Chapter 4 - The Missing Ring FoundBefore Daniel could respond, my father’s head of security, a towering man named Vance, stepped out from the backstage corridor holding a silver tray. Resting on a white silk napkin in the center of the tray was a glittering four-carat emerald-cut diamond ring.
Chloe gasped, taking an involuntary step back.
“Mr. Vance,” security chief Vance reported in a crisp tone, “our team reviewed the internal lounge camera feeds from twenty minutes ago. Miss Chloe Montgomery removed her ring while applying hand cream in the VIP restroom, placed it on the granite counter, and walked out without it.”
He tapped a tablet screen, turning it toward the crowd. A clear video played showing a hotel cleaning staff member finding the ring, placing it carefully in a lost-and-found velvet pouch, and logging it into the official manager's desk three minutes before Chloe even started shouting in the ballroom.
Whispers exploded through the room like an avalanche. Guests began shaking their heads, shooting disgusted looks at Chloe and Eleanor.
“She knew she left it in the lounge!” a guest on the front row muttered loudly.
“She just wanted an excuse to humiliate Daniel's wife!” another added.
Chloe turned tomato red, backing into her mother’s skirt. “I... I forgot! I panicked! It was an honest mistake!”
“An honest mistake?” I stepped closer to her, my father’s heavy coat trailing behind me like a cloak of armor. “You ripped my gown open in front of two hundred people over an honest mistake?”
“Vivienne, please!” Eleanor wept, stepping in front of her daughter, her previous venom entirely replaced by pathetic begging. “We were nervous! The wedding stress got to us! We are family!”
“We are not family,” I said coldly. “My father’s lawyers will be filing formal criminal charges for physical assault, destruction of property, and defamation against both of you before the night ends.”
“Criminal charges?!” Eleanor shrieked. “I’m a Montgomery! You can’t put me in a police report!”
“You’re about to be a broke Montgomery,” my father remarked, waving his hand toward the security detail. “Harrison, clear this room. All guests have ten minutes to exit through the side doors. The Montgomery family is to remain until the police arrive.”
Panic broke out as two hundred high-society guests scrambled for the side exits, desperate to distance themselves from the disgraced Montgomery family before the news hit the morning papers.
Daniel remained on his knees, staring up at me with hollow, broken eyes. “Vivienne... what about our baby? What about our home?”
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I looked down at my ring finger, where my simple silver wedding band rested. I slowly pulled it off, dropped it onto his open palm, and turned my back on him.
“Our baby will have my last name,” I said calmly. “And as for our home... it was bought with my father’s money. Pack your bags by midnight.”
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