Chapter 13 - THE FULL RECORDINGAt the same time Victoria offered Grace money, the edited gala clip reached two million views. Grace could no longer ride the subway without someone recognizing her wine-stained face.
Irene said, "You don't have to prove your worth to strangers on the train."
"I know. I still wish they'd stop staring."
An eighteen-year-old banquet worker named Isaiah Bell came to Grace's lawyer with his phone. He had recorded the gala from the dessert station to show his sister the chandeliers. His video began thirty seconds before Victoria raised the glass.
It showed the wine spilling, Grace backing away, the attempted slap, and Adrián stopping Victoria. It also showed Grace doing something the edited clip omitted: reaching for a towel to protect a waiter from stepping into broken glass.
Isaiah looked frightened. "They told me not to send it to anyone. Said I'd never work another event."
"Who said that?" Grace asked.
"A man from the foundation. Older. Gray beard."
Malcolm.
The lawyer secured the original file and metadata and asked Isaiah to give a statement. Grace thanked him without touching his phone. By afternoon the full video was public, released with his permission. The comments shifted, but they did not become kind overnight.
A donor called Adrián to apologize for believing the cut clip. He accepted the apology, then asked her to fund independent review costs rather than buy him dinner. She agreed.
That evening Grace found a plain envelope beneath her apartment door. Inside was a photocopy of an invoice she had never seen: NOLAN ASHFORD CONSULTING, PAYMENT DUE ON RESTITUTION FUND.
Across the bottom someone had written in blue ink: ASK PETER WHAT HAPPENED TO HIS DAUGHTER.
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Grace did not like the cruelty of using a child as a clue. But she knew now that Peter was hiding something beyond the token.
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