Chapter 5 - Exposed on the Screen
Before the security guards could reach me, the house lights in the ballroom flickered and dimmed.
The massive ten-foot projection screens mounted on either side of the stage cut from the wedding logo to a harsh black screen.
A loud electronic chime echoed over the speakers, followed by a bright white document flashing onto the screen for two hundred people to see.
It was the high-resolution scan of the 1998 forensic mechanic report.
The red stamp at the top read in giant bold letters: OFFICIAL POLICE EVIDENCE: SABOTAGED BRAKE LINES.
A collective gasp echoed through the room.
"What is that?" Grant, the groom, demanded, standing up and staring at the screen in confusion. "Mom, what is that document?"
"It's a fake!" Diane shrieked, dropping her polished facade entirely. Her voice turned shrill and desperate as she glared at the DJ booth. "Turn that off! Turn it off right now!"
"It's not a fake, Diane," I said, stepping right up to the stage. "And neither is this."
The screen changed to the next slide: the surveillance photograph of twenty-six-year-old Diane handing a heavy briefcase of cash to the mechanic in the parking garage, stamped with the exact date and timestamp of the day before my mother died.
Felicity covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide with terror as she looked from the screen to her mother-in-law. "Diane... is that you?"
"She's framing me!" Diane screamed, her face contorting with rage. She pointed a shaking finger down at me. "You little bitch! You ruined my son's wedding day!"
"You murdered my mother!" I yelled back, my voice shaking with years of unspoken grief. "You cut her brakes, killed her on the highway, and then used a forged custody order to steal millions of dollars from her estate before I was old enough to know what a trust fund was!"
My father, who had been sitting quietly at the head table, suddenly stood up. His face was pale, his eyes wide with absolute horror.
"Claire..." my father stammered, stepping toward me. "What are you talking about? Eleanor died in a tragic car accident..."
"No, Dad," I said, turning to him with tears burning my eyes. "She didn't. And if you had spent five minutes looking into Diane’s business dealings instead of letting her manage our family’s money, you would have found this twenty years ago!"
Diane suddenly lunged off the stage toward the main exit, knocking over a table of wine glasses with a deafening shatter.
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"Stop her!" Marcus yelled from the back of the room.
Two local police officers—who had been posted at the main entrance gate for traffic control—burst through the double doors, their hands resting on their holsters as they blocked Diane's path.
