Chapter 5 - The Woman Genevieve Was Afraid OfGenevieve had never spent a night in a cheap motel.
Until that night.
She sat on the edge of a stained bed, staring at her reflection in a cracked mirror.
Her emerald dress was gone.
Her engagement ring sat on the table.
She had refused to return it.
Not because she still wanted Julian.
Because the ring represented access.
Access to the Sterling world.
Access she had spent two years constructing.
And now it was collapsing.
A knock sounded.
Genevieve stiffened.
“Who is it?”
“Me.”
Helena entered.
Genevieve immediately turned on her.
“You said this would work.”
Helena removed her coat.
“It was supposed to.”
“You told me Meredith was irrelevant.”
“She was supposed to be.”
“You said Julian would never discover the trust.”
Helena looked at her daughter.
“Stop shouting.”
Genevieve slammed her hand against the table.
“I was humiliated.”
“You were careless.”
“My life is ruined!”
Helena walked closer.
“No.”
She stared directly at Genevieve.
“Your life is inconvenient.”
Genevieve froze.
Helena reached for the ring.
“This still belongs to us.”
“No.”
Genevieve grabbed it first.
“It belongs to me.”
Her mother smiled.
“You still don’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
Helena whispered:
“You were never the player.”
Genevieve’s face changed.
“What?”
“You were the bait.”
Genevieve stepped backward.
“All this time, I thought I was controlling Julian.”
Helena laughed softly.
“You were controlling nothing.”
She opened her purse.
Inside was a photograph.
Genevieve looked at it.
Her face drained of color.
It showed her father.
Frank Vance.
But beside him stood another man.
Julian’s father.
Both were younger.
Both were smiling.
And between them stood a little girl.
Genevieve.
She stared.
“That’s impossible.”
Helena nodded.
“You met the Sterlings long before Julian.”
Genevieve’s hands trembled.
“What did you do?”
Helena sat down.
“Your father made a deal.”
“With Julian’s father?”
“Yes.”
“What deal?”
“He would help build the Sterling empire.”
“And?”
“In exchange, the Sterlings would eventually give us controlling access to the second trust.”
Genevieve shook her head.
“So Julian knew?”
“No.”
“Then why did nobody tell me?”
“Because you were a child.”
Genevieve looked at the photograph again.
Then she noticed something.
There was another person standing in the background.
A woman.
Older.
Watching them.
Meredith.
But Meredith looked barely seventeen.
Genevieve whispered:
“She was there.”
“Yes.”
“What was she doing?”
Helena’s face turned cold.
“She saw something she was never supposed to see.”
Genevieve looked up.
“What?”
Helena leaned closer.
“Your father’s murder.”
Genevieve recoiled.
“Frank was murdered?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Helena did not answer.
Genevieve stared at her mother.
“You know.”
Helena smiled.
“Everyone who survives this game knows something.”
She picked up the ring.
“Your job now is simple.”
“What?”
“Get back into Julian’s life.”
Genevieve laughed bitterly.
“He hates me.”
“Then make him feel guilty.”
“He won’t forgive me.”
“He doesn’t need to.”
Helena’s eyes sharpened.
“He only needs to believe Meredith is dangerous.”
Genevieve stared at her.
Then slowly smiled.
“Can I still have Julian?”
Helena stood.
“Not anymore.”
Genevieve’s smile disappeared.
“Then what do I get?”
Helena opened the door.
“You get to live.”
May you like
She paused.
“Provided you do exactly what I tell you.”
