Chapter 11 - The Boycott
The fallout from the upgraded felony indictment fell like an anvil upon what was left of Lena and Evelyn’s social sphere.
The prestigious Oakridge Country Club didn't just revoke Evelyn’s membership; their legal team filed a quarter-million-dollar civil lawsuit against Lena and Evelyn for reputational damages, citing the millions of negative reviews, canceled high-society banquets, and public protests that had disrupted their business following the viral footage.
Local boutiques, hair salons, and high-end restaurants that had once rolled out red carpets for Evelyn and Lena placed their names on formal exclusion lists. Friends who had laughed at Lena’s cruel jokes for years suddenly deleted their social media photos with her, blocking her number with surgical efficiency.
Lena was forced to move into a tiny, rundown one-bedroom apartment on the industrial outskirts of town, paid for by pawning what few luxury handbags she had left.
One rainy Tuesday afternoon, as I was walking out of my rehabilitation clinic leaning gently on Caleb’s arm, Lena was waiting by the curb.
She looked entirely unhinged. She stood in the drizzling rain wearing an oversized trench coat, her unwashed hair plastered to her forehead, trembling with cold and fury.
"Tessa!" she screamed, lunging past the glass clinic doors toward us.
Caleb instantly stepped in front of me, his posture tensing, ready to physically shield my healing shoulder. "Lena, stay back! You are violating the protective order!"
"Shut up, Caleb!" she shrieked, her voice hoarse and desperate. She looked at me over his shoulder, tears mixing with the rain on her cheeks. "Tessa, look at me! Look at what you've done to me! Julian divorced me! My friends won't speak to me! The prosecutor offered a plea deal of three years in state prison! Three years!"
I stood behind Caleb, feeling the steady beat of my heart. A month ago, seeing my sister in tears would have filled me with instant, sickening guilt. I would have stepped forward, apologized, and swallowed the blame just to stop her crying.
Now, I felt only a profound, chilling detachment.
"You did this to yourself, Lena," I said calmly.
"I didn't mean for it to go this far!" she sobbed, dropping to her knees on the wet concrete sidewalk. "Mom convinced me to blame you! She said you would drop it! She said you always back down! Please, Tessa... tell the DA you forgive me. Tell them it was a sisterly prank. If I go to prison, my life is over!"
"My life almost ended in that pool, Lena," I replied, my voice carrying over the sound of the falling rain. "You stood on the deck and laughed while I was drowning. You watched me choke on chlorine with a broken shoulder, and you smiled."
"I was stupid! I was jealous!" she screamed, clutching at the hem of Caleb’s coat. "You were always the talented one! You were the artist! Dad always loved you more! I had to be perfect because you were better!"
"And being perfect meant destroying me?" I shook my head slowly. "The plea deal is between you and the State of Oakridge. Don't ever come near me again."
Caleb pulled out his phone and dialed the direct dispatch number for the precinct. "Dispatch, this is Attorney Caleb Brooks. Defendant Lena Vale is currently violating a Class A protective order outside the Oakridge Rehabilitation Center. Send an intercept unit immediately."
May you like
Lena looked up at the flashing blue lights turning the corner down the boulevard, let out a terrified wail, and scrambled to her feet, running blindly into the pouring rain.
***
