Chapter 24
24
SoulCycle lied. I am not a warrior legend. I am a fraud. A fraud who wishes she could go back in time and never pick up the damned phone.
“Do you think I’m stupid?” my aunt shouts in Cantonese. “You could barely swallow your Tylenol when you got a fever. You had to grind it up and sprinkle it into your water because you’re scared of tablets getting caught in your throat. A pill overdose is the last way you’d go.”
“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I stammer in Cantonese. “This is Chloe.”
“Do you think some girl raised by gweilo speaks fluent Cantonese? Mandarin maybe, but Cantonese? You’re not fooling anyone.”
Oh god. Why didn’t I think before speaking? I pace back and forth, my damp sports bra digging into my shoulders. “W-what do you want, Auntie?”
“Transfer your house ownership to me and pay me ten thousand dollars.”
That’s it? “Okay—”
“For every month you mooched off me. And pay for your sister’s funeral expenses too. I’m not spending a single dime on a girl I didn’t know.”
I plug the numbers into the calculator app. Ten thousand times twelve times the thirteen years I lived with them. A staggering $1,560,000. “Are you crazy? That’s over a million dollars!”
“Do you know how much it cost to raise you all those years? To feed an extra mouth?”
It’s the same lame excuse she used when she stole my savings. “Was all the money you took from my bank account not enough? Were the government checks not enough?” I’m exhausted. I wish I could hide away and be done with this. How long will she follow me, chasing after me like a feral dog?
“How dare you talk back to me!” Her voice blares into my ear. “Fine! I’ll go to the police! Tell them about how you killed your sister and stole her life!”
“K-killed?” I stop dead in my tracks. “Are you insane? I didn’t kill anyone!”
“And you just happened to be in New York when she died?”
“She called me! It was all a coincidence. When I arrived, Chloe was already dead.”
“Will the police believe you? You took her identity without remorse. You’ve already proven yourself to be a liar and a criminal.”
I’m shaking, heart hammering. “You can’t prove anything. Our genes are one hundred percent the same. There’s no way anyone can tell Chloe and me apart.” At least I hope so. I really need to google it.
She bursts out laughing. “I don’t need genetic testing. I have all the evidence in my hands.”
My mouth dries. “What do you mean?”
“We’ve been recording you the whole time,” Patrick says. “You admitted to switching lives on tape.”
“Wha—” My mouth stays parted but no words escape except for a gurgle. I hang up in a panic, throw my phone onto my couch, and scurry into the bathroom to hyperventilate.
Oh god, oh god, oh god. Why the hell did I go to SoulCycle and convince myself that I’m a warrior legend? I’m nothing more than a sheep. And now they have a recording of me admitting to my crime. How much jail time is that?
But I’m innocent—at least in terms of murder.
Breathe.
I rinse out my mouth and splash cold water on my face.
Okay. Think.
Would she really risk getting the police involved? Extortion is illegal. If she decides to submit the recording, she could also get in trouble. Would she risk that? But even if she doesn’t escalate this to the authorities, she could still fuck me over. If she or Patrick spreads their suspicions onto social media, leak the partial audio file onto some gossip forum, or sell it to a salacious news site, it’s game over. The general public will speculate and cancel me to oblivion.
I know how Auntie rolls. Her threats are never empty. If I don’t acquiesce to her extortion right now, she could come back and demand even more. Considering the shit that I’m guilty of, I’m not in any position to bargain. It’s too risky not to take her seriously when everything is on the line.
One point five six million dollars in the grand scheme of things isn’t awful if I pretend it’s a mortgage, a literal lease on a new life. If I take some extra sponsorships and hustle hard, I might be able to make it back in a few years. Maybe Auntie will let me pay in installments. If I dole it out slowly, the total isn’t as scary. Maybe ten installments of $156,000? Or monthly installments of $15,000? When I think about it that way, it’s not bad at all!
I keep forgetting that I’m not Julie Chan, cashier at SuperFoods. I am Chloe Van Huusen, influencer. I have the means to generate insane cash flow. A picture of me is worth thousands of dollars—literally.
And when I think about it, keeping my aunt on my payroll could be a silver lining. She’s the only person in my past life who could ever threaten my new identity. It’s better to have her on an expensive leash than constantly wondering when she might bite.
With this sobering thought, I call my aunt back.
She picks up immediately. “Have you decided?”
“What about one million?”
“How about two?” Auntie immediately replies.
I resist a groan. “Never mind. Let’s go with the original amount. Will you accept installments?”
“With interest. Five percent per month compounding.”
“Five—” I bite my tongue as fury heats my veins. How can she ask for interest while extorting me? But there’s clearly no room for bargaining. They have the upper hand. If my aunt ever opens her dirty little mouth, it’s all over. She can’t be the reason I get caught. “How do I know you won’t ask for more money?”
“You don’t. You did a terrible crime and you’ll never be forgiven.”
I bite my lip, hating that there’s a kernel of truth.
“Fine. Send over your banking information.”
“What about your sister’s body? The morgue has been calling us non-stop.”
Flashes of Chloe’s corpse revive in my mind. I shiver, try to shake it off.
“I’ll deal with it.”