Page 99 of These Thin Lines

Still, better late than never.

“Darling, I will explain, even if I would have preferred to speak to you first. Alas, there is only one way to untangle the Gordian knot. So please bear with me.”

The fear in Vi’s eyes almost stopped her, but instead, Chiara squeezed her hand before sweeping into the building, impassive as to whether she was followed. She knew she would be. At least one of the Courtenays would be curious. And Chiara counted on that curiosity. It had killed the cat, after all.

By the time they all found themselves inside Vi’s apartment, Charles was even more disgruntled, perched uncomfortably on the sofa, Gwyneth was apathetic, lounging in the armchair farthest from Chiara, while Vi stood in the middle of the living room looking at the entire gathering with somewhat bewildered eyes.

Chiara affected a smile and felt it stretch her lips unpleasantly. “Well, I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve had quite a night, and with as much bullshit and aggravation as you have caused me over the past several years, I have a lot to say, so I will make this, if not painless, then at least succinct—”

Charles’ jaw clenched before he seemed to will it to relax. “I have no idea who you think you are and what you are doing here, Ms. Conti, but I won’t allow you to speak to us like this. To order us around, to threaten us like common criminals—”

“There’s nothing common about you, Charles. Nothing whatsoever. And while law enforcement might be fascinated with thisuncommonness, I must tell you, I simply don’t give a damn.”

She could see he was taken aback by her words as he looked around himself and invariably at the one person who was keeping her silence—the same as always.

Chiara took a step towards the windowsill and leaned on it—another window, another view, and the same city now almost fully awake and alive at her fingertips. She felt the anger she’d been trying to hold back roar to life, for herself, for Vi, for the time that they had lost.

“Five years ago, I was on top of the world. Yes, my wife had just been caught cheating on me, but I was the happiest I had ever been. I was in love, and I was loved back. Until I wasn’t… Or so I thought.”

“Chiara…” The sorrow in Vi’s voice made it sound hollow, her eyes alight with so much pain, so much self-recrimination. It had to end. Chiara knew she had to end it.

“For years, I believed Vi had betrayed me. That she had her reasons for lying to me when I asked if she had sold the pictures of me catching Frankie in the act. To this day, every time I remember that night, I remember her eyes. Just like now, they were full of self-loathing, because just like now, she was torn between her love and loyalty to you—the only family she has, Charles—and her sense of honor and doing what was right.”

“Chiara, please, I did lie that night.” The tremor in Vi’s voice was breaking Chiara’s heart. And when she finally looked from Charles' astonished face to Vi’s beloved features, she smiled at her with as much love as she was able to convey.

“No, darling. You didn’t. Or, at least, not entirely. You shook your head when I asked you if you knew who did it and I chose not to believe you, because how could you not know? After all, it had to be you, right? Nobody else had access.”

“I did lie, because I did know. My father—”

“How dare you!” Charles was on his feet in a second, but before he could approach Vi or even say anything else, Chiara simply stared him down and lowered her voice.

“If I were you, I’d call a lawyer, Charles.”

Vi gasped, and Charles' already red face turned a peaked, ruddy shade.

“I will ruin you, Conti. Defamation—”

“But I didn’t defame you, Charles. Not yet anyway.” Chiara shrugged, infusing it with as much nonchalance as she could muster. “It took me a long time to remember where I’d seen you before. Too long. And perhaps, had I remembered, I’d have figured things out sooner. Alas, faces are not my strong suit. Gowns are, though.”

She looked beyond Charles, but in her periphery, she saw him take a step back. “In fact, I gave you excellent advice just now. Because youwillneed that lawyer. Make it a very good one. I hear family law attorneys are hard to come by on the cheap. Your finances being what they are.”

In the silence of the room, Chiara actually wished for Binoche. That cat knew how to cut through tension in the most irreverent of ways. The strange detour her brain had taken made her smile. She’d never appreciated her thought processes more than in this moment. When her emotions were running her ragged, her mind had conjured up the perfect distraction to give itself a small, much-needed breather.

“I don’t understand.” Vi’s voice brought her back to the moment. It no longer trembled, and she wasn’t focused on Chiara anymore. Her burning eyes were now aimed at the one person who still hadn’t uttered a single word.

Gwyneth stood up, her lip curling in a move to rival any fairytale villain worth her salt. She tilted her head, a smirk now distorting her face. “What is there to understand, Cinderella? It’s like you’ve not read the fairytale. It was always the stepmother.” She turned and took a few steps towards Chiara, completely ignoring the other people in the room. “Was it theSilvergown?” Her words were flat, emotionless, as if she were discussing the weather and not years of theft, commercial espionage, and just plain old treachery.

“I was in London when that dress was shown, just before it was stolen, Gwyneth. And itwasstolen. The Maestro would have never given it away.”

Gwyneth waved her hand. “Eh, the man is dead, and nobody else can say different.”

Chiara raised an eyebrow at the brazenness. “Be that as it may, I am alive, and I know it was you stealing designs and blackmailing Lucci and D&B throughout that summer. What, couldn’t quite get a foot in the door at Lilien Haus? Did Renate and Zizou actually outsmart you?”

“Neither Lucci nor D&B will say a word. They both paid one way or another—”

“I couldn’t quite figure it out, you know. Lucci and D&B perhaps were careless in screening their employees, but Vi didn’t get full access, because Lilien had nothing to show, and Zizou kept a close eye on her all summer. So it was the one piece that didn’t fit. And then I finally realized who it was I’d seen leaving her building with a camera. At that point, I thought I knew. I thought I had it all figured out.”

Charles gaped, his mouth opening and closing, and Vi watched, her face turning paler.

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