Chapter 1 - THE KICK THAT SILENCED THE BALLROOM
Julian crashed into the champagne table with a violent thud.
Crystal glasses shattered beneath him.
Golden liquid spilled across his white dinner jacket.
For three stunned seconds, no one inside the Ashford Grand Ballroom moved.
Two hundred wealthy guests stared at Evelyn as if she had just committed a crime in front of them.
Evelyn stood between Julian and her six-year-old daughter.
Her cheek was red from the slap he had given her.
Her hands trembled.
But her eyes did not.
Lily clung to the back of her mother’s dress.
Tears streamed down the little girl’s pale face.
“Mommy, are they going to take us away?” Lily whispered.
Evelyn reached behind her and squeezed Lily’s tiny hand.
“No one is taking you anywhere.”
Julian pressed one hand against his chest and pointed at Evelyn with the other.
“She attacked me!”
“You struck her first,” a waiter said from the edge of the crowd.
Every head turned toward him.
The young waiter immediately lowered his eyes.
Eleanor Ashford stepped forward in a silver evening gown.
Her smile was elegant.
Her eyes were ice.
“Security,” Eleanor said.
“Remove Evelyn and the child before this becomes more embarrassing.”
Two guards approached.
Evelyn did not step back.
“My daughter was accused without proof.”
Julian struggled to his feet.
“The proof is simple.”
He reached into the inner pocket of his jacket.
His face changed.
He checked the pocket again.
Then the outside pockets.
“The brooch is gone,” Julian said.
Eleanor looked at Lily’s faded pink backpack.
“Search the child’s bag.”
Lily gasped.
“No!”
A guard pulled the backpack from her shoulder.
“Don’t touch that!” Evelyn shouted.
The guard opened it anyway.
He removed a coloring book.
A plastic lunch container.
A stuffed rabbit with one missing eye.
Then his hand stopped.
The room became silent.
The guard slowly pulled out a velvet jewelry box.
Eleanor covered her mouth.
Julian smiled.
“I told you.”
Lily stared at the box in horror.
“I’ve never seen that before.”
The guard opened it.
The diamond brooch glittered beneath the ballroom lights.
A cruel whisper moved through the crowd.
“Thief.”
“Her mother probably trained her.”
“How disgusting.”
Evelyn looked from the brooch to her daughter.
Lily shook her head desperately.
“Mommy, I promise.”
Evelyn knelt in front of her.
“I believe you.”
Julian laughed.
“You believe her because you helped her.”
Evelyn rose slowly.
“Call the police.”
Eleanor’s expression tightened.
“That won’t be necessary.”
“It is necessary,” Evelyn said.
“If my daughter is innocent, someone planted that brooch.”
Julian’s smile disappeared.
Before anyone could answer, the ballroom doors opened.
An elderly man in a dark suit entered with three uniformed police officers.
Every guest recognized him.
Commissioner Nathaniel Cross had built his reputation by destroying powerful people who thought wealth made them untouchable.
He looked at the brooch.
Then he looked at Lily.
Finally, he looked at Eleanor.
“I received an anonymous call about a child being framed,” he said.
Eleanor’s face turned pale.
Nathaniel raised a sealed evidence bag.
“And whoever called me also sent this.”
Inside the bag was a small black button.
It had been ripped from someone’s formal jacket.
May you like
Julian looked down at his sleeve.
One of his buttons was missing.
