Chapter 4: The Smear Campaign
Chapter 4: The Smear Campaign
By noon, the high-society tabloids of the city had their headline.
“FALL FROM GRACE: Julian Vance Terminated Amid Multi-Million Dollar Embezzlement Scandal; Rumors Swirl of Unstable Wife’s Involvement.”
The article featured a hidden-camera photograph of Clara leaving a grocery store weeks ago, looking tired and disheveled, framing her as an unstable, gold-digging manipulation tactic behind Julian’s alleged crimes. Eleanor had successfully manipulated the press to paint Clara as a villain and Julian as a compromised thief.
Julian was furious. He tried to contact every legal contact, every friend he had made in the upper echelons of the business world. None of them picked up the phone. The Vance name was too powerful; nobody wanted to risk Eleanor’s wrath by helping her exiled son.
While Julian was out trying to find a lawyer who wouldn't turn him away, a sleek black town car pulled up to the curb outside the dingy motel.
A woman stepped out. It wasn't Eleanor, but Victoria Pendelton—the wealthy heiress Eleanor had desperately wanted Julian to marry before he chose Clara. Victoria walked up the rusted stairs of the motel, her designer heels clicking sharply against the concrete, and knocked on the door of Room 204.
Clara opened the door, her heart sinking.
"Hello, Clara," Victoria said, looking around the tiny room with a look of practiced pity. "Eleanor sent me. She wanted me to show you what your stubbornness is doing to her son. Look at him. He’s a Vance, and you have him living like a vagrant."
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"What do you want, Victoria?" Clara asked, tightening her grip on Lily.
"Eleanor is willing to drop the embezzlement charges," Victoria said, sliding a thick envelope onto the small table. "She will restore Julian’s position and his wealth. But only on one condition. You sign these divorce papers, give up custody of Lily to the Vance family, and disappear. If you love him, Clara, you’ll let him go back to the world he belongs in."
