Chapter 10 - The Footage Before the Fall
The heavy silence on the terrace was suddenly broken by the sharp, rhythmic clicking of high heels approaching from the outdoor kitchen pavilion.
A well-dressed woman in an elegant pearl-gray suit stepped through the ring of stunned guests, holding an open tablet in her hands.
She was Eleanor’s private estate manager, a woman who possessed direct access to the mansion’s high-definition internal security servers.
"Mrs. Vance," the estate manager spoke in a crisp, urgent tone that instantly drew every eye on the patio.
"You need to look at this right now," the woman said, turning the glowing screen directly toward Eleanor and Clara.
"This was recorded less than twenty minutes ago inside the private second-floor study, before the party moved outside."
Eleanor’s piercing blue eyes shifted from her ruined son toward the illuminated high-definition screen.
On the video display, clear as day, Julian and Victoria were standing beside Eleanor’s antique mahogany desk inside the locked study.
Victoria was holding Eleanor’s personal signature stamp, pressing it deliberately onto a stack of legal corporate documents.
Beside her, Julian was hurriedly slipping several heavy manila envelopes containing original asset deeds into his leather briefcase.
On the video, Victoria could be clearly heard whispering: "Once we lock the little brat away and humiliate her, the old woman will be too distracted to notice the accounts until Monday."
The realization hit the terrace like an invisible shockwave; the humiliation of Clara had not merely been an act of casual cruelty.
It had been a calculated, vicious diversion designed to cover up a multi-million-dollar corporate theft and fraud against Eleanor’s estate.
Julian’s jaw dropped in absolute horror as the audio echoed clearly from the tablet’s powerful speakers.
Victoria’s hand flew to her throat, her chest heaving as all the blood drained entirely from her face.
May you like
Eleanor’s blue eyes widened with profound shock, then instantly crystallized into a cold, devastating expression of utter finality.
She looked up from the tablet, her gaze fixing upon her son and daughter-in-law with an icy, merciless detachment that signaled the absolute end of their privileged lives.
