. CHAPTER 6 — The Camera Above the Service Door
Vivienne Cross did not run. People like her rarely did. They stayed still, lifted their chin, and trusted the world to keep making excuses for them.
“This is a smear,” she said. “My suite grooms rescue animals before adoption photos. That kitten must have wandered.”
Elliot Alden looked at Martin Hale. “Footage. Now.”
They moved to the mall office behind customer service. Only a few people were allowed inside: Elliot, Maria, Andre, Martin, Lily with Pumpkin, and Vivienne, who insisted on being present with a lawyer on speakerphone.
Lily sat in a chair too big for her, Pumpkin curled in her lap. He had stopped shaking, but his small body still rose and fell too quickly.
Andre pulled up the service-hall camera.
The time stamp showed 8:42 a.m.
The loading door opened. A woman in a dark blazer stepped through, carrying a cardboard box. Her blonde hair was tied in the same perfect knot Vivienne wore now. She glanced over her shoulder, set the box beside the trash bins, and hurried away.
The room went silent.
Martin Hale whispered, “Oh my God.”
Vivienne’s lawyer barked through the phone, “That image is unclear.”
Andre zoomed in.
The woman’s face filled the screen.
Vivienne Cross.
Lily looked at her with a child’s plain disbelief. “You left him there?”
Vivienne did not answer.
Maria’s eyes shone with anger. “There were three kittens missing from batch seventeen.”
Andre clicked forward through the footage.
Another angle showed Vivienne’s assistant carrying two more boxes to a black SUV. Then another clip showed donation envelopes being moved from the charity suite into Vivienne’s private office.
The story unfolded in pieces, and every piece was worse than the last. Rescue kittens photographed for charity, then sold privately as “rare boutique pets.” Donor funds redirected. Records altered. Animals that did not look expensive enough quietly discarded before the gala.
Lily wrapped both arms around Pumpkin. “He wasn’t trash.”
“No,” Elliot said, his voice low. “He wasn’t.”
Vivienne finally spoke. “Do you know what it costs to maintain a reputation? People donate because I make sadness beautiful. Nobody gives money to ugly reality.”
Maria stared at her. “Those animals were not props.”
Vivienne looked at Lily. “And neither is that child, though she’s doing a wonderful job performing poverty for all of you.”
Lily flinched.
May you like
Elliot stood.
“That,” he said, “will be the last cruel sentence you say in this mall.”
