles 

turned white. She hunched forward until her 

forehead nearly touched the counter. 

“Vivian…” 

Her words were almost swallowed by her crying. 

“Vivian, I’m sorry.” 

I hung up the receiver and stood. 

On the other side of the glass, Chloe started 

pounding on the window, each blow landing with a dull thud. 

She was shouting something, but I couldn’t make out the words through the glass. 

I didn’t look back. 

The sunlight outside the jail was painfully bright. 

I stood on the steps for a few seconds, waiting for my eyes to adjust. 

The maple trees beside the parking lot were shedding their leaves. A gust of wind sent the yellow and green leaves spiraling away. 

My phone chimed. 

Dana: [The settlement payment from the 

Holloways just cleared. It’s 20% more than 

expected. Mrs. Holloway added the extra herself.] 

I glanced at it and dismissed the notification. 

I got into my car and started the engine. 

As I pulled out of the parking lot, the jail’s gray 

outer walls grew smaller in my rearview mirror. 

The car stereo automatically connected to my phone over Bluetooth and resumed the song I 

hadn’t finished listening to last month. 

I turned up the volume and pressed the 

accelerator. 

The road ahead was wide, its pavement bleached 

pale by the sun.