CHAPTER 11: The Police at the Gala
The police arrived through the same crystal doors Lily had entered.
No one laughed this time.
Two detectives took statements near the stage while uniformed officers secured Victoria’s office, the foundation records, and the private security room. The gala guests stood in clusters, whispering behind champagne glasses they no longer wanted to drink.
Victoria refused to sit.
She stood under a chandelier with perfect posture, as if dignity could protect her from evidence.
Lily sat in a chair too large for her while a medic cleaned the dirt from her face. When the wet cloth touched the marks where Victoria’s fingers had pressed, Lily flinched.
Edward saw it.
The sight wounded him more deeply than the forged papers.
He knelt beside her. “Did she hurt you?”
Lily looked down. “Not like other people did.”
Edward closed his eyes.
Samuel sat nearby with a blanket over his shoulders. The detectives asked him why he never came forward sooner.
“I tried,” he said. “Every time, someone found us. Clara trusted the wrong nurse at the hospital. Then a lawyer disappeared. Then my parole officer got a call saying I had violated terms I never agreed to. I stopped trusting systems because Victoria owned too many pieces of them.”
Victoria scoffed from across the room. “This is madness.”
One detective opened the USB evidence file on a secure laptop. “Mrs. Ashborne, we have preliminary financial transfers, forged legal documents, and recorded threats. I suggest you stop talking unless your attorney is present.”
For the first time all night, Victoria obeyed.
Daniel approached Lily slowly, as if afraid she might vanish.
“I’m your uncle,” he said. “I should have known.”
Lily studied him with tired eyes.
“My mother said some people forget the truth because lies are easier.”
May you like
Daniel’s face crumpled.
“She was right,” he whispered.
