Chapter 4 - The Blind Return
Meanwhile, back at the Oakridge estate, Liam had just returned from his Chicago business trip.
He pulled his BMW into the driveway, exhausted from a week of high-stakes corporate meetings, eager to see me. He walked through the front door, setting his luggage by the stairs.
"Chloe?" Liam called out, walking toward the kitchen. "I'm back!"
Instead of finding me preparing dinner or tending to the house, he found his mother, Beatrice, sitting comfortably at the marble island, sipping a glass of expensive white wine while chatting on her phone with one of her country club friends.
"Oh, Liam, darling! You're home!" Beatrice smiled, hanging up the phone and blowing him a kiss.
Liam frowned, looking around the quiet house. "Where's Chloe? Her car is in the driveway, but I don't see her things in the hallway."
Beatrice took a slow sip of her wine, her expression instantly turning cold and dismissive. "Forget about that girl, Liam. She's gone."
Liam froze. "What do you mean, she's gone? Where did she go?"
"She proved herself to be entirely unfit to be part of this family," Beatrice lied smoothly, her voice dripping with performative pity. "While you were away, she threw a violent temper tantrum, ruined the hardwood kitchen floors with cooking oil, and started screaming at me! When I tried to calm her down, she packed her bag and walked out. She even cut her own hair in some hysterical fit before running off to some church shelter on 4th Street!"
Liam stared at his mother in absolute disbelief. "She... she walked out? Chloe would never do that! Did you say something to her, Mom?"
Beatrice stood up, her eyes flashing with sharp anger. "Are you questioning your own mother for the sake of a farm girl who brought nothing to this family?! I did you a favor, Liam! Now you can finally focus on your career and find a woman of real stature—like Senator Vance’s daughter!"
Liam sank into a chair, rubbing his temples. A deep, uneasy knot twisted in his stomach. He pulled out his phone and dialed my number.
“The number you have dialed is no longer in service or has been changed.”
Panic finally began to set in. Liam called my old cell phone again, but it was completely disconnected. He checked our joint bank account—not a single penny had been touched. She hadn't taken a dime of his money.
"She didn't take anything..." Liam whispered, staring at his screen.
"Because she has no pride!" Beatrice scoffed, turning back to her wine. "Now stop worrying about that ungrateful girl. You need to prepare your suit for Friday night. Your firm won the initial bid for the Sterling Heritage account! The CEO of Sterling is hosting a massive celebration gala at the country club, and we are all invited!"
Liam looked at his mother, his heart sinking into a dark abyss of confusion and regret. He wanted to look for me, but his cowardice and his mother’s lifetime of psychological control held him in place.
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He convinced himself that I had simply run back to my rural town to cool off, and that he would deal with it after securing the contract that would save his firm.
He had no idea that the trap was already set.
