Chapter 16 - The Broadcast.
Claire dropped behind the marble reception desk.
People shouted through the darkness.
Emergency flashlights appeared.
Nathan yelled for the entrances to be secured.
Claire touched the floor beside her.
Anne was gone.
Again.
“Mom?”
A hand grabbed Claire.
She nearly screamed.
Sloane whispered.
“It’s me.”
They crouched together.
“Where’s Anne?”
“With Rebecca.”
Claire exhaled.
A flashlight swept across the lobby.
The chair where Julian had been restrained was empty.
An agent held the broken handcuffs.
“He had a key.”
Nathan swore.
Sloane looked toward the upper floors.
“Where would he go?”
Claire thought.
Julian had lost the money.
Victor was arrested.
His lies were exposed.
What remained?
“The cameras.”
Sloane frowned.
Claire remembered Julian changing his behavior whenever he saw phones recording.
“He cares about the story.”
Sloane understood.
“The media control room.”
They ran toward the conference wing.
The hotel’s internal broadcasting suite sat behind the ballroom.
Julian had used it months earlier to announce major corporate acquisitions.
Claire and Sloane reached the corridor.
The door was locked.
Sloane used her access card.
Red.
“Override.”
Claire heard Julian speaking inside.
She pressed her ear against the door.
His voice was being broadcast.
Sloane pulled out her phone.
A live stream from Ashford Hotels filled the screen.
Julian sat behind a desk.
Millions could potentially watch.
“My name is Julian Cross.”
His face looked bruised but calm.
“Tonight you are being shown a manufactured scandal designed by Harrison Ashford to protect decades of financial crime.”
Claire stared.
Julian continued.
“My wife, Claire, is mentally unstable.”
Sloane whispered.
“Oh, you disgusting—”
Claire stopped her.
Julian kept talking.
“She has suffered severe psychological trauma following family deaths.”
Claire’s hands shook.
He was doing it again.
Turning her suffering into evidence against her.
“She stole private financial files.”
“She assaulted hotel staff.”
“And she has been manipulated by individuals attempting to extort the Ashford family.”
Sloane kicked the door.
“Open it!”
Julian looked toward the camera.
“Claire, if you are watching, I forgive you.”
Claire went still.
That sentence hurt more than the lies.
He had perfected the role of compassionate victim.
Sloane looked at her.
Claire suddenly smiled.
“What?”
Claire took out her phone.
“The lobby recording.”
The employee who filmed Julian recognizing her had already posted it.
Views were climbing by the second.
Claire opened the video.
Then she found another.
The ballroom confrontation.
Another guest had captured Julian admitting the trust amount.
Another showed Rebecca accusing him.
Claire handed the phone to Sloane.
“Can you put these on the hotel system?”
Sloane smiled.
“Yes.”
They reached a secondary control panel.
Sloane entered her executive credentials.
Julian continued speaking on the live feed.
Claire selected the first video.
She pressed broadcast.
Julian’s face vanished.
The lobby recording replaced it.
His own voice thundered through the stream.
“She’s my wife.”
Then another clip.
“The trust was worth eighty-four million dollars.”
Then Rebecca.
“I was married to him first.”
Then Harrison.
“You forged my authorization.”
Claire looked through the studio window.
Julian watched his narrative collapse in real time.
His face transformed.
He turned toward the door.
Claire unlocked it.
Julian emerged.
She stood waiting.
No fear.
No wedding ring hidden beneath her uniform.
No lowered eyes.
Julian looked at her.
Claire lifted the USB.
“You wanted to control the story.”
May you like
She pointed toward the cameras.
“Now everybody gets the whole thing.”
