Chapter 6 - The Scramble Behind the Curtain
The moment the final degree was conferred and the caps were thrown into the vaulted air, the auditorium dissolved into an explosion of celebratory noise. Flashes from news cameras illuminated the stage as reporters from the state medical journal and local news networks swarmed the front barrier, desperate to interview the record-breaking valedictorian.
Richard leaped out of his seat like a man whose clothes had caught fire. "Clara!" he bellowed, shoving past an elderly woman and knocking over a bouquet of graduation flowers. "Clara, that's my daughter! Excuse me! Make way! That's my daughter up there!"
Evelyn scurried behind him, her face flushed with frantic desperation, clutching her designer handbag like a shield. "Richard, hurry! If she signs with St. Jude’s, the signing bonus alone is three hundred thousand dollars! We have to tell the reporters we supported her all along!"
Haley was practically hyperventilating, struggling to turn her phone camera around to catch Clara in the background. Her livestream chat was scrolling at blinding speed, but the comments were vicious: Wait, isn't that the sister you mocked in your previous video? Did your dad really shove the valedictorian in the rain? You stole her ticket?!
"Shut it off! Turn off the comments!" Haley hissed at her screen, tears of rage and humiliation welling in her eyes as she shoved through the crowd toward the stage entrance.
They reached the heavy brass security doors leading to the backstage green room, but before Richard could lay a hand on the polished handles, two burly university security officers stepped into their path, their arms crossed firmly over their broad chests.
"Out of the way," Richard barked, attempting to summon the arrogant authority he used on his warehouse employees. "I am Dr. Clara Hensley’s father. That's my flesh and blood in there. I demand to see her immediately."
The senior security officer didn't flinch. He looked down at a clipboard in his hands, then up at Richard’s red, sweat-streaked face with cold detachment. "Name?"
"Richard Hensley! And this is her mother—stepmother—and her sister! We have VIP passes!" He thrust the crumpled gold ticket into the guard’s face.
The guard took the gold ticket, inspected it under the hallway light, and tapped a line of tiny, engraved print on the lower border that Richard had never bothered to read.
"This ticket was issued exclusively to Dr. Clara Hensley for a single guest of honor," the officer said flatly. "According to our digital registry, this pass was reported stolen at eight-fifteen this morning by the Dean’s office. You’re not guests. You’re trespassers."
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"Stolen?!" Evelyn shrieked, her voice reaching a shrill, hysterical pitch. "She gave it to us! She’s our daughter! Richard, tell them! Tell them who you are!"
Before Richard could scream another word, the heavy double doors swung open from the inside.
