Arthur: GET AWAY FROM MY SON!
Arthur yanked Noah out of Clara’s arms with force, his hands trembling with rage. The crowd pushed closer, gasping at the massive pile of broken glass covering the white marble floor.
Arthur: Are you out of your mind? You almost got my boy killed! Look at this disaster!
Noah: DAD, SHE SAVED ME! THAT MAN PUSHED IT!
Arthur: Stop talking, Noah! She’s just a clumsy maid who knocked over the display!
Clara: Mr. Sterling, please listen to your son. I didn’t touch the table. I saw someone lean into it on purpose.
Arthur: You expect me to take the word of a hired servant over what I see with my own eyes? You destroyed fifty thousand dollars worth of imported crystal!
Clara: I don't care about the crystal, sir. I care about Noah's life. He was directly under it.
Arthur: You're fired. Get your things and leave this house immediately before I call the police and have you arrested for negligence and property damage.
Noah: Dad, no! Look at her hands! She's bleeding! She jumped on top of me!
Arthur: Silence, Noah! Security, escort this woman out of the building right now.
Clara: Wait! Look at the floor right where the table leg was standing.
Clara knelt down on the sharp glass, ignoring the bright red cuts on her palm. Her eyes locked onto a small, shiny object lying right beside the shattered wooden base of the champagne tower.
Arthur: Stop stalling, Clara. You’re only making this worse for yourself.
Clara: This isn't mine, Mr. Sterling. And it didn't belong to the catering crew either.
She picked up a heavy, polished gold coat button attached to a torn piece of dark navy fabric. It had distinct custom engravings along the rim—a crest representing the Sterling family's primary rival corporation, Vance Industries.
Arthur: Where did you get that? That's... that's a custom designer button.
Clara: It was jammed right under the leveling pad of the table. Someone wedged it there to make the tower balance unstable, then yanked it away to trigger the collapse.
Noah: I saw the tall man in the navy jacket do it, Daddy! He pushed the glass toward me!
Arthur: A navy jacket? Julian Vance was wearing a custom navy suit tonight.
Clara: Look closer at the back of the button, Mr. Sterling. It’s not just decorative. It opens.
Clara pressed a tiny release latch on the edge of the gold button. The front flipped open like a miniature locket, revealing a microscopic portrait photo tucked inside the metallic backing.
Arthur: What is that? Let me see that right now!
Clara: HE WASN'T AFTER NOAH.
Arthur stared at the tiny photograph inside the gold pendant. His face turned pale white, his breathing growing short as he recognized the face in the picture. It was a picture of Clara herself, taken ten years ago, alongside Arthur's late wife, Victoria Sterling.
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