Chapter 8: The Media Storm**
By sunrise, national news networks had camped outside the Vance estate gates. Headlines flashed across television screens across the country: **"THE CHURCH CONFESSION: SOCIALITE CHARGED WITH DOUBLE INFANTICIDE."**
Pundits and legal analysts debated the horrific details of the Vance family scandal. Evelyn was officially denied bail due to flight risk and the overwhelming forensic evidence gathered from the baby bottles, the nursery, and the offshore ledger.
Julian made a bold decision. Instead of hiding behind lawyers, he walked out to the wrought-iron gates to face the wall of microphones.
"My mother is a criminal who destroyed my wife and my sons," Julian spoke clearly into the cameras. "Claire was innocent. She was a devoted, loving mother who was systematically gaslit and broken by a monster. I will dedicate every cent of the Vance fortune to establishing shelters and legal aid for abused and manipulated mothers."
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The journalists fell silent, moved by his raw, dignified grief. Across town, inside her sterile concrete holding cell, Evelyn watched the broadcast on a communal TV screen, her expression hardening into bitter resentment.
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