Chapter 5 - The Snake's Last Strike
When Tessa returned to the motel and told Evelyn about our meeting, it proved to be the final catalyst that drove Evelyn over the edge of sanity.
Deprived of her son, her status, and her access to wealth, Evelyn decided that if she was going down, she would take my reputation with her.
The following evening, a local tabloid news station aired an 'exclusive explosive interview' featuring Evelyn Sterling.
I sat in my living room at the mansion, drinking warm tea while Arthur and I watched the broadcast on the large television screen.
Evelyn was sitting in a dimly lit studio, wearing a plain grey sweater, looking pale and fragile—a masterclass in calculated victimhood.
"Claire Vance is a cold, manipulative monster," Evelyn cried into the camera, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. "My son Michael loved her with all his heart. He worked tirelessly for her father's company, giving up his own dreams to support her. But Claire was paranoid. She controlled his every move, isolated him from his family, and when he finally threatened to leave her, she set him up!"
The news anchor leaned forward with a dramatic expression. "Mrs. Sterling, what about the video footage showing your son physically assaulting her?"
"It was staged!" Evelyn lied without flinching, looking straight into the lens. "Claire is a master of digital editing! She faked that video to destroy my son because he discovered she was secretly embezzling money from her late father's trust fund! She broke her own arm in a manic fit of rage just to pin it on him!"
Arthur nearly dropped his tablet. "Is she insane?! Claiming you broke your own arm? Claiming the video is fake? That’s outright defamation!"
"She's desperate, Arthur," I said, watching Evelyn's performance with a quiet, icy rage. "She knows she has no defense in a court of law, so she’s trying to fight me in the court of public opinion."
"We need to issue an immediate cease-and-desist," Arthur said, already typing on his phone. "We can file a multi-million-dollar defamation suit by tomorrow morning."
"No," I said, raising my left hand to stop him.
Arthur paused, looking at me in surprise. "No? Claire, she’s ruining your family name on local television!"
"Let her speak," I said, a dark smile playing on my lips. "The more she lies on television, the more evidence of perjury and slander she creates under oath. Evelyn thinks she’s playing a short game. She doesn't realize she just handed us the lever we need to destroy her completely."
My phone buzzed on the coffee table. It was an incoming call from an unknown, private number.
I answered and placed it on speaker.
"Claire," Evelyn’s voice came through the line, sharp and triumphant, totally stripped of the weak, weeping persona she had just put on television. "Did you enjoy the show?"
"It was quite a performance, Evelyn," I replied smoothly. "I didn't know you had such a talent for theater."
"This is just the beginning, you arrogant little bitch!" Evelyn hissed through the phone. "By tomorrow morning, every news network in the state will be talking about your corruption! Investors will dump Vance stock! The board will turn on you! You think you won because you put my son in a cell? I will destroy everything your father built!"
"Evelyn," I said, taking a calm sip of my tea. "Do you know where the studio you just walked out of gets its broadcast funding?"
A short pause on the line. "What?"
"The network that just aired your interview," I explained softly. "Vance Enterprises owns thirty-four percent of its parent media group. My father bought that stake ten years ago."
Silence stretched over the phone line.
"The station director called me two hours before your interview aired to ask if I wanted them to cancel the broadcast," I continued, my voice dripping with satisfaction. "I told them to air it in full. I wanted the whole world to watch you hang yourself on live television."
"You... you knew?" Evelyn stammered, her newfound confidence evaporating in an instant.
"Tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM," I said, "my legal team is holding a national press conference. We will be releasing the unedited, raw high-definition video of Michael breaking my arm, along with the full forensic audit proving his forgery. And right after that, Arthur will be filing felony defamation charges against you personally."
"Wait... Claire, wait!" Evelyn began to panic.
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"You said Michael taught me a lesson, Evelyn," I whispered. "Now let me teach you one: Never strike a deal with a dragon unless you're prepared to burn."
I hung up the phone.
