The crystal chandeliers of the Grand Plaza Hotel cast a brilliant golden light across five hundred wealthy guests, but all eyes were fixed on the scene unfolding in the center of the ballroom.
Victoria: You bitch! How dare you show your face here!
Victoria stood trembling with rage, her red hair wild, red wine dripping down her face and soaking the front of her expensive burgundy velvet gown.
Claire: I suggest you back away before you make an even bigger fool of yourself, Victoria.
Victoria: I will ruin you! I will tear that cheap black dress right off your back!
Victoria raised her hand and swung her arm around with all her strength, aiming a vicious slap straight at Claire's face.
Claire didn't even flinch. She snapped her hand up, catching Victoria's wrist mid-air with a grip of solid steel.
Claire: Don't touch me.
Victoria: Let go of me! Julian, look at what she's doing to me!
Julian stood two feet away in his sharp black tuxedo, holding a single long-stemmed red rose, his mouth open in complete shock.
Julian: Claire? What... what are you doing here?
Claire: I came to claim what belongs to me, Julian.
Victoria: She's a nobody! She's a penniless waitress from the south side!
Claire leaned in close, her eyes cold as ice, her voice carrying through the silent room.
Claire: This isn't the Ashford estate, Victoria. You don't own this room, and you certainly don't own me.
Victoria froze, the color draining from her face instantly as her eyes widened in terror.
Victoria: How... how do you know that name?
A tall man in a navy overcoat walked purposefully through the heavy double doors, his leather boots echoing loudly against the polished floor.
Victoria: No! No, this can't be happening!
Victoria threw her hands into the air and let out a high-pitched, theatrical scream that echoed off the high ceiling.
Guests gasped, and a waiter dropped a silver tray, sending champagne glasses shattering across the marble floor.
Victoria collapsed to her knees in the middle of the ballroom, clutching her head and sobbing hysterically as the secret she had hidden for five long years began to unravel in front of the entire city's high society.