Chapter 4 - The Investigation Expands
Three days later, the story of the disastrous wedding blew up across national headlines. Newspapers dubbed it "The St. Regis Catastrophe," while internet sleuths dug up dirt on Preston Vance’s shady business dealings. Social media was flooded with demands for justice for Sophie, turning our quiet, ordinary lives into a media circus overnight.
We stayed at a secure, undisclosed boutique hotel arranged by Victoria’s firm to avoid reporters camped outside our apartment building. Sophie was recovering well physically, though she occasionally touched the unicorn bandage with a look of lingering apprehension whenever a loud noise echoed in the hallway.
"Mommy, when can we go home?" Sophie asked, playing with a digital drawing tablet Victoria had given her to keep her occupied.
"Soon, sweetie. Once the bad men are put away where they can't hurt anyone ever again," I said softly, stroking her hair.
There was a firm knock at the suite door. I looked through the peephole and saw Victoria standing there alongside an unfamiliar man in a rumpled tweed jacket carrying a thick cardboard box. I opened the door immediately.
"Elena, I have some incredible news," Victoria announced, stepping inside with visible excitement. "This is Arthur, the security manager from the St. Regis. And he brought friends."
Arthur nodded respectfully. "Mrs. Vance, after the wedding, I couldn't just sit back. I checked our older archive logs. Two weeks before the wedding, Mr. Vance came to the hotel lobby bar to meet someone. I didn't think much of it then, but when the police started investigating his finances, I pulled the lobby camera footage from that night."
He set the cardboard box on the coffee table and pulled out a stack of glossy 8x10 surveillance stills.
"Who is he meeting?" I asked, leaning over the table.
"A man named Marcus Thorne," Victoria answered, pointing to a sharp-featured man in the photos handing a thick manila envelope to Preston. "Marcus Thorne is a notorious underground loan shark and fixer connected to several corporate espionage rings. Preston wasn't just in debt to traditional banks; he owed cartel-backed lenders over half a million dollars. He planned to use Margaret’s family trust to pay them off. When Sophie accidentally walked past the gift table while he was hiding the brooch earlier that day, he panicked and decided to frame her on the spot to secure an alibi and a distraction."
"So it wasn't just a sudden burst of malice," I murmured, staring at the photos of Preston shaking hands with a criminal. "It was premeditated cowardice."
"Premeditated, vicious, and completely indefensible," Victoria said triumphantly. "With these photos, plus the financial records Arthur helped us subpoena through a friendly federal judge, Preston’s bail has been officially revoked. The judge deemed him a severe flight risk. He’s sitting in maximum security right now, awaiting trial without the possibility of release."
"Thank God," I breathed, feeling a massive weight lift off my chest.
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"Don't celebrate too early," Victoria warned gently. "Preston's defense team is going to try to discredit you during the grand jury depositions next week. They’ll try to paint you as an opportunistic mother looking for a payout. We need to be airtight."
"They can try all they want," I said, my voice steady and unyielding. "They don't know what a mother will do to protect her child."
