Chapter 13 - A Face in the Crowd
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Downstairs in the hospital auditorium, Logan Vance squeezed his eyes shut, letting a single, perfect tear slip down his cheek as the cameras captured every second of his performance.
"Maya is currently fighting for her life in the intensive care unit," Logan lied smoothly into the bank of microphones. "Her injuries are catastrophic. But today, in her honor, I am announcing the launch of the Maya Carter Foundation for Burn Survivors, backed by a personal ten-million-dollar pledge from Mercer Records..."
Suddenly, the giant LED screen behind Logan flickered with harsh white static.
The crowd of journalists murmured in confusion as the corporate logo of Mercer Records vanished from the display.
A sharp, high-pitched feedback whine hummed through the auditorium speakers.
Logan paused, frowning as he turned around to look at the screen. "Uh, it seems we're having a minor technical—"
The audio system roared to life.
It wasn't background music. It was the unedited, crystal-clear audio recording taken from my hospital room two nights ago.
Logan's own voice boomed through the auditorium speakers at deafening volume:
LOGAN'S VOICE: "Because if I dumped her a week before the wedding, the press and every fan would have hunted Rachel down! I needed Maya to be physically unable to show up! I needed the world to believe I was the devastated, heartbroken groom!"
The entire auditorium gasped in collective horror.
Victor Mercer jumped up from his front-row seat, his face turning purple with rage. "Turn that off! Shut it down right now!"
Detective Elena Ward reached for her radio, but before she could speak, the giant LED screen flashed bright white, and a video feed appeared.
It was a live stream coming from the elevator bank at the back of the auditorium.
May you like
The double doors of the elevator slid open.
I stepped out into the light, holding my cane, my black silk shawl pulled back to expose the raw, scarred, horrific truth of the right side of my face to every camera in the room.
