Rain hammered the penthouse windows like a funeral drum. Emma Williams, heiress to the fourth-richest dynasty in Central City, crumpled against her father's antique desk, the pristine white of her gown devoured by spreading crimson. Each ragged breath sent fresh waves of agony through her, but the deepest wound bled from the sight before her: Ashley, her younger sister, eyes alight with vindictive triumph.
"Pathetic," Ashley hissed, the word dripping venom. "Did you truly believe your perfect little world was untouchable?"
Emma clutched the gash on her side, confusion warring with the searing pain. "Ashley... *Why*? What did I *do*?"
"*Do*?" Ashley's laugh was brittle glass shattering. "You *existed*! The golden child. Mom and Dad's flawless jewel. Every scrap of affection, every opportunity – handed to you while I scraped for crumbs!" Her voice dropped to a poisonous whisper. "Remember the Paris internship? The one *I* prepared a year for? Father gave it to you because 'Emma needs the exposure.' Or the pearls? Mother's sixteenth-birthday gift to *me*? You wore them to the charity gala." Spittle flew. "You lived in the sun, Emma. I withered in your shadow."
"That's not true!" Emma gasped, blood bubbling at her lips. "They loved us both!"
"Equally?" Ashley sneered. "Don't delude yourself. Perfect grades. Perfect career. Perfect *fiancé*." She spat the word like poison. "You consumed every scrap of light."
"Do you want to know how the invincible Emma finally bleeds?" Ashley taunted, circling like a predator scenting weakness. Dread coiled, cold and heavy, in Emma's gut.
"Ashley... what have you done?"
"*We*," a smooth, familiar voice interjected. Josh Stewart stepped from the gloom, his arm slipping possessively around Ashley's waist. The man Emma loved, the partner she trusted, stood united with her executioner. Her world imploded.
"Josh...?" The name was a shattered whisper.
"It was always the plan, darling," Josh said, his tone chillingly casual. "The Williams fortune is... inconveniently tied up in trusts. Marriage wouldn't grant control. But a grieving fiancé, inheriting through your 'tragic' demise? That clears the path. Ashley understands ambition. Unlike you, who understood only privilege." He pressed a kiss to Ashley's temple.
Betrayal, colder than the rain lashing the windows, flooded Emma's veins. "You monsters! You schemed for *money*? For *power*? I won't let you steal my family's legacy!"
"Darling sister," Ashley purred, drawing a slender, wicked dagger from her sleeve, "you're hardly in a position to stop anything." As if summoned by her words, a violent spasm wracked Emma. She coughed, a spray of dark blood staining the priceless Persian rug. The celebratory champagne. *Poisoned.*
"Surprise," Josh murmured, devoid of any remorse.
Before Emma could scream, Ashley lunged. The dagger plunged deep, a white-hot brand of finality beneath her ribs. "Goodbye, *dearest* sister," Ashley breathed, pressing close to Josh. "Everything you were... is mine now."
The physical agony was eclipsed by the soul-crushing weight of their treachery. *Even in death,* Emma vowed into the encroaching darkness, *I will haunt you.*
Footsteps pounded in the hall. Instantly, Ashley's mask of hysteria snapped into place. She flung herself back, wailing. "NO! EMMA! HELP! SOMEONE, PLEASE! SHE'S DYING!" Tears streamed down her cheeks, a masterpiece of feigned terror.
Police burst in. They rushed to Emma's still form. "Did you see the attacker, Miss?" an officer barked at Ashley.
Shaking violently, Ashley sobbed. "A shadow... just a shadow... it fled when you came! Did you catch them?" Her wide, innocent eyes pleaded.
"Nothing, ma'am," the officer confirmed grimly.
Josh stepped forward, his face a mask of anguished fury. "Find who did this! Find the animal that attacked my fiancée!" His performance was chillingly perfect.
Ashley fumbled for her phone, her voice breaking with expertly crafted hysteria. "Mom? Dad? It's Emma... she's... she's been attacked! The police... they say it's critical!" She dissolved into shuddering sobs as the line echoed with her parents' cries of disbelief.
At the hospital, the wait was an eternity of sterile dread. When the operating room doors finally swung open, the lead surgeon's expression was a tombstone. Emma's mother lunged forward, hope warring with terror. "My baby... is she...?"
The surgeon's voice was heavy with finality. "I'm deeply sorry. The blade pierced her heart. We couldn't save her."
A guttural cry tore from Emma's mother as she collapsed. "NO! LIAR!" Josh roared, pounding a fist against the wall, his eyes convincingly wild with grief.
Ashley's face, for a fleeting second in the chaotic shadows of the hallway, contorted into a glimmer of savage victory. Then, seamlessly, it crumpled into abject despair. "SISTER!" she shrieked, lunging for the operating room doors.
A firm hand stopped her. "Family only, Miss," a nurse said gently but firmly.
Left alone in the harsh corridor, Ashley pressed her face against the cold wall, her shoulders heaving with silent, triumphant laughter disguised as sobs, while Emma Williams surrendered to oblivion.