The surveillance video began to play in crystal-clear detail, captured from a hidden angle near the private parlor. On the screen, the guests saw Victoria in her unmistakable scarlet gown standing in an empty hallway. The dramatic swell of low strings in the background audio coincided with the moment Victoria pulled a velvet jewelry pouch from her own clutch. With a sly, calculating smile, Victoria reached out and surreptitiously dropped the priceless diamond bracelet onto the floor behind a sofa before artfully slipping Maya’s personal handbag near the scene. The entire ballroom fell into a suffocating, absolute silence. An older gentleman in a tailored tuxedo, a prominent board member of the family empire, stared at the television screen with his mouth agape, his hand rising to cover his lips in sheer disbelief. She planted it, the old man whispered in a shocked, trembling tone that carried across the quiet room. Victoria’s face drained of all color in an instant as whispers of disgust rippled through the crowd like a wildfire.