Chapter 1 — The Truth Behind the Screen
The ballroom remained silent long after the video stopped playing.
Every pair of eyes shifted from the trembling maid to Ethan, the young man who had spent the last ten minutes demanding she be thrown out.
The phone had captured everything.
The security camera showed Ethan slipping into Margaret's private dressing room while everyone was gathered for the charity auction.
He carefully removed the diamond necklace from its velvet case.
Moments later, he quietly tucked it inside a decorative flower arrangement before returning to the ballroom, pretending to help search for it.
The maid had never even entered the room.
"I... I can explain," Ethan whispered, his face turning pale.
The family patriarch, Richard Hawthorne, slowly lowered the phone.
"There is nothing left to explain."
His voice carried across the ballroom like thunder.
"You framed an innocent woman."
The elegant guests who had ignored the maid moments earlier now stepped away from Ethan as if he carried a disease.
The maid stood perfectly still.
She had waited for someone to believe her.
She never imagined it would be a child who saved her.
Then Richard looked toward his grandson.
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"You will stay exactly where you are."
At that moment, police officers walked through the ballroom doors.
