Chapter 4: The Public Reckoning
The trial was not just a legal event; it was a cultural phenomenon. It was "The Case of the Century." The footage from the foyer—the shove, the badge reveal, the calm authority of Clara Vance—went viral instantly.
For the first time in her life, Beatrice was powerless. She sat in the courtroom, stripped of her designer gowns, forced to listen as the prosecution detailed the human trafficking allegations, the tax evasion, and the systemic abuse of vulnerable people her company had utilized.
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The public, who had once admired the "Sterling Glamour," now turned on her with vitriol. Protestors stood outside the courthouse every day. Inside, Clara Vance testified. She didn't talk about the shove. She talked about the victims. She laid out the corruption with the precision of a surgeon, and by the time she finished, the jury’s verdict was a formality.
Beatrice looked toward the gallery, hoping for a shred of sympathy, but she found none. Even her long-time friends, the socialites who had dined at her table, had testified against her to save their own reputations.
