Chapter 5 - THE TESSA RECKONING
The interrogation room at the federal courthouse smelled of stale bleach and old coffee.
Tessa sat in a wooden chair, wearing a dark gray prison jumpsuit, her hands cuffed at her wrists. Her designer hair was tangled, her makeup gone, her face pale and swollen from hours of crying.
I sat across from her.
No lawyers were in the room. Just two sisters—one who had sacrificed everything to protect her family, and one who had sold her soul for a illusion of luxury.
“Are you happy now, Claire?” Tessa spat out, her voice raspy and bitter. “You put your own sister in prison! Mom would be turning in her grave if she saw what you did to me!”
I looked at her quietly, feeling no anger—only a profound, hollow pity.
“Mom would have been ashamed of you, Tessa,” I said softly. “Mom taught us to be women of honor. I paid your tuition. I bought your first car. I gave you a job when you were fired for stealing from your last employer. And how did you repay me?”
Tessa looked away, her jaw tightening. “You had everything, Claire! You always had everything! Father loved you more! He left you the company shares! You married a rich man! You lived in grandmother’s mansion while I was living in a stupid one-bedroom apartment downtown!”
“I didn't have everything, Tessa,” I said, my voice trembling slightly with the weight of old grief. “I spent six years crying in dark rooms, thinking my body was broken. I spent six years watching other women carry babies, wondering what I did wrong to deserve such pain. And all the while, my own sister was sleeping with my husband and planning to steal my unborn children!”
Tessa snorted, a cruel, ugly laugh escaping her lips. “Gavin didn't love you, Claire! He never loved you! He laughed at you behind your back every single day! He called you his 'cash cow'!”
“And what did he call you, Tessa?” I countered instantly.
Tessa froze.
“He called you an easy tool,” I said, pulling a police transcript from my purse and setting it on the table. “This is Gavin’s sworn statement from this morning’s deposition. Do you want to hear what he said about you?”
Tessa stared at the paper, her eyes widening with sudden, frantic fear.
I read aloud from the transcript:
“‘Tessa was easily manipulated. She was desperate for status and money. I only used her as a gestational surrogate because she was genetically similar to Claire, which made the medical complications lower. I had no intention of marrying her once the Sterling trust was secured.’”
Tessa’s breath hitched. A solitary tear spilled down her cheek, cutting through the dirt on her face. “No... he... he promised me we were going to move to France... he promised me...”
“Gavin promises whatever keeps him out of trouble,” I said, closing the folder. “He used me for my money, and he used you for your body. The difference is, Tessa, I woke up. You let your jealousy turn you into a monster.”
Tessa dropped her head onto the cold table, letting out a ragged, heartbroken sob. “Claire... please... I’m sorry... please don't let them take me to prison... I’m your sister...”
I stood up, pulling my gloves on.
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“You stopped being my sister the night you stood in that restaurant in a white dress, holding my stolen babies, and smiled while Gavin tried to destroy my life,” I said softly. “The state prosecutor is offering you five years in exchange for your testimony against Gavin. Take the deal, Tessa. Because if you go to trial, I will personally make sure you get twenty.”
I turned and walked out of the interrogation room, leaving my sister weeping into her cuffed hands, alone with the ruins of her envy.
