Chapter 10 - The Projection
The grand double doors of the ballroom swung open.
Hundreds of eyes snapped toward us. The silence in the massive room was absolute, broken only by the sharp click of my heels on the marble floor.
At the top of the sweeping staircase, Renata’s triumphant smile froze.
She had expected Grant to drag me in by the hair, crying and in handcuffs. Instead, I was walking by his side, dressed like royalty, holding his daughter's hand.
"Grant!" Renata shrieked, breaking the silence. She rushed down the stairs, pointing a manicured finger at me. "What is she doing wearing that dress?! Chief, arrest her! That’s the woman who kidnapped your daughter!"
The police officers stepped forward, looking confused.
"Stand down," Grant commanded. His voice wasn't loud, but it possessed an authority that made the officers freeze in their tracks.
He unlinked his arm from mine and took a step toward Renata.
"Grant, what is going on?" Renata demanded, trying to maintain her delicate victim persona for the crowd. "She assaulted me! She burned Lily!"
"Did she?" Grant asked, his voice laced with venom.
He snapped his fingers.
Up in the A/V booth, Marcus hit a button.
The live string quartet music was completely cut off, replaced by a sharp, hissing sound that echoed through the ballroom speakers.
Ssssst.
Behind Renata, the massive, thirty-foot projector screens that had been displaying the charity foundation's logo suddenly went black. Then, a crystal-clear, high-definition video lit up the room.
It was the hidden camera footage from the master bathroom.
The entire elite society of New York watched in horrified silence as the giant screen showed Renata gripping Lily’s hair.
"I told you to stop moving, you little mute," Renata’s cruel, poisonous voice echoed through the ballroom speakers, amplified a hundred times over. "Flinch again, and next time I'll hold it closer to your ear."
Gasps erupted from the crowd. The Mayor's wife covered her mouth in shock.
On screen, Renata clamped the curling iron down. Smoke rose. Lily’s silent scream was broadcast for everyone to see. And then, they watched as I burst through the doors, slammed into Renata, and shielded the child.
Renata turned around, looking at the massive screen. The color drained from her face, leaving her chalk-white.
"No," Renata whispered, stumbling backward. "No, that's... that's deepfake! That's AI! It's a lie!"
"Chief," Grant said, his voice echoing in the dead-silent room. "I believe you have an arrest to make. Child abuse, assault, and filing a false police report."
The officers didn't hesitate this time. They grabbed Renata by the arms, violently twisting her wrists behind her back as the handcuffs clicked into place.
"Get your hands off me!" Renata screamed, dropping her elegant facade completely. She thrashed like a wild animal, her expensive gown tearing at the shoulder. "Grant, you can't do this to me! I'm Renata Cole!"
As they dragged her toward the exit, the wealthy guests parted like the Red Sea, staring at her with undisguised disgust. Cell phones were out; flashes were going off. Her social ruin was absolute.
Just as they reached the doors, Renata stopped fighting. She turned her head, fixing her wild, manic eyes on Grant.
"You think this is over?!" she screamed, a hysterical laugh bubbling from her throat. "You think you're saving her? Ask yourself, Grant! Ask yourself why I hated the little brat so much! Do you really think her mother's car accident on that mountain was just bad weather?!"
The ballroom went deathly still.
Grant’s blood ran cold. He took a step forward. "What did you just say?"
"I said," Renata spat, grinning like a demon as the cops yanked her backward, "check the brake lines, Grant!"
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The doors slammed shut behind her, leaving a chilling, suffocating silence in their wake.
Here are chapters 11 through 15. The stakes are about to get even higher as the truth behind Lily's mother's death unravels, shifting the story from a domestic drama into a high-stakes thriller.
