Chapter 14 - The Red Carpet Coup
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The auditorium went dead silent.
Every single camera lens slowly turned away from Logan Vance and pointed toward the back aisle where I stood.
Flashbulbs detonated like thunderbolts.
"My God..." a reporter whispered, her hands covering her mouth. "That's Maya..."
I walked down the central aisle with slow, deliberate steps, the heavy thud of my cane echoing against the floorboards. I kept my head held high, my left eye locked onto Logan Vance, who stood frozen behind the podium like a man staring at a ghost.
"Maya..." Logan gasped, his voice picking up on the open microphone, his face completely drained of blood. "You... you're supposed to be..."
"Unconscious?" I completed his sentence, my voice carrying clearly across the silent hall without a microphone. "Or did you mean dead, Logan?"
Victor Mercer signaled two security guards to block my path, but Ryan suddenly stepped forward, shoving the guards aside and grabbing the microphone from Logan’s hand.
"He paid for the attack!" Ryan shouted into the live broadcast microphone, his voice shaking with terror and desperation. "Logan Vance wired fifty thousand dollars to a hitman named Marcus Vance! He forged her signature on a twenty-million-dollar life insurance policy! Victor Mercer helped him cover it up!"
"You traitorous bastard!" Victor Mercer roared, lunging toward Ryan.
Chaos erupted.
Reporters scrambled over chairs, shouting questions, while camera crews fought to get close-up shots of my scarred face and the raging fistfight breaking out on stage between Victor Mercer and his staff.
May you like
I stopped at the foot of the stage, looking up at Logan.
He dropped to his knees behind the podium, his hands clutching his head as he realized his career, his reputation, his wealth, and his freedom had just been destroyed live on international television.
