Chapter 3
Vanessa suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Claire, wait.”
I looked down at her hand.
She released me immediately.
The confidence was gone now.
“What are you going to tell her?” she whispered.
“About what?”
“You know exactly what I mean.”
I leaned closer.
“You mean the part where you deliberately destroyed an insured instrument in a restricted backstage area while your company is being reviewed by an investment firm?”
Vanessa froze.
Meridian’s investment process wasn’t based only on revenue projections.
Because Vanessa would remain the public face of Velle Fashion, the agreement included a conduct clause.
Serious misconduct.
Fraud.
Violence.
Deliberate property destruction.
Any of those could end the negotiations immediately.
“Claire,” she whispered.
“Please.”
Twenty minutes earlier, she had been smiling because she thought she had destroyed my career.
Now hers depended on what happened next.
Mom rushed toward us.
“That’s enough. Claire, tell Ms. Hayes this was just a family argument.”
Eleanor’s expression turned cold.
“Destroying an eighty-thousand-dollar instrument is not a family disagreement.”
Mom immediately fell silent.
Vanessa looked close to panic.
“I’ll pay for it.”
I looked at her.
“With what money?”
She said nothing.
“The investment money?”
The hallway became completely quiet.
Then the stage manager appeared.
“Claire, you’re up.”
I turned toward the stage.
Behind me, Vanessa said something I had never heard from her before.
“I’m begging you.”
I stopped.
Not because I felt sorry for her.
Because I wanted her to understand something.
I looked back.
“You didn’t destroy my future, Vanessa.”
I lifted the Stradivarius slightly.
May you like
“You only exposed yours.”
Then I walked onto the stage.
