Chapter 7 - THE PRESS CONFERENCE -
More than fifty reporters waited outside the county courthouse.
Cameras turned toward us as Nathan helped Elena from the car.
I had asked her to remain somewhere safe.
She refused.
“My name is the one they used,” she said.
“I will not hide while they destroy it.”
She wore a simple navy maternity dress.
The bruises around her wrists were visible.
We had decided not to conceal them.
My mother arrived moments later in a black sedan.
Lucas followed her, wearing an expensive suit and a wounded expression prepared for the cameras.
Vivian stopped when she saw Elena.
For one second, her composure fractured.
Then she smiled.
“My son is under tremendous pressure,” she told the nearest reporter.
“We are trying to protect him.”
I stepped toward the microphones.
“My wife and I left Blackwood Manor after witnessing conduct that no family should tolerate.”
Questions erupted.
I raised my hand.
“We have also discovered more than five million dollars in unauthorized transfers from Blackwood Holdings.”
The crowd became louder.
My mother’s smile disappeared.
“The documents used to approve those transfers include forged signatures belonging to my wife and me.”
Lucas moved closer to his attorney.
I continued.
“We have provided evidence to law enforcement and financial investigators.”
That was not yet entirely true.
Nathan had scheduled the meeting for that afternoon.
However, my mother did not know that.
She believed the police already had everything.
Her face tightened.
A reporter shouted a question about Elena’s supposed mental instability.
Elena stepped toward the microphones.
“I have never been treated for the conditions described in the documents released yesterday.”
Her voice trembled, but she did not stop.
“The reports were created without my knowledge.”
Another reporter asked whether Vivian had physically abused her.
Elena looked directly at my mother.
“Yes.”
The single word silenced the steps.
Lucas suddenly lifted his phone.
“She’s lying.”
He opened a video and held it toward the cameras.
The recording showed Elena kneeling beside the basin.
However, the beginning had been removed.
The edited version made it appear that Elena had voluntarily offered to wash my mother’s feet.
My mother spoke calmly.
“She often performed unusual gestures to gain sympathy.”
I felt Elena stiffen beside me.
Then a new voice came from the back of the crowd.
“Play the complete video.”
Everyone turned.
A young woman pushed through the reporters holding a laptop.
I recognized her immediately.
Sophie Royce was Calvin Royce’s daughter.
She worked as a digital evidence technician for the district attorney.
She opened the original recording.
This version began twelve minutes earlier.
Lucas’s voice filled the courthouse steps.
Do what Mom says, or we send the psychiatric documents to Daniel.
My brother’s face drained of color.
Sophie looked at him.
“My father tried to delete this copy last night.”
She handed the laptop to Nathan.
May you like
Then she turned toward me.
“He also told me where they took the silver basin.”
