Chapter 10: In Plain Sight**
As Victoria took the stage beneath blinding spotlights to deliver her keynote address on child welfare, the massive projection screen behind her flickered. Instead of the planned promotional video showcasing Montgomery charity initiatives, the screen illuminated with the high-resolution scan of the Cook County General logbook, followed by Evelyn’s signed affidavit and the timestamped payoffs.
A murmur rippled through the auditorium, rapidly swelling into a roar of shock. Victoria froze at the podium, her rehearsed speech dying in her throat as the room descended into chaos. From the back of the auditorium, Claire walked down the center aisle, dressed in simple black, her head held high. Marcus Vance followed, flanked by two uniformed Chicago police detectives and a county prosecutor. The media cameras swung violently away from the podium, zooming in on the woman who had walked out of the shadows to claim what was hers.
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