The murmurs among the party guests grew into loud conversations as several prominent city officials stepped closer to hear the conversation. Among the crowd were prominent local businessmen, a probate court judge, and a high-profile divorce lawyer who had handled many high-society cases in the area. Victoria felt every pair of eyes locked onto her face, her chest heaving rapidly as she tried to regain control of the situation.
Victoria: This is a setup! She was fired three years ago for stealing money from our family account!
Claire: I never touched a single penny of your money! You framed me so you could marry Richard and take control of his family trust fund!
Richard: Claire, if you were here the whole time, why did you never speak to me directly?
Claire: Because she threatened to use her father's legal team to take full custody of Leo and move him far away where I would never see him again!
Claire reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a worn, folded piece of paper with frayed edges that showed it had been opened hundreds of times. She stepped forward and handed the document directly to Richard, who took it with shaking hands while Victoria tried to snatch it away from him. Richard blocked Victoria's arm with his elbow and opened the paper, scanning the printed words and signature at the bottom with growing anger.
Richard: This is a contract showing monthly payments from our joint estate account to a private agency. Why were you paying a security firm thousands of dollars every single month, Victoria?
Victoria: That was for estate protection! You know we needed extra security after we got married!
Claire: She paid them to keep me under constant watch! They told me if I ever spoke a word to you, they would make sure I lost my parental rights permanently through a fake lawsuit!
Leo wrapped his arms around Claire's waist again, looking up at his father with wide, sad eyes that broke Richard's heart into pieces. The boy had remembered his mother's voice and soft touch, even though he had been told for years that the lady cleaning the floors was just a hired staff member named Claire. The truth was finally breaking through the walls of lies that Victoria had constructed around the entire household.
Richard: You turned my biological mother's home into a prison for my wife... and made her clean our floors while you spent her inheritance money?
Victoria: She was never fit to be a mother, Richard! Look at her! She has nothing, no home, no money, no title!
Claire: I stayed here as a servant just to be near my child! I swept the hallways every night just so I could catch a five-second glimpse of him sleeping in his bedroom!
A collective gasp filled the large hallway as the guests realized the full extent of the cruelty that had taken place inside the mansion. Women in expensive evening gowns whispered behind their silk gloved hands, while men shook their heads in utter disgust at Victoria's actions. Before Victoria could utter another word to defend herself, the heavy front doors swung open once again with a sharp breeze.