Arthur lifted a remote control.
The boardroom screen divided.
Claire’s image moved to one side.
On the other appeared footage from the mansion’s grand staircase.
There was no sound at first.
Vanessa stood three steps above Claire, blocking her path.
Claire said something and attempted to move around her.
Vanessa looked toward the front doors.
Headlights swept across the foyer windows as Nathan’s car arrived.
Then Vanessa looked directly at Claire and smiled.
She threw herself backward.
Nobody in the boardroom moved.
The footage continued.
Nathan entered.
Vanessa began crying.
Claire pointed toward the cameras.
Nathan accused her without checking them.
When his recorded voice ordered eight ribs broken, one of the directors covered his mouth.
Patricia watched herself standing beside the staircase, silent and composed.
Nathan rose so abruptly that his chair struck the wall.
“Turn it off.”
Arthur did not.
The first kick landed.
Vanessa looked away from the screen.
The directors did not.
They watched Nathan remain motionless through every blow.
They watched him write the check.
They heard his threat about burying Claire so nobody would remember her.
Only when the guards dragged her into the storm did Arthur stop the recording.
Nathan’s breathing filled the silence.
“That footage was taken inside my home,” he said.
“You had no right to record me.”
Arthur closed the smaller folder.
“The property-owning company maintained security cameras in its property.
Your occupancy agreement contains the disclosure.
You signed it personally.”
Nathan turned toward Claire’s image.
“You planned this.”
For the first time, pain broke through her restraint.
“I planned to love you.”
He flinched.
“I hid my name because I wanted to know whether someone could choose me without choosing the Kingsley fortune.
When your company began collapsing, I broke my promise to my father.
I stood outside his home in the rain and begged him to save you.”
Nathan lowered his voice.
“You could have told me.”
“You could have believed me when I told you Vanessa jumped.”
“I was angry.”
“You counted to eight.”
No one defended him.
Vanessa suddenly pulled her wrist from Nathan’s hand.
“I never asked him to hurt her.”
Nathan turned on her.
“You said Claire pushed you.”
“Because she did.”
Arthur lifted the remote again.
