CHAPTER 2 — WHAT THE CAMERA SAW
Dominic lunged toward the control table.
“Turn that off.”
Two security officers blocked him.
The video continued.
There was no sound, but the picture was clear.
Chloe stood in front of the mirror wearing her diamond ring.
Amanda opened the silver clutch.
Then Chloe removed the ring from her finger and placed it inside.
A gasp swept through the ballroom.
Chloe shook her head wildly.
“That proves nothing! I was asking her to hold it.”
The recording moved forward.
Dominic stepped closer to Amanda.
He handed her a small velvet pouch.
Amanda placed that pouch inside the clutch beside the ring.
Then Chloe pointed toward the ballroom doors and mimed searching someone.
Me.
My skin went cold.
This had not been an emotional accusation.
It had been rehearsed.
The footage showed Dominic speaking intensely to Chloe. She nodded. Amanda looked nervous.
Then Eleanor entered the room.
The guests turned toward her.
She gripped the edge of a table.
On-screen, Eleanor handed Chloe a folded piece of paper.
Chloe read it and smiled.
The video ended.
My father faced Dominic.
“What was in the pouch?”
Dominic swallowed.
“Nothing important.”
The security director spoke.
“We recovered the clutch.”
Amanda gasped.
One of the officers raised the same silver evening bag she had been clutching minutes earlier.
Chloe spun toward Amanda.
“You said you moved it!”
Amanda’s eyes widened.
The entire room heard her.
Chloe realized what she had said and covered her mouth.
My father’s attorney opened the clutch on a nearby table.
Inside was Chloe’s missing ring.
Guests began murmuring angrily.
The attorney also removed a velvet pouch.
He opened it.
A small flash drive slid into his palm.
Dominic’s face lost all color.
I stared at him.
“What’s on it?”
He stepped toward me.
“Vivienne, listen to me. I made a mistake.”
My father blocked him.
“You’ll get your opportunity to explain.”
Chloe rushed forward.
“This is insane. Amanda did this. She stole my ring and framed Vivienne.”
Amanda stared at her cousin in disbelief.
“You told me it was just supposed to scare her.”
“Shut up!”
“You said Dominic needed her embarrassed enough to leave.”
The room fell silent again.
I looked at Dominic.
“Why did you need me to leave?”
He didn’t answer.
My father’s attorney inserted the flash drive into a secured laptop.
Several folders appeared.
One was labeled:
VIVIENNE — SIGNATURES
Another:
ASHCROFT ACQUISITION
The third folder carried a date.
Tomorrow’s date.
My father narrowed his eyes.
“What happens tomorrow?”
Dominic stared at the floor.
Then the attorney opened the acquisition folder.
A contract appeared on the screen.
It proposed the transfer of three Ashcroft hotels into a company controlled by Dominic’s family.
May you like
At the bottom was my forged signature.
End of Chapter 2…
