Chapter 15 - You Should Have Checked the Necklace
Damian charged toward the AV booth.
“Turn it off!”
The ballroom doors locked automatically.
Not to imprison the guests.
To prevent Damian from reaching the independent control room.
Serena rushed down the staircase, but her heel caught on the final step. She fell to her knees beneath hundreds of staring faces.
Victoria did not move.
The screen showed Damian forcing the pen into her hand.
Then Serena’s voice filled the ballroom.
“Once the company is transferred, she’ll have nothing left to fight us with.”
Phones rose across the room.
Board members whispered in horror.
The city’s largest investor, Marcus Hale, stood so quickly that his chair overturned.
Damian pointed at Victoria.
“This is illegal! She recorded a private conversation!”
Victoria touched the diamond pendant.
A tiny red light blinked.
“You should’ve checked the necklace.”
Serena’s face turned white.
“She wasn’t supposed to know.”
The microphone caught her words.
They echoed through the ballroom speakers.
Another wave of shock swept across the guests.
The screen continued.
It showed the medical declaration.
It captured Serena threatening to seek custody of Grace.
It showed Damian taking the signed transfer and saying Vale Holdings was theirs.
Elias rose from the VIP table.
“Freeze that feed.”
Mara’s team stopped the recording on the exact frame showing Damian holding the documents while Serena blocked the door.
Security guards advanced from both sides.
Damian looked toward the nearest exit.
Then the screen changed again.
Mara displayed the laboratory report from Serena’s sedative-laced tea.
Beside it appeared the emails from Dr. Pierce’s clinic.
Serena began sobbing.
“I was trying to help her sleep.”
Victoria finally looked directly at her.
“You tried to make me look incapable in front of the people you planned to deceive.”
Damian grabbed Serena’s arm.
“Don’t say another word.”
But his warning came too late.
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The entire city had already heard enough.
👉 Damian tried to dismiss the broadcast as a staged performance—until Elias revealed what Victoria’s father had placed inside the company trust.
