CHAPTER 3 THE EMPIRE OF FAVORITISM COLLAPSES
The wedding ended before the vows were spoken.
Police arrested Preston in front of two hundred guests.
Still wearing his tuxedo.
Still carrying traces of Sophie's blood on his sleeve.
The handcuffs clicked.
And years of protection finally ended.
My mother cried.
Not for Sophie.
For Preston.
My father immediately called attorneys.
Influential friends.
Judges.
Anyone who could help.
But there was a problem.
The footage had already gone viral.
One guest uploaded it online.
Then another.
Then another.
Within twenty-four hours, millions of people had watched the groom frame a child for theft and then assault her.
Sponsors withdrew from Preston's company.
Investors disappeared.
Clients terminated contracts.
The perfect son was suddenly a public disgrace.
Then another secret emerged.
Police discovered financial records.
Years of fraud.
Embezzlement.
Hidden debts.
Money borrowed using family connections.
Money my father had secretly covered for years.
The golden child wasn't successful.
He had simply been protected.
My father sat in my hospital room two weeks later.
For the first time in decades, he looked old.
Very old.
"I should have stopped him."
I looked at him quietly.
"Years ago."
He lowered his head.
Because we both knew the truth.
Preston didn't become a monster overnight.
He became one through years of excuses.
Years of favoritism.
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Years of being told the rules didn't apply to him.
And now everyone was paying the price.
