Chapter 4 - The Public Lie
I backed away from the door, my eyes fixed on the rattling brass knob.
Someone was trying to force their way inside.
I grabbed the laptop and the envelope, shoving them back into my duffel bag.
I retreated to the tiny bathroom and locked that door as well.
I climbed up onto the edge of the bathtub and pushed the frosted window open.
I squeezed through the narrow frame and dropped into the muddy alley just as the front door splintered open.
I did not stop running until I reached a busy diner a mile away.
I sat in a corner booth, ordering a black coffee to justify my presence.
I needed professional help.
I used a burner phone to call Vance Sterling, the most cutthroat corporate lawyer in the city.
Evelyn had trusted Vance, and I prayed I could trust him too.
Vance answered on the first ring and told me to stay exactly where I was.
While I waited, I glanced up at the television hanging above the diner counter.
My blood ran cold.
Julian was on the local news channel, wearing a tailored black suit and sobbing.
He wiped away fake tears as he held up a photograph of me.
He told the reporters that his wife had suffered a severe mental breakdown after his mother's death.
He claimed I had stolen Evelyn's ashes and emptied their bank accounts in a fit of delusion.
He begged the public to help the police find his dangerous, unstable wife.
Julian was framing me to invalidate the will and justify my eventual murder.
Vance slid into the booth across from me, looking grim.
He told me Julian had already frozen every single credit card and bank account in my name.
Vance said the police had just issued a statewide warrant for my arrest.
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I looked out the diner window and saw flashing red and blue lights approaching.
Three police cruisers screeched to a halt right in front of the diner doors.
