CHAPTER 5: Every Camera Saw Her Hand

Natalie tried to recover before Victor reached the lower steps.
She lifted both hands, palms open, voice shaking just enough to sound innocent.
"She tripped. Everyone saw it."
No one answered.
The court officer looked away from her and toward the security camera tucked beneath the courthouse lamp.
A young reporter held his phone at chest height, still recording.
One of Victor's attorneys, a woman in a charcoal suit, stopped beside the rail and spoke without raising her volume.
"The west entrance camera caught the contact. So did two press feeds."
Natalie's eyes moved from the camera to Daniel.
Daniel did not defend her.
He was staring at Victor.
Amelia sat upright slowly, steadying herself with one hand on the stone. A medic from the courthouse entrance hurried down, but she lifted her other hand to show she could breathe.
Victor crouched in front of her.
His voice changed for the first time.
"Are you hurt, sweetheart?"
Natalie heard the word camera as if someone had put a hand around her throat.
She had wanted footage of Amelia embarrassed, one clean image to send through every gossip circle. Instead, she had given the city a record.
Amelia whispered, "Not enough to miss what happens next."