(Ruby's POV)
The ballroom is chaos.
People are screaming. Cameras are flashing. The screens are still playing evidence, one file after another. Kai's face, Kai's signature, Kai's voice. All his lies, all his crimes, all his secrets.
And Kai himself is gone. The police took him out through the back. I watched him go, his face white, his eyes empty. He looked like a man who just realized he lost everything.
Good.
Nicholas is holding my hand. His fingers are cold, but his grip is strong. He's standing beside me on the stage, his bruised face lifted toward the lights. He looks exhausted. He looks free.
"We need to get you out of here," I whisper.
"Not yet." He shakes his head. "The world needs to see us. Both of us. Together."
He's right. If we hide now, if we run, Kai's people will twist the story. They'll say we lied. They'll say we staged everything.
So we stay.
