Chapter 6 - CAMILLA’S LAST OFFER
Camilla asked Elena to meet privately.
Enzo said no.
Elena said yes.
Not alone.
Attorney present.
Security.
Neutral room.
Camilla arrived without makeup.
No diamonds.
Different person.
“I’m sorry.”
Elena looked at her.
“For which part?”
Camilla closed eyes.
Good question.
“For bringing you into the house under false pretenses.”
“For searching room?”
“Yes.”
“For trying to make me quit?”
“Yes.”
“For ordering me to kneel?”
Her voice broke.
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
Camilla looked at attorney.
Then:
“For paying Graham to find you.”
There.
“Why?”
“My father told me if a Bellandi heir returned, everything our family built could collapse.”
“You mean everything your family took.”
Camilla flinched.
“Yes.”
That surprised Elena.
Camilla admitted she grew up hearing Bellandis were reckless aristocrats who lost property in fire and debt.
At twenty-four she discovered truth.
By then Ashford family wealth depended heavily on disputed land.
She could expose parents/grandfather’s crimes.
Or protect legacy.
She chose protection.
Then Enzo.
Their engagement started partly strategic, but she genuinely loved him.
Again complexity.
She wanted merger to bury disputes permanently.
Then investigator found Elena.
Camilla panicked.
Paid Graham.
Brought Elena close.
Planned steal key.
When failed, attempted force her out socially.
“Why humiliate me?”
Camilla answered:
“Because I thought you were beneath me.”
Elena waited.
“That’s not explanation.”
Camilla cried.
“I needed you to be beneath me.”
There.
“If you were just maid, then what my family did to yours felt less real.”
Power needs dehumanization.
Then Camilla offered settlement.
Personally surrender her trust share in Ashford property to Elena.
Around $40 million.
In exchange, Elena publicly state Camilla did not know full history when engagement began.
Was that true?
Partly.
Elena refused immediate.
Not because revenge.
Because truth should be legal process.
“I won’t sell you a version of history.”
Camilla nodded.
Then Enzo met Camilla separately.
She returned engagement ring.
“I loved you.”
“I know.”
“Do you hate me?”
“Right now, yes.”
Honest.
She cried.
“Could that change?”
“Maybe.”
“But marriage?”
“No.”
She nodded.
No bargaining.
Then Camilla said something unexpected:
“My father is still hiding one thing.”
“What?”
“Your mother’s file.”
Lucia.
Edmund claimed destroyed contractor confession.
But Camilla found backup years ago.
Lucia had recorded meeting with Edmund.
Camilla hid it.
Why?
It proved Edmund knowingly continued cover-up.
She had not destroyed.
Maybe part of her wanted exit.
Where?
Safe-deposit box.
She turned key over.
Enzo and Elena watched recording.
Lucia Marchetti sat across from Edmund.
She said:
“Your father’s money bought silence, not innocence.”
Edmund:
“If this comes out, hundreds lose jobs.”
Lucia:
“Then restructure. Don’t build payroll on stolen land.”
Enzo almost smiled through tears.
His mother.
Then she said:
“And Lorenzo must confess what he took.”
Edmund:
“Your family won’t survive scandal either.”
Lucia:
“Then maybe it shouldn’t survive unchanged.”
Powerful.
Recording ended with Edmund threatening lawsuit, not violence.
Again no secret murder.
Just long suppression.
This evidence triggered Ashford civil settlement negotiations.
Edmund stepped down.
Independent trustees.
Disputed assets frozen.
Camilla cooperated.
Not hero.
Late accountability.
Then Elena made choice.
She would reclaim Bellandi name publicly.
Not because wealth.
Because she was tired of hiding.
At press conference? She could issue statement.
“My name is Elena Bellandi.”
Simple.
“I survived the fire that killed my mother.”
Then:
“I do not intend to destroy companies or families. I intend to recover what was taken unlawfully and let courts determine responsibility.”
Good.
No revenge theatrics.
Reporters asked:
“Will you marry Enzo Marchetti?”
She stared.
“Absolutely not because of a necklace I got when I was seven.”
Enzo laughed watching.
Then she added:
“If he ever asks as an adult, that will be a different question.”
Media exploded.
May you like
Enzo turned red.
Marco never let him forget.
