Chapter 1 - DON’T TASTE IT
The wineglass was less than an inch from Arthur Sterling’s mouth when the waitress screamed.
“Sir, please don’t taste it!”
Every conversation in the Sterling Hotel ballroom died at once.
Two hundred donors, judges, executives, and politicians turned toward the head table.
Arthur froze with the crystal glass in his hand.
Eleanor Sterling shot to her feet so fast her chair struck the marble floor.
“Do not embarrass this family,” she snapped. “Get your hands off his glass.”
The waitress, Maya Torres, did not move.
Her fingers were wrapped around Arthur’s wrist, trembling but firm.
“What is the meaning of this?” Arthur demanded. “Let go of the wine.”
“Look at this screen right now, Mr. Sterling.”
Maya raised a small security tablet.
On it, grainy pantry footage showed Eleanor standing beside a row of silver decanters.
She tied a black ribbon around one neck and wrote something on the label.
Arthur leaned closer.
The handwriting was clear.
ARTHUR STERLING.
Eleanor’s face went white.
“Don’t look at that,” she said. “She’s lying. She’s trying to make a scene.”
Maya’s voice sharpened.
“She marked that decanter with your name.”
Arthur stared at his wife.
“Eleanor… is that you in the pantry video?”
“It’s fake. She manipulated it.”
Maya released Arthur’s wrist and pointed toward Eleanor’s pearl clutch.
“The poison is still in your purse.”
A ripple of shock moved through the room.
Arthur slowly set the glass down.
“Security,” he said, his voice colder than the ice in the decanter. “Arrest her immediately.”
Two guards stepped forward.
Eleanor did not run.
May you like
She smiled.
Then every light in the ballroom went out.
