BEEP-BEEP. TRANSACTION DECLINED.
"My card is frozen too..." Julian whispered, panic cracking his voice. "Mom... what did Clara do?"
"Clara?" Victoria stammered, her mouth hanging open as the realization hit her like a physical blow. "Clara... didn't... she couldn't..."
The double doors of the restaurant opened, and Clara walked back into the dining room.
She wasn't crying anymore. She stood tall, dressed in her simple beige blouse, holding a sleek tablet in her hand. Behind her walked two senior officers from the Sheriff's Financial Crimes Unit and the General Manager of Le Ritz-Carlton.
Clara stopped at the edge of Table 4.
"Clara!" Julian rushed forward, his hands raised in desperate plea. "Clara, please! What is this madness?! You're humiliating us in front of the entire city!"
Clara looked at her husband with quiet, unshakeable detachment. "You stood by and watched your mother tell me to eat in the bathroom, Julian. You didn't say a single word."