Chapter 7 - A Venomous Counterstrike
By midnight, the story of the incident at the Metropolitan Gala had exploded across social media.
A leaked smartphone video showed Ethan pouring champagne over Victoria and her subsequent fall into the banquet table. However, the clip had been strategically edited. It omitted Victoria spilling her drink first and omitted Sterling’s bow at the end. The online narrative spun Victoria as a defenseless female philanthropist publicly humiliated and assaulted by an aggressive stranger inside a luxury hotel.
Inside her lavish penthouse uptown, Victoria sat wrapped in a silk robe, a glass of wine in her hand as she watched the view counts climb into the millions. Her husband, Julian Langford—a sharp-featured man in his late forties—paced across the Persian rug.
"This is our angle, Victoria!" Julian said, a cruel smile spreading across his face. "The public is furious. They think this guy is just some out-of-control thug. The Caldwell stock will take a hit by market open tomorrow morning. We can use this scandal to force the board to hold an emergency vote to strip Ethan of his administrative control!"
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Victoria squeezed her wine glass, her eyes burning with bitter resentment. "I want him ruined, Julian. I want him crawling on his knees apologizing to me in front of every news camera in the country."
"He will," Julian assured her, pulling out his phone. "Our contacts on the board are already filing the motion. Ethan Caldwell built an empire on secrecy. We're going to destroy him in the light."
