Chapter 6 - The Frame Job
The pressure was mounting. Leo and Julian were the clear frontrunners for the Gala spot. They were both practicing ten hours a day, pushing themselves to the absolute brink.
One evening, Rosa came to the conservatory. Even though she was retired, she missed the routine and often brought Leo home-cooked meals during his marathon practice sessions.
She was waiting in the lobby, holding a container of tamales, when two security guards approached her.
"Rosa Torres?" the head guard asked, his voice stern.
"Yes?" Rosa smiled, confused.
"We need you to come with us to the administrative office."
Leo was in Studio One when Clara burst through the doors, out of breath. "Leo. It’s your mom. They have her in the security office. The police are here."
Leo knocked the piano bench over in his haste. He sprinted down the hallway, bursting into the security office to find his mother in tears, sitting across from a police officer and Richard Vance.
"Mom!" Leo ran to her, placing himself between her and the cops. "What is going on?!"
Richard Vance smirked. "Your mother was just caught with stolen property, boy."
"That's a lie!" Leo yelled.
The police officer held up a clear plastic evidence bag. Inside was a diamond-encrusted Rolex watch, easily worth fifty thousand dollars.
"We found this tucked into Mrs. Torres's tote bag," the officer said. "Mr. Vance reported it missing from his son's locker an hour ago. We reviewed the camera footage. Mrs. Torres was the only unauthorized person in the locker room corridor."
"I didn't take it!" Rosa sobbed. "I was just looking for the bathroom! A boy bumped into me in the hall, and my bag fell. He must have put it in there!"
"A boy?" Richard mocked. "Let me guess, a phantom student? This woman is a thief. It’s in her blood. I want her arrested, and I want this boy expelled immediately for violating the morality clause of his scholarship."
Leo saw red. He lunged at Richard Vance, but the security guards grabbed his arms, restraining him.
"Leo, stop!" Rosa cried.
Arthur Sterling pushed his way into the room, his face a mask of thunder. "What the hell is happening in my school?"
"We caught a thief, Arthur," Richard said smugly. "The police are taking her away."
"Nobody is taking anyone anywhere," Sterling roared. "Officer, release that woman. If Richard wishes to press charges, my legal team will meet him in court. Until then, Mrs. Torres goes home with her son."
The officer hesitated but nodded. Sterling was too powerful to cross.
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As Leo walked his shaking mother out of the building, he looked back and saw Julian Vance standing on the grand staircase, watching them leave with a cold, triumphant smile.
They had crossed a line. It wasn't about music anymore.
