Chapter 9 - The Gala Where Abby Became the Scandal
Julian wanted to go directly to federal investigators.
Abby wanted to go to the police.
His attorneys wanted everyone to stop moving.
The problem was the recording.
They had no chain of custody.
No proof of who placed the device.
No confirmation the voices had not been altered.
And worst of all, Martin Voss vanished before investigators could locate him.
Celeste remained untouchable.
At least publicly.
Three days later, she appeared on television at a children’s hospital.
She smiled while standing beside chemotherapy patients.
Abby watched from Julian’s private conference room.
The hypocrisy made her physically angry.
“She knows we heard her.”
Julian stood beside the window.
“Probably.”
“So why is she smiling?”
“Because nobody else heard it.”
Abby turned.
“Yet.”
Julian looked at her.
She knew that expression now.
The billionaire was calculating.
“What?”
“The Cross Foundation gala is tomorrow.”
Abby stared.
“The one where Celeste gives her annual speech?”
“Yes.”
“You want to confront her publicly.”
“No.”
Julian’s answer surprised her.
“Then?”
“I want her to believe we are not ready.”
Abby narrowed her eyes.
“That sounds worse.”
Julian explained.
The gala would bring every major Cross Foundation board member into one ballroom.
Leonard Vale would attend.
Helena would attend.
So would senior legal counsel and donors.
If Celeste believed Julian remained uncertain, she might make a mistake.
Abby laughed.
“You want to use me as bait.”
Julian did not deny it.
“At least you’re learning not to sugarcoat.”
“I will not ask you to do it.”
“Good.”
She folded her arms.
“I’m doing it anyway.”
Julian frowned.
“No.”
“You just said—”
“I said you would be bait.”
“Yes.”
“I did not say I liked the idea.”
Abby stared at him.
A strange warmth moved beneath her irritation.
She ignored it.
“You don’t get to protect me by excluding me.”
“I can try.”
“You can fail.”
Their eyes held.
Then Julian looked away first.
The gala filled the Grand Cross Hotel ballroom with eight hundred guests.
Abby had never worn a dress worth more than her monthly rent.
Now she stood in a dark green gown Helena had insisted on sending.
Abby almost refused it.
Then Helena said.
“Consider it repayment for twenty-two years of cowardice.”
Abby had no response to that.
Julian met her near the private entrance.
For several seconds, he forgot to speak.
Abby noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re staring.”
“I am aware.”
“Why?”
Julian recovered.
“You look different.”
“That is what happens when someone charges more for a dress than my car is worth.”
“You don’t own a car.”
“Exactly.”
He almost smiled.
The room fell strangely quiet when Abby entered beside him.
People recognized Julian.
Then they recognized the woman recently accused of stealing from him.
Whispers spread.
Celeste stood near the stage.
Her smile did not move.
Only her eyes changed.
Leonard Vale looked startled.
Abby leaned toward Julian.
“They look happy to see me.”
“Try not to hit anyone with Pearl.”
“I left her home.”
“Thank God.”
“Mostly because she clashes with the dress.”
For the first hour, Julian behaved normally.
He spoke with donors.
He shook hands.
He allowed Celeste to believe the crisis had passed.
Abby played her role.
Quiet.
Uncertain.
Slightly intimidated.
It irritated her how easily wealthy people accepted the performance.
At dinner, Celeste approached.
“Ms. Mercer.”
Abby smiled.
“Ms. Cross.”
Celeste’s gaze moved over the gown.
“Julian has always had a charitable streak.”
Abby knew exactly what she meant.
She smiled.
“I heard yours is much larger.”
Celeste’s eyes sharpened.
“Excuse me?”
“Your charitable streak.”
Julian hid a reaction.
Celeste smiled again.
“Enjoy the evening.”
Then she walked away.
Leonard appeared five minutes later.
His expression was less controlled.
“You should not be here.”
Abby looked at him.
“Good evening to you too.”
Leonard leaned closer.
“Whatever Julian promised you, leave.”
“He promised dessert.”
“I am serious.”
“So am I.”
Leonard’s eyes moved toward Julian.
“Ask him what happens to people who become inconvenient to the Cross family.”
Abby thought of her mother.
“I already know.”
Leonard looked almost sad.
“That is exactly why you should run.”
He walked away.
Abby watched him.
“He’s scared.”
Julian nodded.
“Of Celeste?”
“Or of what happens if we learn his role.”
The speeches began.
Celeste stepped onto the stage.
She spoke about compassion.
Transparency.
Trust.
Abby nearly laughed aloud at the last word.
Then Celeste did something unexpected.
She changed the speech.
“Trust,” she said, “is particularly important to our family tonight.”
Julian’s face changed.
Celeste continued.
“Because recent events have reminded us that generosity is sometimes exploited.”
A photograph appeared on the giant screen.
Abby’s employee identification photo.
The ballroom erupted in whispers.
