. CHAPTER 6 — The Fall
Adrian recovered first because men like him always believed recovery was a skill money could buy.
He laughed once, sharp and fake. “This is emotional, Nathaniel, but let’s not confuse old letters with legal authority. Celia is unstable. Look at her. She came here bruised, crying, making accusations—”
“My bruises came from your security team,” Celia said.
The crowd went silent again.
Vivienne snapped, “That is a lie.”
Celia reached into the wet pocket of Nathaniel’s jacket and pulled out her phone. The screen was cracked, but it still worked. “One of the servers helped me record after your guards took me through the east corridor.”
Adrian moved too quickly.
He lunged for the phone.
Nathaniel caught Celia’s wrist and pulled her back just as Adrian’s polished shoe slipped on the water near the pool edge. For one frozen second, Adrian’s arms windmilled in the air, champagne flying from the glass in a glittering arc.
Then he fell backward into the pool.
The splash rose higher than the marble ledge.
Several guests screamed. Others gasped. The livestream camera captured Adrian underwater in his tuxedo, eyes wide, dignity dissolving into bubbles. He surfaced sputtering, hair flattened to his forehead.
No one laughed at first.
Then someone did.
Not cruelly. Not like Vivienne had laughed at Celia. It was the shocked laugh of a room watching arrogance lose its balance.
Vivienne rushed toward the pool. “Adrian!”
Nathaniel held up one hand. “Let him climb out. He is not injured.”
Adrian gripped the ladder, humiliated and furious. Water streamed from his tuxedo as he pulled himself up, but two security officers blocked him before he could reach Celia.
“Move,” he barked.
The head of security did not obey. Nathaniel’s presence had rearranged the room’s loyalties.
The attorney connected Celia’s phone to the event screen. The video appeared above the ballroom: a service corridor, Celia trying to leave, Adrian’s voice telling the guards not to let her reach the main floor, Vivienne saying, “Make her look desperate before Nathaniel sees her.”
Vivienne’s face drained of color.
Celia watched the evidence play and felt no triumph, only a heavy sadness. She had once loved Adrian’s voice. Now that same voice sounded like a locked door.
May you like
Nathaniel turned to the crowd.
“Now,” he said, “we will discuss who truly tried to steal from this foundation.”
