The Thorne Heiress Unveiling Shadow novel Chapter 79

Aria stood at the podium, bathed in a single, dramatic spotlight. The ballroom was completely silent, every eye fixed on her. She held the microphone with a trembling hand, her face a masterpiece of tragic beauty.

"Good evening," she began, her voice cracking with emotion. "Many of you know my story. I was the girl who had everything, and then lost it all."

She paused, letting a single tear fall. The effect was perfect. A wave of sympathetic murmurs rippled through the crowd.

"But I am not here tonight to ask for your pity," she continued, her voice growing stronger, braver. "I am here to speak of forgiveness. I am here to speak of hope. Even after all the pain my family has endured, all the cruelty we have faced from certain people…" Her eyes flickered towards Evelyn's table for a fraction of a second. "...I have learned that the only way to heal is to give."

It was a brilliant performance. She was selling a story of redemption, and the audience was buying it.

"And so, tonight," she said, reaching for the glittering sapphire necklace that lay on a velvet cushion beside her, "I want to donate this. It is a Sutton family heirloom, one of the last beautiful things we have left. But its beauty will do more good helping a child in need than it ever could in a vault."

She held the necklace aloft. The crowd erupted in applause. They were captivated, moved by her story, her grace, her generosity.

This was her moment. Her triumph.

She looked out at the sea of adoring faces, a genuine, ecstatic smile breaking through her carefully constructed sadness. She had won.

And then, it happened.

The massive LED screen behind her, which had been displaying the charity's logo, flickered and went dark.

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