Chapter 9 - The Voice of the Unseen
"Press conference in five minutes, Julian," Elena said, stepping past him toward the crowd of reporters who were already spilling out of the news vans with cameras and microphones.
Victoria Vance, who had been sitting in the passenger seat of Julian’s sedan, opened her door and stepped out onto the wet street, her expensive coat wrapped around her neck.
"Julian! What is happening?!" Victoria shrieked, watching the cameras zoom in on her face. "Get these people away from us!"
Marcus raised the megaphone to his lips, his voice echoing loudly down the industrial corridor.
"Yesterday afternoon at the Grand Sovereign Hotel, Victoria Vance physically assaulted a seven-year-old child for eating leftover food," Marcus proclaimed, his voice amplified across the entire block. "When her mother intervened, the management threatened police violence. Today, over four hundred service workers across five major hotels are officially on strike!"
The reporters rushed forward, their flashes popping in rapid succession, catching Victoria’s horrified, wet face and Julian’s cold, trapped glare.
"Is this true, Mrs. Vance?" a reporter shouted, pushing a microphone toward Victoria. "Did you assault a staff member's child?"
"No! It's a lie! She's a criminal!" Victoria shrieked, backing into the car door, trying to shield her face with her leather handbag.
Beside her, Elena walked calmly to the front of the news cameras. She pulled a small digital tablet from her bag, pressing play on a video file.
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High-definition security footage—retrieved from the hotel’s internal server by the strike workers’ IT allies—played clearly on the screen: Victoria pouring the pitcher of ice water over little Maya’s head, slapping the bread away, and shouting for the police.
The crowd of news reporters gasped in collective shock.
