Chapter 7 — Claire Refuses a Private Apology
Victoria stood.
“Claire.”
Claire looked toward her.
“I owe Emma an apology.”
“Yes.”
Victoria looked toward the child.
“Emma, I—”
Claire raised one hand.
“Not here.”
Victoria frowned.
“What?”
Claire pointed toward the ballroom doors.
“You humiliated her publicly.”
“Do not repair your reputation privately.”
Victoria stared.
Richard looked uncomfortable.
But Claire continued.
“Do I expect you to describe every detail to two hundred strangers?”
“No.”
“But everyone watched you pour that bucket over her.”
“Everyone watched you say she had ruined something.”
“They deserve to hear that she didn’t.”
Victoria looked toward Emma.
The child was wrapped in a clean shawl now.
Her wet hair had been partially dried.
She looked exhausted.
Victoria asked:
“Emma, would that be okay?”
Emma moved closer to Claire.
Then nodded slightly.
Claire looked down.
“You don’t have to stand on a stage.”
Emma shook her head.
“I don’t want to.”
“Then you won’t.”
Victoria accepted that.
She returned to the ballroom alone.
The musicians stopped.
Richard handed her a microphone.
For the first time all evening, Victoria looked genuinely nervous.
“Before this event continues, I need to correct something.”
The room became quiet.
Several guests still had phones in their hands.
Victoria continued.
“A few minutes ago, I publicly accused a child of damaging the memorial display.”
Then:
“I was wrong.”
Whispers moved through the ballroom.
“Security footage shows Emma did not cause the damage.”
“She was actually trying to prevent the display from falling.”
Victoria stopped.
The next sentence was harder.
“I responded in a way that was humiliating and unacceptable.”
Then:
“There is no justification for what I did.”
Claire listened from the doorway.
It was not enough to erase the event.
But at least the same audience that witnessed the accusation now heard the correction.