The Better Sister

Chloe takes Nicky to one of Catherine’s parties, expecting her sister to embarrass her. The other guests laugh at Nicky’s jokes, admire the design of her necklace, and praise the homemade gazpacho she brings.

As Ethan’s biological mother, Nicky is permitted to visit him in the detention center every day. As his aunt, Chloe is restricted to two visits per week. During the six months he has spent in custody, Ethan has been prescribed antidepressants and is increasingly withdrawn.

Chloe has resumed her relationship with Jake, and he reveals that the federal government is investigating the Gentry Group. Jake admits that Rives & Braddock helped Gentry acquire foreign assets through bribery, and some Gentry employees have become FBI informants. Chloe discovers that an FBI office is located close to where a cab dropped off Adam. She suspects her husband was an FBI informant.

Chloe struggles to write her memoir now that the details of her personal life and her husband’s murder are public knowledge. Realizing that she must also be honest about her relationship with her sister and her father’s domestic violence, she is tempted to pull out of the publishing contract. However, she fears that if she does so, her position at Eve may be in jeopardy. As Ethan’s trial is about to begin, Chloe is served with a subpoena to appear as a witness for the prosecution.

From the beginning of the trial, the prosecutor, Mike Nunzio, presents Ethan as an over-entitled teenager who killed his father when Adam threatened to end his privileges. He calls Margaret Carter, the headteacher of Ethan’s private school, as a witness. Margaret recounts how Chloe “enabled” Ethan, brushing aside the seriousness of the incident when he brought a gun into school.

However, she also reveals that Adam was deeply concerned about his son’s behavior. Expressing the belief that Ethan was displaying the same “destructive traits” as his biological mother, Adam asked Margaret to recommend a military school for his son. The headteacher reveals that she told Ethan about his father’s intentions, hoping it would improve his behavior. Ethan responded that he would “find a way to stop” his father’s plan (197). Chloe disguises her shock at this revelation, as Olivia has instructed Chloe and Nicky to conceal any surprise they feel during the trial.

Chloe tells Olivia she knew nothing about Adam’s intention to send Ethan to military school. Olivia emphasizes that Chloe must forget about her “perfect public image” and be completely honest (198). Without all the facts, Olivia will be unable to defend Ethan effectively. Nicky observes that Chloe has always presented her family life as perfect, making her believe that her presence would spoil Ethan’s happiness. Chloe admits that Adam despaired of Ethan and became angry when his son did not conform to his expectations.

Chloe states that she will not testify for the prosecution and is willing to face jail for contempt of court. Nicky offers to say she killed Adam to create reasonable doubt. Olivia advises the sisters that neither tactic will help Ethan’s case.

During the trial, Chloe and Nicky commute between the East Hampton house and the courthouse. In the evenings, they take turns cooking for one another. Chloe apologizes to Nicky, finally acknowledging how deeply her sister cares about Ethan. When Nicky observes how close they were as children, Chloe recalls how, as a four-year-old, she would eagerly wait for her older sister to come home from school, and they would go to the park or play shop.

Chloe also remembers that when their mom made them say their prayers, she was afraid that the Lord really would take her soul in the night. To reassure her, Nicky changed the words of the prayer to “If I should die before I wake, I’ll wait for you at Wallace Lake” (210). Nicky tells Chloe she has misremembered the prayer: She changed the words to “I’ll wait for you at Wallace Lake” (210), as this was the place where she went drinking with friends.

Nicky cannot understand why Chloe loved their father so much and asks if her sister remembers his alcohol use disorder. Chloe says that their father was loving to her, while their mom was distant. She recalls how he would play music and dance with her while drinking beer. Nicky says that Chloe did not witness how their father’s good moods turned violent because their mom always ensured she was safe in bed. She explains that their mom was unhappy and “always trying to manage Dad” (212). Nicky also reveals that when their father was drunk, he got into her bed and put his hand in her underwear, mistaking her for their mother. Chloe tells Nicky she is sorry.

In court, Mike Nunzio questions Chloe, reading out a selection of negative comments about her on social media, including those from KurtLoMein. Without explaining the context, the prosecutor reads quotations from a transcript like “You’re a loser, a druggie zombie” and “You’re losing your mind, just like your mother” (221). Nunzio suggests that Chloe lied to the police about rarely using the East Hampton house’s alarm system, as she suspected that Ethan disarmed the alarm before killing his father.

After Chloe’s testimony, Olivia instructs both sisters to maintain a calm demeanor and go home. She tells them that the next witness, from the police technology department, is about to reveal that Ethan is KurtLoMein.

Olivia shows Chloe and Nicky a printout of KurtLoMein’s posts on Poppit. Many express Ethan’s feelings of alienation and resentment toward his parents. His tone only changes in the final post, when he implies that Chloe is a victim and not Adam’s killer.

Olivia plays the source of the transcript Nunzio read out in court: a video the police discovered on Ethan’s laptop. In the footage, recorded two weeks before the murder, Adam is screaming insults at his son. Nicky observes that Adam’s aggressive and belittling behavior is exactly how he treated her when they were married, particularly when she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum depression. Nicky recalls how she blamed herself for failing to make Adam happy and tried to behave more like Chloe. She also told herself that, while Adam often bruised her arms by roughly grabbing her, he never actually hit her. Chloe recalls Nicky claiming that Adam was abusive when she was committed to a psychiatric unit, but Chloe hadn’t believed her.

Chloe suggests that if she and Nicky had been boys, their dysfunctional childhood might have led them to become violent offenders. She wonders if Ethan could be responsible for his father’s murder.

Detective Guidry reads an article about the FBI’s investigation of the Gentry Group, recalling that Adam claimed to be representing the company before he died. Guidry is still convinced that Ethan is guilty. Nevertheless, she calls a contact at the FBI and asks if Adam was working with them.