Chapter 6 - UNMASKED BEFORE THE WORLDEvelyn’s face turned an unsightly shade of pale as she looked between me and Isabella. "Vincent... what is the meaning of this? I am trying to save your family!"
"No, Evelyn," I replied calmly. "You were trying to destroy it."
I raised my hand and gestured to Marcus. He immediately tapped a command into his smartphone. Seconds later, the massive 85-inch high-definition television mounted above the marble fireplace flickered to life.
The room gasped in unison.
The screen displayed crystal-clear, high-definition video footage. It was the recording from the hidden camera inside the nursery mantel.
The video played in absolute silence, but the imagery was indisputable: Evelyn, standing over Isabella’s nightstand, carefully uncapping the glass vial, dropping three dark drops of liquid foxglove into her daughter's morning tea, and then deliberately throwing Isabella’s heart medication down the drain.
The high-society guests began whispering frantically, their eyes darting from the glowing screen to the horrified woman standing in the center of the room.
"What... what is that?" Mrs. Montgomery gasped, backing away from Evelyn in disgust. "Is she... is she poisoning her?"
"That’s a lie! That video is fake! It’s a digital forgery!" Evelyn shrieked, her sweet, gentle persona completely evaporating into frantic panic. She turned on me, her eyes wild. "Vincent created that! He’s a criminal! Everyone knows who he is! He’s framing me to alienate me from my daughter!"
"Is this fake too, Mother?" Isabella asked softly, pulling a sealed plastic bag from her clutch purse. Inside was the amber glass vial of digitalis that Marcus’s team had quietly swapped from Evelyn’s suite earlier that morning. "We found this hidden inside the false bottom of your jewelry box. The police crime lab already processed the fingerprints on it half an hour ago. They belong exclusively to you."
Evelyn backed away, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps. She looked around the room, searching for a single sympathetic face among the friends, journalists, and acquaintances she had spent years cultivating.
Every single person looked at her with utter revulsion. The local journalists were already holding up their phones, recording every second of her public humiliation. The story wasn't going to be about a saintly grandmother helping her struggling daughter; it was going to be the biggest scandal the city’s high society had ever seen.
"You ungrateful little brat!" Evelyn suddenly spat out, her true nature bursting through her fake polished exterior. The sweet motherly tone was completely gone, replaced by a harsh, venomous bite. "I gave you life, Isabella! I raised you! You married this mobster, living in this ridiculous mansion with millions of dollars, while I was left with nothing! Your father left me broken and broke! That trust fund belonged to our family—it belonged to ME!"
Isabella didn't flinch. She stood tall, her hand resting firmly over her heart. "That trust fund was meant to secure my child's future. You were willing to murder your own daughter and rob your grandson just to pay off your own selfish failures."
"You wouldn't be anything without me!" Evelyn screamed, taking a step toward Isabella with her hands claws open in a moment of pure madness. "You owe me!"
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Before she could take another step, two suit-clad men stepped smoothly into her path, blocking her completely.
"That's enough, Mrs. Vance," Marcus said coldly, pulling out a pair of heavy steel handcuffs.
