The Camera in the Brooch
Chapter 02 - The Camera in the Brooch
The brooch had belonged to Nathan’s grandmother.
It looked like an ordinary silver rose, but Nathan had fitted it with a tiny camera after Ruth began receiving anonymous threats about the foundation. She hated wearing it and called the device “a paranoid flower.”
That night, the flower recorded everything.
It captured Bianca approaching with her assistant, Miles Grant.
It captured Miles saying, “Move her before the sponsor photos.”
It captured Ruth replying that she had been assigned the seat by the host.
Then Bianca leaned down.
“This room is for people who can help the cause, not people who look like the cause.”
The recording continued as Bianca pulled the wheelchair, spilling champagne onto Ruth’s coat. Lena entered frame and stopped her.
Nathan watched the footage in a private conference room with Ruth, Lena, hotel security director Owen Park, and foundation counsel Maya Reed.
Lena’s hands shook when the video played.
“You were scared,” Ruth said.
“I thought I’d lose my job.”
“You moved anyway.”
“I almost didn’t.”
Ruth gave her a tired smile. “Courage usually begins with almost not.”
Maya discovered that Miles had changed Ruth’s badge using credentials belonging to the gala’s registration manager. The manager denied authorizing it.
Bianca’s team issued a public statement claiming Ruth had secretly recorded a private interaction and manipulated the moment for publicity.
Nathan read the statement aloud.
Ruth laughed.
“She thinks I planned to look poor at my own fundraiser?”
Nathan did not laugh.
Bianca’s contract gave her access to donor lists, campaign accounts, and early financial reports. If she could alter guest credentials, she might have entered systems she was never supposed to reach.
Owen checked the access logs.
Miles had opened the donor database eleven times during the previous month.
The foundation’s finance director had approved it.
Nathan’s face darkened.
The finance director was his cousin, Victor Cross.
May you like
The humiliation at the gala might not have been random cruelty.
It might have been a distraction.
