Victoria’s voice broke into something desperate. “Gerald,” she pleaded, switching again, “you know I love you. You know I did this for us.”
My father’s face tightened. “You did it for you,” he said.
The officers stepped closer.
Judge Holl’s voice carried over the room. “Ms. Beckett,” he said, “based on the evidence presented, law enforcement will be conducting a formal investigation immediately.”
Victoria’s mouth opened—then shut.
Her eyes landed on me.
Pure hate.
“You did this,” she whispered.
I met her gaze, calm as the ocean outside my house. “You did it,” I replied. “I just stopped you from hiding it.”
The officers guided her toward the exit.
Her heels clicked on marble, faster now, uneven. The room stayed silent as she passed, as if everyone was holding their breath until she was gone.
Paige didn’t follow.
She stood frozen, staring after her mother like a child watching a balloon float away.
When the ballroom doors closed behind Victoria, a wave of sound erupted—whispers, frantic conversations, people pulling out phones.
Dela Fairchild’s pen moved fast.
Marcus stepped beside me, voice low. “You did well,” he murmured. “Now we let the system work.”
I nodded, but my chest felt strangely hollow.
Not because it wasn’t satisfying—it was.
But because revenge, real revenge, doesn’t feel like fireworks. It feels like the moment you put down a weight you didn’t realize you’d been carrying.
My father took my hand. His grip was tight, grounding.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
I squeezed back. “Me too,” I said softly. “But we’re here now.”
Part 6
The days after the gala felt like Charleston had been shaken and didn’t know where to settle.
Victoria’s name vanished from social calendars overnight. Friends who’d once competed to sit at her table suddenly “couldn’t recall” the last time they’d spoken to her. The same women who’d complimented her gowns stopped answering her calls.
That’s how it works in places built on polish: admiration is loud, abandonment is silent.
Victoria was released on bond within twenty-four hours, fitted with a GPS ankle monitor and ordered not to access my father’s accounts or the foundation’s funds. Four felony charges were filed initially—forgery, exploitation of a vulnerable adult, identity fraud, and embezzlement.
More followed as investigators dug deeper.