Part 6: Uncovering the Fraud
Diane’s face hardened, her lifelong jealousy of her younger sister bubbling to the surface. "You have always been secretly jealous of us, Claire! You're doing this to spite her!"
Claire almost smiled at the utter absurdity of the accusation. "Jealous? Of what, Diane?"
Diane gestured vaguely toward Vanessa’s bridesmaids and the opulent surroundings. "Her wedding! Her high-society social circle! The elite life she has built for herself!"
Claire didn't say a word. She simply opened her arms, gesturing to the multi-million dollar atelier, the celebrity-signed portraits on the wall, and the global empire she owned entirely on her own. For the first time in her life, Diane seemed to fully comprehend how laughably ridiculous her accusations sounded.
Vanessa stepped out from behind the privacy screen, now dressed in her everyday leggings and an oversized sweater. She was shoeless, her manicured toes pressing into the carpet, pointing an angry finger at Claire. "You planned this whole thing! You gave Lily that ridiculous outfit just so she would upstage me!"
"I designed it because she is my daughter," Claire said.
"It had pearls on it!" Vanessa sneered.
"They were glass beads, Vanessa."
"They sparkled in every single test photograph!" Vanessa screamed.
There it was. The ugly, unvarnished truth. It wasn't wedding stress, and it wasn't a misunderstanding. It was the malicious, deeply rooted jealousy of a grown woman directed at a six-year-old child.
"You saw a little girl receiving genuine compliments," Claire said softly, the realization disgusting her, "and you decided she needed to be punished for it."
Vanessa remained silent, her chest heaving. Suddenly, one of the bridesmaids, Rachel, shifted uncomfortably and spoke up. "Actually... Vanessa did say something about it earlier."
Vanessa spun around, her eyes flashing with venom. "Rachel, shut up. Don't you dare."
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Claire ignored Vanessa, looking directly at Rachel. "What did she say, Rachel?"
"When Lily first came out of the dressing room, the photographer told her she looked like a little princess," Rachel whispered, swallowing hard. "Vanessa turned to us and said no one was allowed to look like royalty except her. And then she told us to laugh when she picked up the scissors."
