Chapter 7 - The Media Ambush
The dinner ended in a screaming match, with Eleanor threatening legal annihilation and Victoria feigning tears of victimhood. But as I walked out of the Vance estate into the cool night air, I knew the cornered vipers would strike back fast. And they did.
By noon the next day, every gossip blog and tabloid in New York was running the same headline: "SECRET TRIPLETS OR SECRET SCHEME? BOURGEOIS BEAUTY BRAND CEO CLARA VANCE ACCUSED OF PARENTAL ALIENATION AND EXTORTION BY VANCE DYNASTY."
Victoria had weaponized her media contacts. The articles framed me as an unstable, manipulative ex-wife who had faked a miscarriage to hide heirlooms of the Vance bloodline, only to resurface now to disrupt Julian’s upcoming society wedding and demand a billion-dollar payout.
Outside my SoHo office, a swarm of paparazzi blocked the entrance, flashing cameras and shouting intrusive questions about my children's paternity.
"We need to issue a cease and desist immediately," Sarah said, closing the blinds in my office as flashbulbs illuminated the glass walls. "Our stock valuation is taking a hit, Clara. Investors are getting nervous about the scandal."
I sat at my desk, looking at the television screen mounted on the wall. A local news anchor was interviewing Victoria outside a high-end charity luncheon. She looked impeccably dressed, dabbing a dry eye with a lace handkerchief.
"I am just heartbroken for Julian," Victoria told the reporters, playing the angelic fiancée to perfection. "He is a wonderful man who has been robbed of five years of fatherhood by a woman who cares more about financial gain than family values. We only hope the courts intervene soon so those poor children can be brought into a stable, loving home."
"She wants to play in the press?" I muttered, a cold smile touching my lips as I unlocked my desk drawer and pulled out the encrypted flash drive. "Fine. But I don't play defensive games, Sarah. Call a press conference for tomorrow morning in our lobby. Invite everyone. Especially The Manhattan Chronicle and Page Six."
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"What are you going to tell them?" Sarah asked, her eyes widening.
"I’m not going to tell them anything," I said, plugging the drive into my laptop. "I’m going to let them listen to Victoria explain her family values in her own words."
