Chapter 5

From the crack in the door, I heard the frail, resentful voice of my mother-in-law, Margaret White. "What do you know?

"If I wasn't pretending to be so weak here, do you really think your brother would have the guts to go against your sister-in-law?

"Sophia is a stubborn piece of work. She only backs down when she's pushed, not when people play nice. If I didn't make myself look so pitiful, how would your brother ever think she's the one to blame?

"Didn't you see the way your brother looked at me yesterday outside the company? He looked like his heart was breaking for me. That's exactly what I wanted to see."

My blood ran cold.

So that heart-wrenching heart attack yesterday was all for show.

Emily's voice sounded even more annoyed. "Fine, fine, whatever you say. But I'm stuck here with you every day, can't even get to work, and my beauty salon membership is about to expire."

"What's the rush?" Margaret's voice was sharp and calculating. "Once your brother divorces your sister-in-law and we take her house and money, I'll get you an even better salon membership, you can pamper yourself every single day."

"Really?" Emily's voice perked up with excitement.

"Of course. Your brother says that even though the house was your sister-in-law's before they got married, he's been paying the mortgage ever since, so he figures he should get at least half.

"Wow, that's awesome. Thanks, Mom."

"Silly girl, no need to thank me. My whole life has been for you and your brother. Sophia's an outsider, why should she have any claim to the White family's money?"

I stood at the door, listening to Margaret and Emily plotting to divvy up everything I own.

It was so absurd it almost made me want to laugh.

It turned out that, in their eyes, I had never really been part of the family.

I was their personal cash machine.

An outsider they'd milk for every penny, then kick to the curb.

I didn't go in right away.

I pulled out my phone and hit record.

Then I knocked softly on the door.

The conversation inside came to an abrupt halt.

"Who is it?" Emily asked warily.

I pushed the door open and walked in.

I flashed a subtle, just-right smile. "Margaret, Emily, checking in on you both."

Inside the hospital room, Margaret and Emily looked like they'd seen a ghost.

Margaret's face drained of all color, and she instinctively clutched her chest.

Emily sprang up from her chair like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "You, why are you here?"

"I came by to check on you, Mom," I said gently, setting the fruit basket on the nightstand. "I heard you were in the hospital, and as your daughter-in-law, of course I had to visit."

I looked over at her as I spoke, my eyes settling on Margaret's face. "Mom, you don't look so well. Are you feeling alright? What did the doctor say?"

Margaret's eyes darted around, her lips trembling, but she couldn't get a word out.

Emily snapped out of it and immediately stepped in front of me. "Cut the act. It's all your fault my mom ended up like this. How do you even have the nerve to show up?"

"Why shouldn't I come?" I shot back with a smile. "If I didn't, my house and my money would basically be gift-wrapped for your wedding, right?"

Emily's face turned beet red. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

"You think I'm making things up?" I smiled even wider. "I heard everything while I was standing right outside the door."

Margaret's face went completely ashen.

She pointed at me, her hand trembling like a leaf caught in the fall breeze. "You, you were listening in on us."

"Come on, Margaret, that's not eavesdropping. I happened to walk in at the wrong moment and caught some 'truth bombs' I wasn't meant to hear."

I pulled up a chair and sat down by the bed.

I sat there, calm and collected, like this was my turf. "Margaret, you really put on quite the performance with your illness.

"But I have to ask, does faking medical records to cheat the company out of sick leave and health insurance count as fraud?

"And Emily," I said, turning to her. "What about encouraging someone to fake being sick and trying to seize someone else's lawful property? I wonder what the law would say about that?

"Mr. King says this is more than enough to press charges."

Margaret and Emily were left speechless, frozen in shock by my words.

They probably never thought I'd actually throw around terms like "fraud" and "criminal charges."

In their minds, this was some family drama, nothing more.

"Sophia. You wouldn't dare." Margaret took a long time to force those words out from between clenched teeth.

"Just watch me," I replied.

I stood up, my smile fading.

"I'm here today to make two things clear," I said.

"First, I'm divorcing Eric. I don't want him anymore.

"Second, not a single dollar of mine is leaving with you. Whatever you've swallowed, you'll cough up every cent, down to the last dollar.

"Otherwise, we won't be seeing each other in civil court. We'll be facing off in criminal court."

With that, I didn't spare another glance at their pale, terrified faces.

I turned and headed for the door.

Just as my hand touched the doorknob, the door suddenly swung open from the outside.

Eric stood in the doorway, holding a thermos.

He glanced at me, then at his mother and sister, both looking as pale as ghosts in the hospital bed.

Confusion was written all over his face. "Sophia? What are you doing here? Mom, Emily, what's going on?"

I looked at him and couldn't help but think, 'Now the real drama's about to start.'