Chapter 2

I quickly slipped out of the room, closed the hidden door, and casually started wiping down the wardrobe like nothing had happened. Three seconds later, Olivia was wheeled in by the maid, stopping at the entrance of the walk-in closet.

"Cleaning, are you?" Olivia's voice was sugary sweet, but her eyes were cold as ice. "Cleaning my closet needs extra attention. Most of these are limited editions. If you mess anything up, you couldn't afford the price."

"Relax," I replied without looking up. "I'm not into knock-offs."

Her expression froze. "What did you say?"

I held up the dust bag I'd pulled from a Chanel purse, showing off a little tag that read Leather Market. "This one? You forgot to peel off the tag. And that Hermès? The stitching's way off.

"Oh, and that LV in the corner? That color didn't exist in last year's collection."

Olivia's hands clenched the wheelchair's armrests. "What do you know? These are all designer knock-offs, custom-made."

"A knock-off is still a knock-off," I said, standing up and locking eyes with her. "Doesn't matter how you dress up a lie, it's still a lie."

The air hung heavy for a few seconds. Then Olivia let out a triumphant laugh, her smile dripping with superiority. "So what if you figured it out?

"You really think Mom and Dad will believe you? They've raised me for twenty years. I'm their daughter. You're some nobody from the sticks, smelling like you stepped out of a greasy kitchen."

She rolled her wheelchair closer, lowering her voice. "So you know, I've already planned it all out.

"At next week's family gathering, I'll discover Mom's diamond necklace is missing, and you'll be the only one who could've swiped it."

I arched an eyebrow. "That's your big plan? Seriously? How original."

"As long as it works," she said, lifting her chin. "You can either slink back to your food stall with your tail between your legs or get locked up for theft. Your call."

I nodded, still wiping down the cabinet. "Nice plan. But there's a tiny snag."

"What?" she snapped.

"Guess why I've been recording while cleaning these past three days?" I pointed to the inconspicuous decorative button on my collar. "High-def audio, uploaded straight to the cloud. Everything you said? Crystal clear."

Olivia's face went ghostly pale. "You wouldn't dare."

"You'll find out soon enough," I said, putting away the rag and picking up the bucket. "Oh, and you might want to find a new hiding spot for your secrets. That mirror door trick? dramas stopped using it twenty years ago."

As I walked out of the closet, I heard the sound of something being shattered in anger behind me.

At dinner that night, Olivia's eyes were red and puffy, clearly from crying. Maria looked heartbroken and kept asking what was wrong.

"It's nothing, Mom," Olivia said, sneaking a timid glance at me. "While my sister was cleaning, she accidentally broke my favorite crystal swan. That was the birthday gift Dad gave me last year."

Everyone at the table turned to look at me.

Richard set down his fork. "What happened?"

"I didn't break it," I said calmly. "There was a broken crystal in her closet, but everything was intact when I left. Judging by how the pieces were scattered, someone must've hurled it from about 5 feet up onto the marble floor."

Olivia bit her lip. "Why are you doing this? I already said I won't make a fuss about it."

"No, we're not letting this slide," I said, setting down my fork. "Let's check the cameras at the closet entrance, one obvious, one hidden. Let's see who's really telling the truth."

Maria looked stunned. "Hidden camera? What are you talking about?"

Olivia's face went from pale to flushed.

I smiled, "Never mind, guess I was wrong. If there aren't any cameras, then let's call the cops and let them handle the evidence. If that crystal swan's worth more than 1500, that's enough to open a case.

"I happen to know some forensic guys who can figure out exactly how it was thrown by looking at the shards."

"Enough." Richard suddenly stood up. "Why are you making a scene like this? It's just a broken crystal. Let's eat."

Olivia kept her head down, quietly picking at her food, not daring to say another word. I went back to my meal. The cook actually made the greens taste so fresh.

*****

After dinner, I headed back to the basement, and my phone buzzed.

Charles: [Elaine, I dug up all the dirt on Olivia from high school. She bullied a classmate so badly that they had to drop out, stole someone else's work for a competition, and embezzled over 10 thousand dollars from a school fundraiser. I had evidence.]

I replied: [Save it for now.]

Charles: [And about that rehab center where she supposedly jumped, we tracked down one of the nurses from back then. She's willing to testify that Olivia was faking her paralysis. We need to pay for it.]

I replied: [Buy her testimony, get her to sign an NDA, and keep it under wraps for now.]

Charles: [Got it. Also, I'm starting to get somewhere with those financial issues at Morgan Group you asked me to look into. Olivia's charity foundation has received over 8 million in donations from Morgan Group in the past three years.

[But less than a tenth of that actually went to charity. The rest? No one knows where it ended up.]

I stared at my phone screen, a smile creeping across my face. The bait was set, and the net was tightening. Now, all I had to do was wait for Olivia to step right into it.

People who loved to stage their own drama were terrified when nobody played along. My job? Be her number one fan. Then, right at the peak of her performance, she killed the lights and pulled the rug out from under her.