Chapter 3 - The Camera Never Blinks
Silence suffocated the ballroom.
Chloe looked like she had seen a ghost.
Sterling Global Holdings wasn't just a company.
It was a real estate empire.
Everyone in the city knew the name.
Nobody knew Arthur Sterling had a daughter.
Because I had begged him to let me live a normal life.
To find a man who loved me for me, not my trust fund.
What a tragic mistake that had been.
"This is a trick," Eleanor sputtered, her face turning purple.
"She's a gold digger! She comes from nothing!"
"She probably hired these actors!"
My father snapped his fingers.
One of his men stepped forward with an iPad.
"Mr. Sterling, we have the footage you requested from the ballroom's security feed."
My father nodded.
"Connect it to the main screens."
Chloe's wedding planner had set up massive projectors to show a slideshow of the couple.
Within seconds, the romantic photos vanished.
They were replaced by a crisp, high-definition video feed.
The time stamp was from twenty minutes ago.
"Let's see who the real thief is," my father said, his voice echoing in the dead silent room.
The video showed Chloe surrounded by her bridesmaids near the champagne tower.
She took off her ring to wash her hands in the nearby powder room.
She left it on the edge of the cocktail table.
But the camera didn't focus on me.
I was on the other side of the room, eating a strawberry.
The camera zoomed in on Amanda.
Chloe's cousin.
The video clearly showed Amanda glancing around nervously.
Then, with a swift motion, she swiped the ring off the table.
She dropped it directly into her silver evening purse.
The entire wedding party watched in high definition.
Amanda let out a high-pitched squeak of terror.
She clutched her silver purse tighter.
"No!" Amanda cried out. "It's not what it looks like!"
My father gave a slight nod.
Two of his security men smoothly approached Amanda.
One of them simply held out his hand.
Amanda, trembling, opened her purse.
The security guard reached in and pulled out a massive, glittering diamond ring.
He held it up for the entire room to see.
Gasps echoed from every corner.
Eleanor looked like she was going to faint.
Chloe's face drained of all color.
"Amanda..." Chloe whispered, horrified. "Why?"
Amanda broke down in tears.
"You told me to do it!" she screamed, pointing at Chloe.
"You said if I hid the ring, we could blame Vivienne!"
"You wanted to humiliate her and get Dominic to divorce her before the baby came!"
"You said it was a foolproof plan!"
The betrayal hung in the air.
May you like
The bride had orchestrated the theft of her own ring.
Just to destroy a pregnant woman.
