Chapter 1 - Arrest Her Immediately
“Arrest her immediately.”
Celeste Wynn’s scream tore through the grand ballroom before the poisoned champagne glass finished shattering across the marble floor.
Crystal fragments scattered beneath the wedding tables.
Guests in evening gowns and tailored tuxedos stumbled backward.
At the center of the chaos stood Nora Bennett, a twenty-eight-year-old waitress whose hands were still trembling from the tray being ripped out of them.
The wealthy Wynn family surrounded her as though she were already guilty.
Celeste grabbed the front of Nora’s uniform.
“You tried to murder my husband.”
“I didn’t put anything in that glass,” Nora said.
Celeste tore one of the silver buttons from her vest.
“Security.”
“Get this woman out of my wedding.”
Adrian Vale stood several feet away beside the head table.
He was the groom, the chief executive of Vale Global, and one of the most powerful men in the country.
Minutes earlier, the poisoned drink had been placed directly in front of him.
Now he stared at the broken glass without speaking.
His best man, Julian Cross, stepped beside him.
“Adrian, let security handle this.”
Nora looked toward the groom.
“Mr. Vale, please.”
“I never touched the champagne after it left the kitchen.”
Celeste slapped her.
The sound cracked across the ballroom.
Nora staggered into a table.
A hundred guests gasped.
Then the ballroom doors slammed shut.
Heavy locks engaged from the outside.
The chandeliers dimmed.
A massive digital screen descended from the ceiling.
Celeste released Nora’s uniform.
“What is this?”
A video began playing.
The footage showed Celeste standing inside the bridal dressing room twenty minutes earlier.
She removed a small glass vial from her purse.
Then she handed it to her head bridesmaid, Vivian Lowe.
A timestamp glowed in the corner.
7:42 p.m.
The champagne had shattered at 8:03.
Vivian covered her mouth.
Celeste’s face went white.
“That video is fake.”
The screen changed.
The next recording came from the catering kitchen.
Julian Cross entered through the rear service door.
He checked both hallways.
Then he removed a second vial from his tuxedo jacket and handed it to Vivian.
Together, they poured the liquid into a bottle marked for the groom’s table.
Adrian finally spoke.
“Julian?”
The best man did not answer.
Event security moved toward him.
Julian grabbed the master recording tablet from the control station and ran.
He reached the west-wing elevator before two guards caught him beside the open shaft.
His back struck the brass railing.
For one dangerous second, everyone thought he might fall.
Then Julian reached into his jacket.
He removed a small metallic object.
It was not the poison vial.
It was an encrypted flash drive.
He looked directly at Adrian and smiled.
May you like
“This contains the truth about why they needed you out of the picture.”
Then every light in the ballroom went dark.
