At My Washington Wedding, My Fiancé’s Mistress Fell Down the Stairs on Purpose and Framed Me—All So She Could Run Away With Him, But the Security Footage Exposed...

Twenty-four hours later, Savannah Pierce sat in the private study of my Kalorama townhouse, wearing a plain gray sweatshirt and no makeup. The glamour, the white silk dresses, and the polished high-society facade had completely vanished, leaving behind a terrified twenty-six-year-old girl who realized she was facing real prison time.

She couldn't even look me in the eye.

"I didn't know Colin was going to kill anyone," Savannah whimpered, her voice raspy, clutching a warm mug of tea with trembling hands. "I swear to God, Eleanor! Nathan told me it was just a business deal! He said your father died of a heart attack!"

"Nathan is a fool who believed whatever Colin told him," I said, sitting across from her in a high-backed leather chair. "Colin orchestrated everything. He used Nathan to get to me, and he used you to create a distraction at the wedding so he could execute a hostile takeover of Kingsley Holdings during the chaos."

Savannah looked up, her eyes wide and bloodshot. "Why did he want you framed at the wedding?"

"Because if I was arrested for pushing you down the stairs," I explained, "Nathan would have been granted temporary power of attorney over my assets as my fiancé during the legal crisis. Nathan would have signed the waterfront lease over to Colin that very night. You were just a disposable pawn, Savannah. If you had broken your neck falling down those stairs, Colin wouldn't have cared less."

Savannah buried her face in her hands, weeping bitterly. "He promised me two million dollars... he said Nathan and I could move to London..."

"Colin gave you nothing except a police record," I said coldly. "But I can give you a clean slate."

Savannah lifted her head, wiping her nose with a tissue. "How? The prosecutor said I'm going away for five years."

"Arthur Sterling has already spoken with the U.S. Attorney," I told her. "If you cooperate fully in an undercover sting operation against Colin Vance, the Department of Justice will grant you full immunity and drop all charges regarding the wedding incident."

"What... what do you need me to do?" she gasped.

I pulled a small, black encrypted micro-wire from a velvet box on the desk.

"Colin believes you are still locked in a cell, waiting for Nathan to rescue you," I said. "Tonight, you are going to call Colin from a private line. You are going to tell him that you have a recorded phone call from Nathan detailing Colin’s involvement in the poisoning of my father—and you are going to demand one million dollars in cash to keep quiet."

Savannah swallowed hard, looking at the tiny wire. "He'll kill me, Eleanor."

"He won't have the chance," I said, leaning closer. "Because the meeting where he hands you that money will take place in the VIP lounge of the Whitmore Estate during Friday's auction—with twenty federal agents watching every move he makes."

Savannah stared at me for a long, silent moment. The girl who had tried to destroy my life on my wedding day looked at me now not with malice, but with profound awe and fear.