Beatrice smiled sweetly. “A tribute to transformation.”
Liam went still beside me.
“Where did you get those?” I asked.
“Family archives.”
“You stole them from my medical files.”
“Oh, don’t be dramatic.”
Chloe clicked again. A title appeared over the final image: BEFORE SHE FOUND SOMEONE WILLING.
This time, the laughter was weaker.
People sensed something dangerous had shifted.
Liam stood. “Turn it off.”
Beatrice waved dismissively. “Relax. We’re celebrating her courage.”
“No,” he said. “You’re displaying her suffering for entertainment.”
Chloe crossed her arms. “You knew what she looked like. Unless those dark glasses are hiding more than bad taste.”
Liam often wore tinted lenses because smoke damage had left his eyes sensitive to light. Beatrice had decided that meant blindness and spread the rumor herself.
I rose slowly.
“Sit down, Audrey,” she snapped. “You’re embarrassing yourself.”
I almost laughed.
For six months, I had been working with a forensic accountant named Maya Lin. We traced the loans Beatrice opened in my name, the payroll money Chloe diverted, and the vendor kickbacks paid to Beatrice’s husband. We also discovered they had billed Vance Meridian Industries for events that never occurred.
Vance Meridian was Liam’s company.
Not his employer.
His company.
He had founded it under a holding group, stayed private, and let professional executives represent him publicly. Beatrice’s family worked in three of its subsidiaries. Their mortgages, cars, and social status depended on salaries Liam approved.
The only reason they had been invited to this wedding was because I wanted them all in one room when the truth arrived.
Maya stood near the back beside two attorneys.
They had spent the afternoon filing emergency motions, preserving company records, and coordinating with investigators who were already waiting nearby outside.
Chloe noticed her first. “Who are those people?”
“My wedding guests,” I said.
Beatrice’s smile flickered.
Liam removed his glasses.
His eyes, clear and focused, swept across the room.
Someone whispered, “He can see.”
“Perfectly well,” he said.
Chloe dropped the remote.
Liam looked at the screen, then at Beatrice. “You mocked the woman who ran into a burning building while everyone else ran out.”
Beatrice’s face drained.
He continued, “Audrey did not receive those scars in an accident. She received them dragging me through shattered glass and fire after your illegal decorations blocked the emergency exit.”
The room erupted.
Beatrice staggered backward. “That’s a lie.”
“No,” I said. “The fire marshal’s amended report arrives Monday.”