Chapter 5 - Confronting the House of Cards
The grand ballroom had dissolved into a circus of whispering guests and flashing phone cameras. Steven Vance looked around the room, realizing with a sudden, crushing weight that his reputation—the only thing he had ever truly loved—was disintegrating in real-time.
"Detective, this is an absurd misunderstanding," Steven pleaded, his voice dropping into a desperate whisper as he turned to Cruz. "My mother... she has a medical condition... she confuses things. Let’s take this to a private room downstairs. We can settle this quietly. I can make a substantial donation to the police foundation—"
"Did you just try to bribe a state official in front of a hundred witnesses, Mr. Vance?" Detective Cruz asked, his smile completely devoid of warmth. "Officers, secure the perimeter. Mr. Vance, Mrs. Vance, you are coming with us to the central precinct for questioning."
Before the officers could move, the heavy doors at the back of the ballroom opened once more. A young woman, her expensive wool coat torn at the collar, her mascara running down her pale cheeks in long, black streaks, stumbled into the room.
It was Victoria Vance.
She didn't look at her brother or her mother. She walked straight toward Camila, her knees trembling so violently she nearly collapsed onto the white carpet.
"I’m sorry, Camila," Victoria sobbed, reaching out her hands in a desperate plea for mercy. "I didn't know. I swear to God I didn't know until three months ago! Steven told me he had adopted the boy from a surrogate overseas after the divorce. He asked me to keep him at my estate in Wisconsin, away from the media, to protect the family from a public scandal. He said he was saving the Vance legacy."
"Victoria, shut your mouth!" Eleanor screamed, her voice cracking with an uncharacteristic, shrill desperation. "You are ruined! You are hysterical!"
"No, Mother! I’m not going to prison for you!" Victoria yelled back, turning on her family with the feral rage of a cornered animal. "Three months ago, I found the medical files in Steven’s desk. I found the original birth records from St. Jude’s. I realized Leo was Gabriel. And then... then I noticed he was getting sick. Every time Steven visited the estate, every time he brought those 'special dietary supplements' from the family pharmacy... Gabriel would start vomiting. He started losing his hair. Tonight, he stopped breathing in my arms. I knew if I stayed there, if I let him die in that house, I would be an accomplice to murder!"
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Steven lunged at his sister, his hands balled into fists, but Detective Cruz intercepted him instantly, throwing him face-first onto a nearby dining table. The crystal glasses shattered beneath his weight, champagne spilling over his pristine tuxedo as the officers pinned his arms behind his back, the sharp click of the handcuffs echoing through the ruined ballroom.
"It’s over, Steven," Camila said, looking down at her ex-husband as he lay pinned against the table, his face smeared with grease and spilled wine. "Six years ago, you told me my blood killed our son. But tonight, it’s your name that’s going to bury you."
