Chapter 5 - The Gala Trap
The grand press room at the Manhattan Financial Center was packed with over a hundred journalists, news anchors, and flashing camera bulbs. Arthur Vale and Cassandra sat at the head table alongside their high-priced legal team, looking victorious as reporters shouted questions about the alleged assault at the Hargrove Hotel.
"Miss Vale, is it true that the waitress physically struck you?" a reporter from the Daily Chronicle called out.
Cassandra wiped a delicate tear from her cheek. "She grabbed me violently... she threatened my life. And Mr. Volkov protected her simply because she belongs to his... criminal circle."
Suddenly, the heavy oak doors at the back of the press room swung open.
The room went instantly quiet.
Damian Volkov entered the hall, towering and commanding, with me walking right beside him. The flashing lights intensified into a blinding storm of white light. Reporters scrambled over one another to point cameras in our direction.
I kept my head held high, my posture straight, stepping onto the elevated stage with absolute confidence.
Damian didn't take a seat at the podium. He stood directly in front of the microphones, adjusting his cuffs.
"Mr. Vale," Damian spoke, his voice echoing clearly through the sound system. "You hosted this press conference to demand an investigation into my family and my employee, Sofia Reyes. I am here to fulfill your request."
Arthur Vale stood up, his face reddening. "Volkov! You have no right to hijack this venue!"
Damian didn't even look at him. He gestured toward the large digital screen behind the podium. "Roll the footage."
Instantly, the high-definition security video from the Hargrove Hotel ballroom appeared on the screen.
It wasn't a grainy, low-quality clip. It was pristine, multi-angle 4K footage captured by the hotel's overhead security system.
The entire press room watched in stunned silence as the video clearly showed Cassandra Vale screaming at an elderly woman in a wheelchair, raising her hand, and attempting to strike her across the face. Then, the camera caught me stepping in—catching Cassandra’s wrist firmly mid-air, preventing the blow, and standing calmly without ever lifting a fist or striking back.
Gasps filled the room. Photographers frantically snapped pictures of the screen.
"As you can see," Damian said calmly, "Ms. Reyes did not assault anyone. She prevented an act of battery against an eighty-two-year-old woman suffering from advanced arthritis—my mother, Elena Volkov."
Cassandra’s face went completely ghostly white. She looked around in utter panic as reporters turned their cameras toward her.
"Furthermore," Damian continued, pulling a stack of legal documents from his jacket, "this morning, my legal team filed a thirty-million-dollar defamation lawsuit against the Vale Corporation. We have also submitted evidence to the New York District Attorney regarding Arthur Vale’s illegal offshore accounts used to finance his daughter’s hush-money settlements."
Arthur Vale slumped back into his chair, looking like he had aged twenty years in five seconds. "This... this is outrageous!"
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Damian turned his eyes toward Cassandra. "Ms. Vale, my assistant, Sofia Reyes, accepts your unconditional public apology. You have until 5:00 PM to deliver it."
With that, Damian offered me his arm. I placed my hand smoothly over his tailored sleeve, and together, we walked out of the press room through a sea of flashing cameras, leaving the Vale family in complete ruin.
