Chapter 14 - The Woman Who Chose the Wrong Side|
Camille arrived at the mansion with her attorney the following afternoon.
She wore a dark blue coat and no jewelry. Without the diamonds, she looked younger and more frightened than Vincent remembered.
Detective Mitchell conducted the interview in the study. Vincent attended at her request, but he remained across the room with Rocco beside him.
Camille sat opposite the detective.
“My lawyer advised me not to answer questions about the financial records,” she said.
“That's your right,” Mitchell replied. “But I need to ask whether you used your computer to access Mr. Bellori's company accounts on the night of the shooting.”
Camille glanced at Vincent.
“I accessed documents Marcus sent me.”
“What documents?”
“Asset summaries. Transfer schedules. He said Vincent's father had established an emergency plan for the organization.”
“Did you know the plan involved an attack?”
“No.”
“Did you know the payments were connected to the shooting?”
“No.”
Mitchell placed a printed email on the table.
The sender's account carried Camille's name. The message read:
If Vincent survives, his medical condition should make the transition easier. Keep the wedding arrangements quiet until the transfer is complete.
Camille stared at it.
“I didn't write that.”
“Did you send any messages using this account?”
“Yes, but not that one.”
“Could someone else have accessed your computer?”
“Marcus knew my password.”
“Why?”
Camille swallowed.
“He said he needed to coordinate the documents for the family trust.”
Vincent finally spoke.
“You let him use your credentials?”
“I thought he was helping us.”
“You knew he wanted control.”
“I knew he wanted a temporary arrangement.”
“You knew he was trying to remove me.”
Camille's eyes filled.
“I knew he thought you were never going to recover.”
“That isn't the same as knowing what he planned to do.”
“No,” she whispered. “It isn't.”
For a moment, Vincent felt the old urge to soften the situation for her. He remembered the years they had spent together, the private jokes, the promises, the nights when they had believed they could build a life untouched by the ugliness around them.
Then he remembered her looking at his wheelchair and telling him he owned a house he barely left.
He remembered her standing downstairs while Marcus held meetings in his dining room.
He remembered her silence when Daniel was taken.
Love could explain why he wanted to protect her.
It could not make her choices disappear.
Detective Mitchell asked whether Camille had received money from the shell companies.
Camille hesitated.
Then she admitted that Marcus had transferred funds into an account she controlled. He told her the money was compensation for managing family affairs during Vincent's recovery.
“Did you ask where it came from?” Mitchell asked.
“I asked. He said it came from a private investment.”
“And you accepted it?”
“Yes.”
“Did you report it to Mr. Bellori?”
“No.”
The answer hung in the room.
Vincent looked at her.
“You helped him hide money from me.”
“I was scared.”
“So was I.”
Camille began to cry.
“I didn't know what to do. I was afraid you'd never forgive me for leaving, and I was afraid Marcus would destroy me if I refused.”
“You could have told the truth.”
“I know.”
“You could have come upstairs and asked me what I wanted.”
“I know.”
“You could have stood beside me when I was at my weakest.”
Her shoulders shook.
“I didn't know how.”
Vincent looked at her for a long time.
“Then you should have admitted that instead of helping someone else decide whether I was worth keeping alive.”
Camille covered her face.
For the first time, her tears seemed real.
But Vincent did not mistake remorse for innocence.
The interview continued with her attorney present. Camille agreed to provide access to the account and surrender the documents Marcus had sent her. She denied knowing that Daniel would be abducted and denied authorizing violence.
The investigators would decide whether the evidence supported those claims.
When the interview ended, Camille asked to speak to Vincent alone.
He declined.
She looked wounded.
“You won't even give me five minutes?”
“Not alone.”
“After thirteen years?”
“Especially after thirteen years.”
Her face hardened through the tears.
“I loved you.”
“I believe you did.”
“Then how can you treat me like a stranger?”
Vincent looked down at his hands.
“Because love didn't stop you from betraying me. And my history with you doesn't mean I have to ignore it.”
Camille had no answer.
She left with her attorney.
Nora, who had been waiting in the hallway, stepped into the study after the door closed.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Vincent gave a humorless smile.
“I've been shot, betrayed, and nearly bankrupted. Define all right.”
“Are you safe?”
He considered that.
“Yes.”
“Then that's a start.”
She sat across from him.
“You don't have to decide today what you feel about her.”
“I don't intend to.”
“Good.”
He looked at her.
“You make everything sound simple.”
“No. I make it sound possible. Those are different things.”
Vincent was silent.
Then he asked, “If Daniel had been involved in something terrible, would you still love him?”
Nora answered without hesitation.
“Yes. But I wouldn't lie for him.”
Vincent nodded slowly.
He had spent his life believing loyalty meant defending the people he loved against the world.
Now he was learning that loyalty sometimes meant refusing to defend them against the truth.
That evening, Camille's attorney contacted Detective Mitchell with an additional document. It was a draft agreement that would have transferred several Bellori properties into a private trust if Vincent were declared medically incapable of managing his affairs.
The document carried Camille's signature.
It also contained a handwritten note in Marcus's writing:
Once the transfer is complete, Vincent will have no leverage.
The agreement had never been finalized.
But it proved that Camille had gone further than she had admitted.
Vincent read the document in silence.
Then he handed it to the detective.
“Add it to the file.”
Nora watched him.
“Does that hurt?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to protect her from the consequences?”
Vincent looked toward the door Camille had walked through.
“No.”
He took a breath.
“But I won't let the consequences turn me into someone who enjoys watching her suffer.”
For the first time, Nora smiled without sadness.
“That sounds like a decision you can live with.”
Vincent hoped she was right.
Because the next morning, his lawyers delivered news that could destroy whatever remained of his old life.
The company had identified irregularities in years of financial records, and investigators were preparing to determine whether Vincent himself had benefited from them.
He might lose his empire.
May you like
He might face charges.
And for the first time, he had to decide whether he would fight to preserve his name—or finally tell the whole truth.
