Chapter 4 - The Alibi
Claire rewound the footage and paused it on the cracked silver watch.
The journalist at the party was named David Vance.
He wrote for a local gossip blog that fed on the scandals of Boston’s elite.
Why would Marcus be wearing David’s watch.
Or worse, why was David in the coatroom disguised as Marcus.
Claire quickly saved the video files to an encrypted cloud drive.
She needed to confront David Vance before he published whatever lies they had spun.
She left Maya with her neighbor and took the subway downtown.
The gossip blog’s office was located above a noisy dive bar.
Claire pushed through the glass door and walked straight toward David’s desk.
He looked up, his face draining of color when he saw her.
“Claire.”
“You planted the bracelet.”
David stood up, looking nervously around the busy newsroom.
“Keep your voice down.”
“I have you on camera in the coatroom.”
David grabbed her arm and pulled her into a quiet stairwell.
“You don't understand what you are dealing with.”
“I understand that you ruined my life.”
David ran a hand through his messy hair.
“I didn't want to do it, Claire.”
“Then why did you.”
“Because they threatened to kill my brother if I didn't.”
Claire stepped back, shocked by the raw fear in his eyes.
“Who threatened you.”
“The people Evelyn Rothwell owes money to.”
David pulled out his phone and showed her a ledger.
Evelyn wasn't a billionaire heiress anymore.
Her father had squandered the family fortune, and Evelyn had borrowed millions from a dangerous syndicate.
“They needed to steal the Whitmore bracelet to pay the debt,” David explained.
“But Nathaniel keeps his vault locked down.”
“So they used the charity gala to get it out of the safe,” Claire realized.
“Exactly.”
“But why frame me.”
David looked at the ground, unable to meet her eyes.
“Because Nathaniel was planning to propose to you tonight.”
Claire’s breath hitched in her throat.
“What.”
“He had a ring in his pocket, Claire.”
David handed her a crumpled piece of paper.
“Evelyn found out and needed to destroy his trust in you so he would marry her for optics.”
Claire unfolded the paper.
It was a receipt from a jeweler for a custom diamond ring, engraved with her initials.
Before Claire could process the shock, the stairwell door burst open.
May you like
Two men in dark suits grabbed David and dragged him backward.
One of them turned to Claire and leveled a gun at her chest.
