Chloe screamed wildly again, her high-pitched voice ringing off the tall arched windows that lined the ballroom walls. She felt humiliated by Victoria’s quiet confidence and could not control her burning temper any longer. She stepped directly into Victoria’s personal space, leaning in until their faces were only inches apart. Her breath was fast and uneven, her eyes filled with frantic rage as she prepared to strike out verbally and physically.
Chloe: You think a cheap white suit makes you special? I will ruin your entire life before the sun comes up tomorrow!
Victoria: You cannot ruin what you do not understand, little girl.
Chloe: I will have the guards throw you into the street like garbage!
Before Chloe could take another breath to scream, Victoria moved with swift, surgical precision. She raised her right hand and delivered a firm, sharp slap directly across Chloe’s cheek. The sound echoed through the massive ballroom like a gunshot, surprising every single person standing in the crowd. Chloe’s head snapped to the side, and the sheer force of the strike threw her off balance on her high heels. She stumbled backward, lost her footing on the slick marble, and crashed down flat onto her back with a heavy thud and a sharp yelp of pain.
The crowd gasped in absolute shock. Women pulled back in horror, while men dropped their hands to their sides, unable to believe what they had just witnessed. Chloe lay flat on the cold checkered floor, her blue gown crumpled around her legs like a fallen flag. Her cheek was bright red where Victoria’s hand had landed, and her eyes were wide with pure panic and disbelief. She scrambled slightly on the floor, her hands slipping against the polished surface as she tried to push herself back up.
Victoria did not run, nor did she look nervous about the security guards who were now moving closer from the main entrance. She stood tall over the fallen heiress, her posture straight and commanding. She looked down at Chloe lying flat on her back, screaming in frustration like a child throwing a tantrum in public. Victoria calmly reached down to her left hand, slowly pulling off a sleek black leather glove that she had been wearing throughout the evening.
As the leather slipped off her fingers, Victoria revealed a breathtaking piece of jewelry on her hand. Resting on her ring finger was a massive, brilliant pink diamond surrounded by flawless white diamonds. The stone caught the overhead chandelier light, flashing a bright, brilliant twinkle across the dark floor. Several old investors instantly recognized the famous ring. It was the ancestral ring of the Vance Trust, the ultimate symbol of legal ownership over the entire Sterling real estate empire.