The next afternoon, Charlie stood in the international arrivals hall of JFK Airport's Terminal 4. She was wearing an unassuming black trench coat, oversized sunglasses, and her hair was pulled back in a tight bun.
This was the first time she had stepped outside Claudius's sphere of surveillance in days. She was here to pick up Corina, who was flying back from a business trip in London.
She stood by the VIP exit, holding an iced Starbucks coffee, and scanned the crowd warily. Her eyes darted from face to face, looking for any sign of Buchanan security.
The arrivals board flashed: British Airways Flight 117. Landed.
Passengers began to stream out of the gate. Charlie craned her neck, searching for her sister's familiar face.
And then she saw him.
A tall, imposing figure at the end of the corridor. A perfectly tailored navy suit. That sharp, angular profile that she knew so well.
Claudius.
Charlie's blood ran cold. He was supposed to be in a critical merger meeting on Wall Street all day. What was he doing here?
She jumped back, pressing herself against a massive concrete pillar, her heart hammering in her chest. She peeked out from behind the pillar, and what she saw next made her feel like she was going to throw up.
A woman in a Chanel suit was walking beside him, her arm linked through his. She had the same chestnut brown waves and the same haughty chin as Corina. It was Vivianne Mercer. His wife.
Claudius's face was expressionless, as always, but he didn't pull away. Two bodyguards followed behind them, pushing their luggage carts.
Charlie's fingers dug into the paper coffee cup so hard it crumpled in her hand. Cold coffee spilled down her wrist, but she didn't feel it.
And then, right behind them, not five meters away, Corina walked through the gate.
She was wearing a crisp white Tom Ford suit, her heels clicking sharply on the linoleum floor. She walked like she owned the place, like the world owed her something.
Fate had played a cruel joke. Four people, all bound together by lies and betrayal, had converged on this single, narrow corridor.
Corina looked up, and her eyes locked onto Claudius's back. A look of unadulterated disgust crossed her face.
She saw Vivianne too, and a mocking, bitter smile tugged at her lips.
Claudius must have felt her gaze. He paused mid-step and turned his head slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Corina.
In that split second, Charlie saw everything. The stubbornness. The longing. The rage. The hidden madness that lay just beneath his calm surface.
Vivianne followed his gaze. When she saw Corina, her face paled slightly. She tightened her grip on Claudius's arm, pressing herself closer to him, staking her claim.
Charlie pressed her back against the pillar, her stomach churning. The babies inside her seemed to sense her distress, and a dull ache spread through her lower abdomen.
Corina didn't slow down. She didn't acknowledge either of them. She just kept walking, her head held high, and walked right past them without a single glance.
Charlie knew she couldn't hide any longer. She had to go to her sister.
She took a deep breath, straightened her trench coat, and pushed her sunglasses down onto her nose. She stepped out from behind the pillar.
"Corina!" she called, her voice clear and sweet.
The sound echoed through the arrivals hall.
Corina stopped and turned, a smile breaking across her face when she saw Charlie.
And Claudius spun around so fast it was almost violent.
When he saw Charlie standing there, his pupils dilated to black pinpricks. He made a sharp, involuntary movement to pull his arm away from Vivianne.
But Charlie didn't even glance in his direction. It was as if he didn't exist. As if he was just a speck of dust in the air.
She walked straight past him, straight to Corina. She threw her arms around her sister and took her leather briefcase from her hand.
"Welcome home," she said, smiling up at her.
As they walked past him, Charlie caught a whiff of his familiar cologne, mixed with the sickly sweet scent of Vivianne's perfume.
She held her head high, her back straight, and walked out of the airport with her sister, leaving a stunned Claudius Buchanan standing frozen in the middle of the arrivals hall.