Julian stood.
“What the hell is she doing?”
Celeste looked directly at Abby.
“This week, a domestic employee was caught stealing from my nephew.”
Abby’s stomach tightened.
Celeste continued.
“Julian, in his extraordinary compassion, chose not to involve the police.”
Cameras turned toward them.
Reporters lifted phones.
Julian stepped toward the stage.
Abby caught his sleeve.
“Wait.”
He looked at her.
Celeste smiled.
“Unfortunately, that compassion has now been repaid with attempted extortion.”
The screen changed.
A document appeared.
AFFIDAVIT OF ABIGAIL MERCER.
Abby stared.
She had never seen it.
Celeste read.
“Ms. Mercer demanded five million dollars in exchange for remaining silent about fabricated allegations involving Cross Foundation accounts.”
The room exploded.
Julian turned to his legal counsel.
“That is forged.”
Abby felt hundreds of eyes on her.
Celeste continued.
“We have provided these materials to law enforcement.”
Abby’s throat tightened.
Then the ballroom doors opened.
Two detectives entered.
Julian swore.
Celeste had planned everything.
Again.
Plant accusation.
Create evidence.
Bring authorities.
Abby finally understood why Celeste had survived twenty-two years.
She did not merely lie.
She built entire realities before anyone else could speak.
One detective approached.
“Abigail Mercer?”
Julian stepped in front of her.
“My attorney will handle this.”
The detective raised a hand.
“We only need to ask questions.”
Celeste spoke from the stage.
“I hope Ms. Mercer receives the help she clearly needs.”
Abby looked toward her.
Something snapped.
Not recklessness.
Clarity.
She walked toward the stage.
Julian whispered.
“Abigail.”
She kept moving.
Celeste watched her approach.
Abby climbed the steps.
The microphone stood between them.
Celeste smiled.
“You should cooperate with the detectives.”
Abby turned toward eight hundred guests.
“My name is Abigail Mercer.”
The room quieted.
“Celeste Cross is correct about one thing.”
Julian watched.
“I was tested by Julian Cross.”
Whispers rose.
Abby continued.
“He placed three hundred thousand dollars in cash on a dresser.”
Celeste’s smile began fading.
“I needed that money more than anyone in this room will ever understand.”
“My brother’s tuition is overdue.”
“My father requires rehabilitation.”
“I still owe debts from my mother’s cancer treatment.”
Abby looked at the crowd.
“And I did not take one dollar.”
The room became silent.
Celeste stepped closer.
“This is not relevant.”
Abby looked at her.
“It is very relevant.”
She turned back.
“Because twenty thousand dollars was later planted in my cart.”
Julian’s attorneys looked horrified.
Abby did not care.
“And twenty-two years ago, jewelry was planted in my mother’s locker.”
The silence deepened.
Celeste’s face changed.
Abby saw it.
Just one flicker.
Enough.
“My mother’s name was Marianne Mercer.”
Someone near the front gasped.
Several older board members recognized it.
Abby continued.
“She worked for the Cross family in 2004.”
“She was accused of theft.”
“She was innocent.”
Celeste reached for the microphone.
Abby stepped away.
“And she left evidence.”
Celeste froze.
There.
Abby had her.
She did not reveal what evidence.
She merely watched Celeste react.
The ballroom cameras captured every second.
Celeste recovered.
“This woman is unstable.”
Julian walked onto the stage.
He took the second microphone.
“No.”
Every head turned.
His voice was calm.
“Ms. Mercer is telling the truth.”
Celeste stared at him.
Julian continued.
“I personally observed Abigail refuse to steal three hundred thousand dollars.”
“The twenty thousand later found in her cart was planted.”
A board member stood.
“By whom?”
Julian looked at Celeste.
“That is being investigated.”
The tension became suffocating.
Then Leonard Vale abruptly left his table.
He moved toward a side exit.
Abby noticed.
“Julian.”
He followed her gaze.
Leonard disappeared through the doors.
At the same moment, Helena screamed.
Everyone turned.
She had collapsed beside her table.
Julian ran from the stage.
“Mother!”
Abby followed.
Helena’s body convulsed.
A glass of champagne lay shattered beside her.
A doctor among the guests dropped to his knees.
“Call an ambulance!”
Julian gripped Helena’s hand.
“Mother.”
Her lips moved.
He leaned closer.
Helena whispered one word.
“Vale.”
Then she lost consciousness.
Abby looked toward the side exit.
Leonard was gone.
Security footage later showed him leaving the hotel at 9:17 p.m.
At 9:19, cameras captured Martin Voss entering the underground parking garage.
At 9:23, the garage cameras went dark.
And by midnight, Leonard Vale had vanished.
Helena Cross remained in intensive care.
Toxicology found a rare sedative in her drink.
May you like
The same sedative had been found in Elena Torres’s blood twenty-two years earlier.
---
