Chapter 18 - The Digital Proof
Adrian stood up slowly to his full height. He looked at Claudia, then back at Leo.
"What did you hear, Leo?" Adrian asked quietly, ignoring Claudia’s frantic protests.
Leo sniffled, standing up straight. He reached into the pocket of his ruined tuxedo jacket and pulled out his smartphone. His hands were shaking, but his resolve was absolute.
"She said she didn't want to marry you," Leo said, looking Adrian dead in the eye. "She said she just wanted to trick you into signing some papers so she could steal your company and take all your money. And then she was going to divorce you."
The silence in the hallway was absolute, heavy, and suffocating.
"That is an outrageous lie!" Claudia screamed, stepping forward, desperate to snatch the phone from the boy's hands.
Adrian immediately stepped between them, an immovable wall of fury. "Let him finish, Claudia."
Leo held up the phone. "My mother always said that when adults do bad things, the truth needs proof."
Leo tapped the screen and hit the play button on his voice memo app. He held the speaker up high.
Claudia’s own voice, cold, calculating, and dripping with malicious triumph, filled the hallway.
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“...As soon as the ceremony is over and the marriage certificate is filed, he's promised to sign this power of attorney as a gesture of 'ultimate trust'... Once he signs it, I have legal authorization to transfer the majority shares... When everything is securely in my name and the offshore accounts are funded... I'm filing for an expedited divorce. I'll take the company, the manor, and leave him with absolutely nothing.”
The recording clicked off. The evidence was irrefutable. It was a digital guillotine, and the blade had just dropped.
