"It has been a difficult week for the Ashford firm," Ridge spoke into the microphone, his voice echoing with practiced sorrow.
"Integrity is the foundation of everything we build. When the video of Camille Calla’s... indiscretions... came to light, it broke my heart. But I cannot allow her moral failings to jeopardize the Vanguard Project."
Flashes from the press cameras lit up the room.
"Effective immediately, Ashford Firm is formally severing all ties with Camille Calla," Ridge announced, puffing his chest out.
"We are moving forward. With your continued investments, Lily and I will ensure Vanguard is a masterpiece."
The crowd began to politely applaud.
I looked at Mara. She gave me a single, sharp nod.
I stepped out of the shadows and began my descent down the grand velvet staircase. The ten-carat diamond on my left hand caught the chandelier light like a weapon.
Flanking me were six massive Caelum security contractors.
Lily spotted me before Ridge did. Her smug, demure smile instantly vanished, replaced by a flash of panic.
"What do you think you're doing?" Lily hissed, her voice a venomous whisper as she blocked my path. She reached out, her fingers digging painfully into my bare arm, trying to shove me back toward the stairs.
"You have a lot of nerve showing your face here, Camille. You are not on the guest list. Get out before I have you thrown out."
"Let go of me, Lily," I said, my voice dead calm.
"Security!" Lily snapped, ignoring me and turning to the hotel guards. "Remove this woman immediately. She's trespassing and trying to cause a scene!"
The hotel guards stepped forward, but before they could even raise their hands, Mara descended the final few steps, stepping into the light.
The hotel guards froze. Everyone in the city knew the matriarch of the Caelum Group.
Mara didn't even look at Lily. She just snapped her fingers. Instantly, her private security detail surged forward, forming an impenetrable wall between me and the hotel guards.
One of the Caelum men casually swatted Lily’s hand off my arm, sending her stumbling backward in shock.
"Don't ever touch my daughter-in-law again," Mara said, her voice dropping the temperature in the room by ten degrees.
Lily gasped, her eyes darting between me, Mara, and the massive diamond on my finger. "Daughter-in-law? What... what are you talking about?"
I didn't bother answering her. I looked past her terrified face and signaled the AV technician we had bought out ten minutes prior.
A deafening screech of microphone feedback ripped through the ballroom. The applause died instantly. Ridge winced, tapping his mic.
"Moral integrity is a fascinating topic, Ridge," my voice boomed through the surround-sound speakers as I took a secondary microphone from a stunned event coordinator.
Every head in the ballroom snapped toward us. The sea of investors parted instantly as I walked past a trembling Lily and marched right up to the stage.
"Camille," Ridge hissed, his face flushing with anger and panic. "What is the meaning of this? Get off my stage!"
"You spoke of my indiscretions, Ridge," I said smoothly, turning my back to him to face the crowd and the cameras.
"You leaked a video of me from the night of my rehearsal dinner, claiming I was having a sordid affair. Let's take a closer look at that, shall we?"
The massive projector screen behind Ridge suddenly flickered.
In its place, the grainy security footage from the hotel hallway began to play. The crowd gasped.
"I was intoxicated," I narrated calmly. "Or, more accurately, I was drugged by the woman currently cowering at the bottom of the stairs."
All the cameras pivoted to Lily, who let out a strangled cry, her face draining of color as she tried to hide behind a pillar.
"But I didn't stumble into the arms of a lover that night," I continued. "I stumbled into the arms of a man who saw a woman in distress and helped her to a safe room."
I snapped my fingers.
The video paused on the exact frame of the man's hand on my waist. The image zoomed in, enhancing the heavy, shattered silver watch on his wrist.
Beside it, a high-resolution, professional photograph flashed onto the screen. It was Nathaniel, wearing the exact same custom suit, the exact same custom Vacheron Constantin watch prominently displayed on his wrist.
The ballroom erupted into chaos. Reporters began shouting, cameras clicking furiously.
"There was no affair," I said, my voice cutting through the noise like glass. "The man who saved me that night was Nathaniel Caelum. My husband."
Ridge gripped the podium, his knuckles turning white. "This is a lie! It's a trick! You're just trying to save your proxy status!"
"Speaking of my proxy status," I smiled. It was a cold, merciless thing. "I reviewed the Vanguard Project's financials this afternoon. You were desperate for funding, Ridge. So desperate, you put your entire firm up as collateral to your investors."
Ridge froze. The panic in his eyes finally tipped over into absolute terror.
"At 4:00 PM today, the Caelum Group bought out every single one of your investors," I announced to the dead-silent room. "We bought your debt. We own the land. We own the Vanguard Project."
"You can't do that!" Ridge shouted, his voice cracking. "That's my project! I'm the lead architect!"
"You were the lead architect," I corrected. "But as the proxy head of the Caelum Group, I find your moral integrity lacking. You are a liability to my assets."
I looked him dead in the eye, letting the weight of my revenge crush him completely.
"You're fired, Ridge. Get off my stage."
We stepped into the back of the waiting Maybach in the crisp night air.
I let out a long, shaky breath, the adrenaline finally beginning to recede. I leaned my head against the cool leather seat. It was done.
Mara poured two glasses of scotch from the car's minibar, handing one to me. "Flawless," she murmured, a terrifyingly proud smile on her face.
Before I could take a sip, Mara’s private phone began to ring. It was a specific, sharp ringtone. The one reserved for the East Wing medical staff.
Mara set her glass down instantly and answered, putting it on speaker.
"Dr. Evans," Mara said, her voice tight. "Report."
There was a chaotic shuffling sound on the other end of the line. Beeping monitors. The sound of running footsteps.
"Mrs. Caelum," the doctor’s voice came through, breathless and frantic. "You need to return to the estate immediately."
My heart stopped. I sat up straight, my hand flying to my stomach. "Is he crashing? What's happening?"
