Chapter 8: Naomi
The steel door opened.
Naomi Cole stepped into the hidden office.
She was older than Camille remembered from photographs, but there was no mistaking her face.
Same eyes.
Same sharp cheekbones.
Same small crease between her brows when she was frightened.
Camille couldn't move.
“Mom?””
Naomi stopped.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears.
“Camille.””
Camille rushed toward her.
Naomi caught her daughter in both arms.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Camille pulled away.
“You're alive.””
Naomi nodded.
“Yes.””
“You let me think you were dead.””
“I know.””
“You watched me grow up believing you abandoned me.””
Naomi's face crumpled.
“I watched because loving you from a distance was the only way I could keep you alive.””
Camille looked toward Victor.
“He knew.””
Naomi's eyes moved to him.
“Yes.””
Victor lowered his head.
Camille looked back at Naomi.
“Did he know where you were?””
“Yes.””
“Did he know you were calling?””
“No.””
Victor looked up.
“What?””
Naomi stepped forward.
“I never called you.””
Victor's face drained.
Camille frowned.
“But someone called us.””
Naomi looked at Adrian.
“Who?””
Adrian held up his phone.
“A man claiming to know where your sister is.””
Naomi's expression changed.
“What did he say?””
“He said my sister was alive.””
Naomi looked at Victor.
Then at Adrian.
“Lena is alive.””
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“You knew.””
“I suspected.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because Lena disappeared to protect you.””
Adrian shook his head.
“She was my sister.””
“And you were being watched.””
“I could have protected her.””
Naomi's voice became firm.
“No. You couldn't.””
Adrian went silent.
Naomi looked at Camille.
“Your grandfather's company was built on a lie.””
Camille nodded.
“I know.””
“No,” Naomi said softly.
“You don't.””
She walked toward the desk.
“The company wasn't stolen from Adrian's father alone.””
She touched the contract folder.
“It was stolen from both families.””
Victor finally spoke.
“Naomi, don't.””
She looked at him.
“You've hidden enough.””
Victor swallowed.
Naomi opened the folder.
“Your grandfather and Elias Cole created the company together. They built it from nothing. When the first major investment came, your grandfather forged documents claiming sole ownership.””
Adrian's jaw tightened.
“My father trusted him.””
“Yes.””
“He betrayed him.””
“Yes.””
Victor whispered, “My father forced me to participate.””
Naomi turned.
“And you continued after he died.””
Victor looked ashamed.
“I was afraid.””
“So was I.””
Naomi pulled a small velvet pouch from inside her dress.
Adrian stared.
“What is that?””
Naomi placed it on the desk.
A heavy metal seal rolled out.
The Hayes family emblem was engraved on one side.
On the other was a small set of initials.
*E.C.*
Adrian stared at it.
“My father's.””
Naomi nodded.
“He gave it to me the night before he died.””
Victor looked at the seal.
“I thought it was destroyed.””
Naomi's expression hardened.
“You thought wrong.””
Camille picked it up.
“What does it do?””
“It proves ownership.””
“Of the company?””
“Yes.””
Camille looked at Adrian.
“Then why did the contract say I'm the beneficiary?””
Naomi answered immediately.
“Because you are.””
Adrian's face tightened.
“No.””
Naomi looked at him.
“Elias changed the agreement before he died.””
“My father never told me.””
“He never had the chance.””
Camille stared at the seal in her palm.
“So the company belongs to me?””
“Legally, yes.””
Victor stepped forward.
“No.””
Camille turned.
Victor pointed at Adrian.
“He's the heir.””
Naomi shook her head.
“Elias's son inherits only if there is no surviving descendant through Naomi.””
Adrian froze.
“What?””
Naomi looked at him.
“You didn't know.””
“No.””
“Because your father hid Camille's existence from you.””
Adrian stared at Camille.
“She is my niece.””
Camille's eyes widened.
“I'm your niece?””
“Yes.””
Adrian took a step back.
Twenty-three years of searching.
Twenty-three years of believing his family had been destroyed.
And the person carrying his family's blood had been standing in front of him all along.
Victor whispered, “I raised her.””
Naomi looked at him.
“And you loved her.””
“Yes.””
“But you also stole her identity.””
Victor's eyes filled.
“I was trying to save her.””
“You were trying to save yourself.””
The words landed hard.
Camille looked at the contract.
“Why did the acquisition agreement have my name on it?””
Naomi's expression changed.
“Because someone knew.””
“Who?””
Naomi looked toward the showroom.
“I don't know.””
Adrian noticed something.
The store's cameras had stopped moving.
Every lens was pointed toward the hidden office.
“Someone is watching us.””
Naomi nodded.
“They've been watching for years.””
Camille gripped the seal.
“Then we expose them.””
Naomi shook her head.
“You can't.””
“Why?””
“Because the person behind this isn't outside the company.””
Adrian looked at Victor.
“You?””
Victor shook his head.
“No.””
Naomi's eyes moved to Monica.
Everyone followed her gaze.
Monica stood motionless near the counter.
Camille frowned.
“Monica?””
The manager's face went pale.
“I don't understand.””
Naomi stared at her.
“You have worked here for eleven years.””
“Yes.””
“You've had access to every private transaction.””
Monica's breathing quickened.
“I've never stolen anything.””
Naomi took one step forward.
“I didn't say you stole anything.””
Monica froze.
Adrian looked at the security panel.
Then at Monica.
“Who hired you?””
“My previous employer.””
“Who?””
Monica didn't answer.
Victor suddenly whispered:
“The board.””
Adrian looked at him.
“Which board?””
Victor's phone began ringing.
He looked at the screen.
His expression collapsed.
The caller ID showed a name Camille recognized.
Her grandfather's old business partner.
A man who had supposedly died eighteen years ago.
Victor answered with shaking fingers.
A voice said:
“Victor, you should have left the girl alone.””
Victor dropped the phone.
Camille stared.
“Who was that?””
Naomi's face went white.
Adrian picked up the phone.
“Who is this?””
The voice laughed.
“You already know.””
The call ended.
Then every display screen in the store lit up simultaneously.
May you like
One message appeared across all of them:
*WELCOME HOME, CAMILLE COLE.*
