"I pretended to fly to Canada after suspecting the housekeeper was doing something terrible to my daughters whenever I was away. Instead, I secretly returned home and turned on the hidden cameras. / Chapter 5 / 10

Chapter 5 - The Gala InvitationTwo weeks passed.

During those two weeks, Chloe called me every single day.

“Have you fired her yet?”

“When can I come back to the estate, Alexander?”

“Our wedding is in two months, darling. We need to finalize the catering guest list.”

Every time, I gave her the exact same calm, measured response: "Almost done, Chloe. Just tying up some final legal loose ends with the household staff contracts. Rest assured, everything is going to be exactly the way you want it."

She bought it completely. Her arrogance and narcissism blinded her to any possibility that a billionaire like me would ever cross her or question her word.

During that same fortnight, my legal and security teams were remarkably busy.

Hector pulled every security log, audio transcript, and high-definition video file from the past six months of Chloe’s residency in the Bel-Air estate. What we uncovered made my stomach churn.

It wasn't just verbal abuse toward Valeria and Sofia.

We found footage of Chloe physically shoving Valeria into a hallway wall when she spilled a drop of juice. We found footage of her throwing Sofia’s favorite toys into the outdoor trash bin while laughing on the phone with a friend. We even found security footage from the master walk-in closet confirming that Chloe herself had hidden her own diamond earrings in Marisol’s laundry basket to fabricate the theft accusation.

It was an open-and-shut case of malicious harassment, domestic abuse, and grand theft.

And I had decided exactly how to present it to her.

On a Saturday evening in late October, the annual Los Angeles Children’s Hospital Charity Gala was held in the grand ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. It was the premier philanthropic event of the season, drawing over five hundred elite guests, society columnists, politicians, and high-society tastemakers.

Chloe had spent months campaigning to be seated at the head table alongside prominent studio executives and tech founders.

I sent her a text message at 4:00 PM that afternoon:

“Wear the custom Valentino emerald gown I bought you for our engagement party. Meet me in the grand ballroom lobby at 7:30 sharp. We’re making a public announcement about our wedding.”