Chloe: Toby! Grab your coat! We need to lock the front door right now!
Chloe rushed through the narrow front hallway of her cramped two-bedroom apartment, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Her seventeen-year-old brother, Toby, walked out of the kitchen holding a textbook, looking confused.
Toby: Chloe? What's going on? Why did you leave work so early?
Chloe: Toby, listen to me carefully. Put your shoes on. We have to leave with Mr. Hayes immediately.
Toby: Who is Mr. Hayes? Why are you shaking?
Before Chloe could answer, the front door handle jiggled violently from the outside corridor.
A heavy thud rattled the thin wooden door frame as someone kicked the lock from the hallway.
Toby: Hey! Someone's breaking in!
Chloe: Get behind me, Toby!
The lock snapped with a loud metallic crack, and the door swung open, revealing two large men in dark leather jackets.
Standing right behind them was Julian, Chloe's general manager from the restaurant.
Chloe: Julian?! What are you doing in my home?!
Julian: Hello, Chloe. I told you I knew where you lived.
Toby: Get out of our apartment before I call the police!
Julian: Shut up, kid. The police aren't coming to this neighborhood anytime soon.
Julian stepped into the small living room, pointing his finger at Chloe's leather shoulder bag resting on the couch.
Julian: Where is the white envelope, Chloe?
Chloe: You followed me from the restaurant!
Julian: Mrs. Victoria Sterling paid me twenty thousand dollars to make sure that lawyer didn't hand you any official court summons or checks today.
Chloe: You're working for Victoria Sterling?!
Julian: I've been giving her updates on your daily routine for six months! Do you really think it was a coincidence you got hired at my restaurant right after your mother died?
Chloe felt a cold wave of horror rush over her skin as the realization settled in.
Chloe: You kept me working double shifts for minimum wage on purpose so I could never save enough money to hire a lawyer!
Julian: Exactly. Victoria wanted you tired, broke, and too miserable to investigate your father's past.
Toby: You monster! You stole our mom's medical records last week!
Julian: I did. And now I'm taking that lawyer's envelope. Hand it over, Chloe, or my guys will tear this place apart until we find it.
Chloe: I don't have the envelope, Julian.
Julian: Don't lie to me! I saw him give it to you on the sidewalk!
Marcus: She's telling the truth, Julian. The envelope is right here in my briefcase.
Marcus stepped out from the hallway shadows behind the two thugs, holding his phone in his right hand with the video camera recording every word.
Marcus: And every single word of your confession has just been broadcast live to the city police department and the state probate court judge.