Chapter 6 - The Rattled Trap
Z
Twenty-four hours later, Kevin broke.
I was sitting in my temporary apartment—a small furnished studio I’d rented near downtown—when my phone rang. It was an unknown number. I answered, putting it on speaker while Julian sat across from me with a digital recorder running.
"Jessica!" Kevin’s voice came screeching through the speaker, breathless and high-pitched. He sounded like he hadn't slept in three days. "Jess, please! Tell Julian to withdraw the demand letter! Are you crazy?! He’s threatening to file an injunction against my bank account!"
"Hello, Kevin," I said calmly, sipping my tea. "You’re on speaker."
"Jess, listen to me," Kevin pleaded, his tone shifting rapidly from angry to desperate. "My mother is in the hospital! She had a panic attack yesterday when Marcus brought the audit team to her house! Her blood pressure is through the roof! You're killing her!"
"Your mother's health is not my responsibility, Kevin," I said coldly. "My seventy thousand dollars is. Where is my money?"
"I don't have it!" Kevin yelled. "I paid the venue! I paid the caterers! I paid for the decorations!"
"Contracts that were signed under false pretenses," Julian interjected smoothly into the microphone. "Hello, Kevin. This is Julian."
There was a sudden, terrified silence on the line.
"Julian?" Kevin choked out. "You... you’re representing her? You’re siding with a stranger over your own family?"
"You lost the right to call anyone family the day you helped Corrine steal from your own sister and your fiancée," Julian said, his voice like liquid ice. "Now, let’s talk about legalities. Under New York Penal Law Section 155.35, grand larceny in the third degree applies when property stolen exceeds fifty thousand dollars. That’s a Class D felony, Kevin. It carries up to seven years in state prison."
"I didn't steal it!" Kevin screamed. "She put that money in a JOINT account!"
"And you transferred twenty thousand of it into Corrine Vance Enterprises twenty-four hours before the wedding without her consent, for non-wedding purposes," Julian countered instantly. "That is conversion and fraudulent misrepresentation. We have the paper trail, Kevin. We have the timestamps. We have the bank logs."
"Jess..." Kevin whimpered, his bravado completely crumbling. "Jess, please. We were going to get married. We spent three years together. How can you do this to me?"
"You stood in that hallway twenty minutes before our wedding, Kevin," I said, every word crystal clear. "You looked me in the eye while your mother told me I was nothing. You called me selfish while you were robbing me blind. You didn't love me, Kevin. You loved my convenience."
"I'll pay it back!" Kevin sobbed. "I swear I'll pay it back! Just give me time! If Julian files that lawsuit, my firm will fire me! I’ll lose my associate position! I won't be able to pay my rent!"
"You have until 5:00 PM today," Julian said, ignoring Kevin’s weeping. "Seventy thousand dollars returned to Jessica’s personal account. Otherwise, the complaint is filed with the Manhattan Supreme Court at 5:01 PM, and a copy will be personally delivered to the senior partners at Vance & Sterling Legal."
"Wait! No! Don't call my partners!" Kevin screamed.
Julian pressed the end call button.
The room went completely quiet again. I looked at Julian, my hands slightly shaking, but my mind solid.
"Do you think he has the money?" I asked.
"He doesn't," Julian said flatly. "Corrine took it all to cover her margin calls on her bad investments. He’s going to go to Corrine, Corrine will refuse to pay, and then the real show begins."
Right on cue, at 4:30 PM, my phone buzzed with a text message. It wasn't from Kevin.
It was from Rosalie.
Jessica, please meet me. I’m at the diner near your old apartment. I’m alone. Please. I need to tell you the truth.
I showed the message to Julian. He read it, frowning slightly.
"It could be a trap," Julian warned. "Corrine might be trying to record you or get you to say something that undermines the lawsuit."
"Rosalie sounded terrified on the phone at the chapel," I said, remembering the quiet girl who always ran away from family arguments. "She was as much a victim in that room as I was. I’m going."
"I’m coming with you," Julian said, grabbing his suit jacket. "I’ll sit two booths away. If anything looks wrong, we walk out."
Twenty minutes later, I walked into the dimly lit diner on 4th Street. Rosalie was sitting in a corner booth, wearing an oversized gray hoodie, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen. She looked tiny, fragile, and utterly exhausted.
As I approached the table, she looked up. Tears immediately spilled down her cheeks.
"Jessica," Rosalie whispered, her voice trembling. "I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry."
I sat down across from her, keeping my expression neutral. "Why did you do it, Rosalie? Why did you wear that dress?"
Rosalie wiped her nose with a crumpled tissue, shaking her head wildly.
"I didn't know," she sobbed. "My mother... she told me that if I didn't do what she said, she would destroy my credit, cancel my medical liability insurance, and have me kicked out of my residency program. She told me... she told me you agreed to it! She said you offered to let me walk first as a favor to help me get my trust money!"
I froze. "She told you I agreed?"
"Yes!" Rosalie cried. "She came to my room an hour before the wedding and said, 'Jessica is being so wonderful, she’s allowing you to do a symbolic walk first so we can clear the trust legal paperwork.' I had no idea she was hiding it from you! I had no idea Kevin stole your money!"
I leaned forward, my heart aching for the young girl sitting across from me. Corrine hadn't just manipulated me—she had systematically gaslit her own daughter for years, using her power and control to keep Rosalie terrified and compliant.
"Rosalie," I said gently. "Do you know where your trust money is?"
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Rosalie blinked, her tear-filled eyes looking confused. "It’s... it’s locked in the estate account, right? Mother said it’s held until the trust conditions are met."
I sighed, reaching across the table to touch her hand. "Rosalie... there are no conditions. Your trust was released six months ago. Your mother took it."
