Chapter 4 - The Sister's Betrayal.
Lily looked absolutely terrified as she slowly walked toward the wooden witness stand.
She avoided making any eye contact with Clara, staring strictly at the mahogany floorboards.
The bailiff administered the oath, and Lily swore to tell the whole truth with a violently trembling voice.
Arthur’s lead prosecutor stood up and approached the young girl with a falsely gentle smile.
He asked Lily to describe the exact conversation she had with her sister on the night the CEO died.
Clara held her breath, desperately praying that Lily would somehow reveal Arthur's vicious threats to the judge.
Lily finally looked up, her eyes brimming with heavy, cascading tears.
She looked directly at Clara and told the court that Clara had come home covered in dark blood.
Lily stated clearly into the microphone that Clara had confessed to stealing the company money to pay off massive gambling debts.
The entire gallery gasped in unified shock at the devastating, damning sibling testimony.
Clara gripped the edge of her table so hard that her fingernails dug painfully into the polished wood.
She knew Arthur was forcing Lily to tell this horrific lie to save her own life.
The judge turned to Clara and asked if she wished to cross-examine her sister.
Clara looked at Lily's terrified, pleading eyes and knew she could not risk pushing her further.
She softly declined, effectively sealing her own fate in the eyes of the jury.
That night, while out on a heavily restricted bail, Clara realized she had to take matters into her own hands.
She bypassed her ankle monitor and quietly broke into Arthur's towering corporate headquarters downtown.
She sneaked into his lavish penthouse office, searching desperately for the real, unaltered financial ledger.
She finally discovered a hidden floor safe perfectly concealed beneath a heavy Persian rug.
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As she successfully cracked the digital combination, she heard a soft, deliberate footstep behind her in the dark.
A cold, heavy metal gun barrel was suddenly pressed forcefully against the back of her head.
