Chapter 5: Handcuffs and Caviar
The Howard mansion had been partially unsealed, much to the arrogant delight of Mrs. Howard. Convinced that Julian's high-priced lawyers would fix everything and that the police had overstepped, she stubbornly insisted on hosting her weekly charity luncheon the very next day, as if nothing had happened.
Vanessa was there, wearing a stunning white Dior dress, sipping mimosas, and playing the tragic, supportive future daughter-in-law to a room full of wealthy, gossiping socialites. She had convinced herself she was safe. The police hadn't arrested her. Julian was currently being held, but she assumed he would take the fall for the fraud, leaving her clean.
"It's just so devastating," Vanessa was saying to a group of women draped in diamonds, dabbing at fake tears with a silk handkerchief. "Elena completely lost her mind. And Julian... well, I'm afraid Julian might have made some poor financial choices to try and cover up her medical bills. I'm just trying to hold the family together."
The ladies murmured in sympathetic agreement, sipping their champagne.
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the dining room swung open. The polite chatter died instantly.
Detective Ruiz walked in. He wasn't alone. He was flanked by four uniformed officers. But it wasn't the police that made Vanessa's heart stop.
It was the woman walking beside Ruiz.
Elena.
She was in a wheelchair, looking pale but impeccably dressed in a sharp black blazer. Her eyes locked onto Vanessa like a laser.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Mrs. Howard screeched, dropping her crystal glass. It shattered on the floor. "Elena, how dare you show your face here after what you did to my son!"
Elena didn't even look at her mother-in-law. She signaled Ruiz, who wheeled her directly to the center of the room. The socialites backed away, forming a large, terrified circle.
Vanessa tried to maintain her composure, though her hands were shaking violently. "Elena... you should be resting in the hospital. You're unwell."
"I’m feeling much better, actually," Elena said, her voice echoing clearly in the dead silent room. "Clarity has a way of healing you."
Ruiz stepped forward, holding a thick manila folder. "Vanessa Vance. We've reviewed the footage. All of it."
Vanessa’s breath hitched. "I... I don't know what you're talking about."
"I’m talking about the 4K video of you deliberately shoving a pregnant woman down twenty-four stairs," Ruiz stated loudly, making sure every wealthy gossip in the room heard him. "I'm talking about the audio of you planning it. And, most interestingly, I'm talking about the phone call you made to your boyfriend, Marcus, in Paris, detailing how you planned to cut Julian’s brake lines once you got Elena's money."
A collective gasp echoed through the room. Mrs. Howard turned ghostly pale, clutching her chest as she stared at Vanessa in absolute horror.
"That... that's a lie! It's a deepfake! She fabricated it!" Vanessa screamed, pointing a trembling, manicured finger at Elena.
Elena tilted her head, a cold, victorious smile playing on her lips. "I visited Julian in holding this morning, Vanessa. I played him the recording of your phone call. You should have seen his face when he realized you were going to murder him too. He gave the police everything. Your texts, your emails, the poison you bought online. He traded your life for a plea deal."
Vanessa’s legs gave out. She collapsed onto the expensive Persian rug, her white Dior dress pooling around her. She looked frantically around the room, but the socialites only stared at her with disgust. There was nowhere to run.
"Vanessa Vance," Ruiz said, pulling his handcuffs from his belt. "You are under arrest for the attempted murder of Elena Howard, and conspiracy to murder Julian Howard. Stand up."
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As the cold steel clamped around Vanessa's wrists and she was dragged out of the mansion, screaming and sobbing for real this time, Elena watched her go.
The trap had snapped shut. The mistress and the husband were destroyed. But as Elena looked up at the second floor of the mansion, a dark thought crossed her mind. The real mastermind behind the stolen money was still hiding in the shadows, and Elena was just getting started.
