Chapter 3 - THE SIGNATURE THAT WAS NEVER GIVEN|
Camille read the document twice.
The first time, the words seemed to blur together. The second time, she understood enough to feel the floor shift beneath her.
The document referred to a controlling interest in Harrow Coast Hotels that had supposedly been transferred into a collateral trust. It cited a family authorization dated eleven months earlier.
Her grandmother's name appeared at the bottom.
Beatrice Harrow.
"That's impossible," Camille whispered.
Nathan stepped toward her. "Give me that."
Everett closed the folder.
"No."
"That's my company's document."
"Then you should know what's written in it."
Nathan's face reddened. "You have no right to interfere."
"I have every right to investigate a proposed transaction involving assets that may have been pledged without authorization."
Russell laughed coldly. "This is absurd. Beatrice signed the papers."
Camille looked at him. "My grandmother was in a rehabilitation facility eleven months ago. She couldn't even hold a pen."
Silence.
Oliver looked at his father. "You told me the documents were clean."
"They are."
"Then why does Camille say her grandmother was incapacitated?"
"Because she doesn't understand the business."
Camille's fingers tightened around Everett's jacket.
She remembered the afternoon she had visited Beatrice at the rehabilitation center. Her grandmother had been recovering from a stroke, struggling to speak clearly, and furious about being treated like a fragile old woman. Camille had sat beside her for hours, helping her practice writing her name.
There was no way Beatrice had signed a complicated financial authorization.
"Who prepared this?" Camille asked.
Russell didn't answer.
Everett's associate spoke instead.
"An attorney named Peter Voss. He represented both Harrow Coast and Briarwood Holdings during the initial negotiations."
Camille knew the name.
Peter Voss had attended her father's birthday dinner the previous winter. He had toasted the family's legacy and called Beatrice the heart of the company.
"Where is he?" she asked.
"Not here," Everett said.
Nathan looked furious. "You're making a spectacle of confidential documents."
"You made my marriage a financial condition," Camille replied. "You made my body part of a business proposal. Don't lecture me about privacy."
Sloane approached, still wearing her perfect smile.
"Camille, everyone is upset. Perhaps you should go home and rest."
Camille turned to her.
"Did you know about the contract?"
Sloane blinked. "What contract?"
"The one involving my engagement to Oliver."
"I don't know anything about business."
"Then why did you tell me earlier that I should be grateful the Briarwoods were willing to consider me?"
Sloane's smile faltered.
Everett watched her closely.
Camille stepped away from the crowd. She could feel the eyes following her, but she no longer cared.
"Where's my father?" she asked.
Nathan had moved toward Russell. The two men were speaking urgently.
Camille approached them.
"I want the original document."
Nathan lowered his voice. "You have no idea what you're doing."
"Then explain it."
"I was trying to save your grandmother's company."
"By forging her signature?"
"Watch your mouth."
"Did you do it?"
His silence was worse than an answer.
Camille felt something inside her break—not dramatically, not loudly. It was the quiet collapse of a belief she had carried since childhood.
Her father had always told her that family came first.
Apparently, that rule only applied when she was the one being sacrificed.
Everett moved beside her.
"Camille, we should leave."
She shook her head. "Not yet."
Then Oliver stepped forward, holding a phone.
"I think there's something else you need to know."
His face was pale.
He showed Camille a message from his father.
It had been sent two days earlier.
Make sure Camille agrees before midnight. If she refuses, use the alternative clause.
Camille stared at the screen.
"What alternative clause?"
May you like
Oliver swallowed.
"The one that gives my father control of your grandmother's voting shares if you don't sign."
