Chapter 3 - BEFORE ANYONE SIGNS
Heartwell Manor looked different when Iris returned.
Less like a palace.
More like a stage where everyone was pretending not to have seen blood on the floor.
The guests had not all left. Preston, ever strategic, had delayed the announcement of the engagement contract and gathered a smaller group in the ballroom—family friends, investors, two trustees, and several people Henderson had already handed witness statements.
Vanessa stood near the fireplace with a fresh glass of champagne, her ivory gown changed, her face composed.
Then the doors opened.
Roman entered with Elena on one side and the lawyer on the other.
Silence swallowed the room.
Preston’s smile twitched.
“Elena. I didn’t realize you’d left with—”
Roman looked up at the ceiling camera.
“Before anyone signs Vanessa Sterling’s lie,” he said, placing one hand on the sealed folder, “play the video.”
Vanessa’s breathing stopped.
Preston recovered first.
“What video?”
Roman turned to Henderson.
“The ballroom footage from twenty minutes before Miss Dalton was fired.”
Henderson looked at Preston.
Preston answered smoothly, “The system had a brief glitch.”
Roman smiled without warmth.
“My security team accessed the backup server ten minutes ago.”
That landed.
The lawyer stepped to a side console and connected a drive.
The screen above the ballroom came alive.
The footage showed Elena standing quietly by the caviar table.
Vanessa approaching.
Vanessa grabbing her shoulder.
Vanessa raising her hand.
Iris stepping between them.
The slash.
The blood.
No attack from Iris.
No wild struggle.
No confusion.
Only cruelty.
The room shifted.
One guest slowly lowered the unsigned witness statement in his hand.
Vanessa’s voice came tight and brittle.
“She rushed me.”
Roman looked at her.
“Is that your final wording?”
Preston cut in before she answered.
“This proves there was an unfortunate altercation,” he said. “It does not excuse staff misconduct, interference, or theft.”
Iris frowned.
“Theft?”
Vanessa lifted her hand.
Her ring finger was bare.
“My engagement ring is missing.”
The lie came too quickly.
Preston nodded gravely.
“After Miss Dalton collided with Miss Sterling, the ring disappeared. We intended to handle that discreetly.”
Roman’s expression did not move.
There it was. The pivot.
The assault story had failed, so they were building another.
Elena stepped forward for the first time.
“I came here tonight because Preston asked for my blessing and signature,” she said. “I will give him neither.”
The room stirred.
Preston’s face hardened beneath his smile.
“Elena, you’re upset. This is not the time—”
“No,” she said, and the single word carried more force than a shout. “The time for pretending ended when your fiancée drew blood from a waitress and you tried to turn witnesses into paper.”
The lawyer finally opened the sealed folder.
Inside was a formal notice.
Roman spoke clearly enough for everyone to hear.
“Effective immediately, Elena Cross is suspending all signing authority related to the Heartwell expansion until independent review.”
Preston froze.
Vanessa went pale.
And then Henderson, trembling, hurried into the room with two uniformed police officers behind him.
May you like
He looked at Iris, then away.
“Officer,” he said, voice cracking, “that’s the waitress. We found the missing ring in her locker.”
