The Ballroom Screen
Chapter 03 - The Ballroom Screen
The recording showed everything Margaret had insisted could not have happened.
She crossed the empty corner of the ballroom, shielded the brooch with her palm, and slid it into Lila’s coat pocket. She returned to Sophie’s handbag, removed a folded envelope, and whispered to someone outside the camera’s view.
“Once the girl is removed, the trust stays under our control.”
A man’s voice answered, low but clear. “And the drive?”
“I have it.”
Sophie covered her mouth. Only an hour earlier, Margaret had warned her that inviting Lila would bring embarrassment to the family. Sophie now realized the warning had never been about Lila’s behavior. It had been about what Lila might know.
The guests began murmuring all at once. Several raised their phones, but the event technician lowered the ballroom lights, making the projected image impossible to ignore.
Margaret lunged toward the control booth. Her heel caught the edge of the carpet. She stumbled and fell beside the stage, more shocked than injured. Sophie rushed forward, but Margaret slapped away her hand.
“Turn it off!”
Lila paused the video on a frame of Margaret’s fingers inside the silver handbag.
Daniel retrieved the sapphire brooch from security and placed it on the table. “You accused a child of repeating her mother’s crime,” he said. “But Amelia never committed one.”
Margaret rose slowly. Her face had lost all color. “A video can be edited.”
Lila typed another message and sent it to the ballroom screen.
THE ORIGINAL FILE WAS UPLOADED TO THREE ACCOUNTS BEFORE THE ACCUSATION.
That detail mattered. Sophie knew enough about digital records to understand it, and so did the retired judge seated near the stage. The file’s time stamp showed that Lila had created the backup before the brooch was reported missing.
Sophie held out her hand. “Give me the flash drive you took.”
Margaret closed her fist around her clutch. “You are my daughter.”
“That is not an answer.”
For the first time in Lila’s life, Margaret Vale looked smaller than the story built around her. Yet even cornered, she searched the room for someone who still feared her.
Her eyes stopped on Victor Hale, the foundation’s attorney.
Victor did not move to help her. He quietly slipped through a side door.
Lila noticed.
Before anyone could stop her, she opened the second video saved on her phone. It showed Victor entering the ballroom kitchen twenty minutes earlier and handing Margaret the brooch.
May you like
The first secret had been exposed.
The larger one had just left the room.
