Chapter 7
The conference room was dead silent after Elena's accusation. Julian’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second, his eyes darting toward Director Vance before returning to Elena with a hardened glare. "That is a serious and baseless allegation," Julian said, his voice tight. "Are you accusing me of framing a seven-year-old child?" Elena didn't flinch. "I'm saying the security footage from the east hallway will show who dropped that ring near my daughter's feet, and it wasn't Lily." Vance looked between the two of them, sensing the sudden shift in the room's dynamic. "The gala was hosted by the hotel, Elena. Their security footage isn't something we can just pull on a whim." Elena reached into her leather tote bag and placed a small flash drive on the polished table. "I already requested the public safety log through my brother-in-law, who works for the city precinct. The files were transferred to me this morning." Julian’s composure finally cracked; his hand twitched against the armrest of his chair. He hadn't expected Elena to fight back with evidence rather than tears. Vance picked up the flash drive, turning it over in his hand before sliding it into the port of his desktop monitor. "Let's take a look then," Vance murmured, clicking the mouse. The screen flickered to life, casting a blue glow over their faces as the high-resolution video file began to buffer and play.
