A static hiss filled the grand ballroom speakers as Clara held the digital recorder near the stage microphone. A man’s shaky, nervous voice echoed clearly through the quiet room.
"Miss Sterling, please don't hurt me! Victoria Vance paid me fifty thousand dollars a year to keep you sedated! She said if you ever walked out of this clinic, she would ruin my medical license! She was the one who ordered the maintenance guy to lock your door!"
The recording cut off with a sharp click. The two hundred guests broke into loud, outraged shouting, pointing their fingers at Victoria.
Board Member Miller: Disgraceful! Absolutely appalling!
Board Member Davis: Arrest her! Call the state prosecutor immediately!
Victoria: That recording is AI generated! It’s a fake! You can't prove Dr. Harrison said that!
Clara: Dr. Harrison is currently sitting in a federal interrogation room downtown, Victoria. He gave a full written confession thirty minutes ago when state troopers raided his clinic.
Victoria’s jaw dropped open. She stumbled backward, her long white train catching on the edge of the floral arch, sending a massive arrangement of white roses crashing onto the stage floor.
Victoria: Harrison... he betrayed me?
Clara: He saved himself from a thirty-year sentence. Something you won't be able to do.
Julian: Harrison, call Detective Vance directly on my private line.
Harrison: On it right now, Mr. Sterling!
Victoria: Julian, please! Think about my family! Think about my mother!
Victoria’s mother stood up from the front table, her face bright red with embarrassment as she grabbed her designer purse.
Victoria's Mother: Don't involve me in this, Victoria! I had no idea you committed fraud!
Victoria: Mother! You knew about the wire transfers! You helped me pick out the clinic!
Victoria's Mother: You lying girl! I never touched your money!
The crowd gasped as Victoria’s own mother walked fast toward the rear exit, leaving her daughter completely isolated on the stage.
Clara stepped closer to Victoria, her dark eyes reflecting the bright chandelier lights.
Clara: Look around you, Victoria. You bought this lace gown with stolen money, you invited two hundred people who don't care about you, and now you have nothing left.
Victoria: I still have the signed proxy papers! I hold thirty percent of the corporate voting shares!
Julian: Those proxy papers were signed under the assumption that Clara was dead, Victoria. Under state probate law, a fraudulent death declaration voids every single contract signed after the date of forgery.
Clara: Every share, every property, and every dollar reverts directly back to me.
Victoria pulled off her diamond wedding ring, throwing it furiously at Julian’s chest.
Victoria: You ungrateful fool! I spent three years building your social standing! I made you the CEO of this company!
Julian: My father made me the CEO, Victoria. You just tried to steal my sister’s life work.
Heavy thuds echoed against the grand mahogany entrance doors as six uniformed police officers pushed their way into the ballroom, led by a tall detective in a navy coat.
Detective Vance: Police! Nobody move!