The Heiress Camille Threw Into the Pool

Sophie barely remembered reaching the street.

One moment, she was gripping the cold metal of the fire escape, staring at the woman who had called herself her sister. The next, Victor was beside her, guiding her into a black SUV while two security officers ran toward the hotel's service entrance.

“Are you injured?”” he asked.

“My hand.””

“Let me see.””

“Victor, there's a woman upstairs.””

“We know. Hotel security has locked down the floor.””

“No.”” Sophie caught his sleeve.

“You don't understand. She looks like me.””

Victor paused.

“What do you mean?””

“She has the same scar. The same eyes. Richard Laurent said she's the reason my father signed the transfer documents.””

Victor's expression shifted.

It was small, almost imperceptible, but Sophie saw it.

“You know something.””

He looked toward the hotel.

“Not enough to explain anything.””

“Then start with what you know.””

Victor closed the SUV door.

“Your father instructed me years ago to keep certain family records confidential. I assumed they concerned the foundation. I never saw a birth certificate.””

“Did you know my mother had another child?””

“No.””

“Did you know Richard was involved?””

Victor hesitated.

“I knew Richard and your mother had worked together on the housing project. I didn't know they had a personal connection.””

Sophie looked at him sharply.

“What personal connection?””

“I'm not saying they had one. I'm saying their correspondence was unusually frequent.””

“Why didn't you tell me?””

“Because I never considered it relevant to the acquisition.””

She leaned back against the seat.

Her palm was bleeding. A thin line of red ran across the heel of her hand, but she barely felt it.

“Take me home.””

Victor nodded to the driver.

As the SUV pulled away, Sophie looked through the rear window. A hotel employee was speaking with police officers near the entrance. On the sixth floor, one curtain moved.

Someone was still watching.

Her phone rang.

Adrian.

She answered immediately.

“Dad, what is Maya Morel?””

No greeting. No warning.

Just the question.

For several seconds, she heard nothing but his breathing.

Then he said, “Where are you?””

“On my way home.””

“Are you safe?””

“Answer me.””

Adrian's voice cracked.

“Sophie, I need you to listen carefully. Don't speak to anyone about that name until I get there.””

“Why?””

“Because you don't know the circumstances.””

“Then tell me.””

“I will.””

“You said that last night.””

“I know.””

“And you lied.””

“I didn't tell you everything.””

“That is another way of saying you lied.””

He went quiet.

Sophie looked down at the blood on her palm.

“Dad, I saw her. I saw the woman in the photograph. She looks like me.””

A long silence followed.

Then Adrian whispered, “Where?””

“Room 614.””

“Did she speak to you?””

“She called me her sister.””

Sophie heard something fall on the other end of the call.

“Dad?””

“Come straight home.””

The line went dead.

When Sophie arrived at the Morel residence, Adrian was waiting in the entrance hall. His jacket was gone, his tie hung loose around his neck, and a glass of untouched water sat on the console table beside him.

He looked older than he had an hour earlier.

Sophie walked past him into the study.

“Start talking.””

Adrian followed and closed the door.

“I need you to understand that everything I did was intended to keep both of you safe.””

“Both of us?””

He closed his eyes.

“Yes.””

The answer made her stomach turn.

“You knew about her.””

Adrian sat heavily in his chair.

“Your mother gave birth to a daughter before she met me.””

Sophie stared at him.

“How old was she?””

“Twenty-one.””

“Who was the father?””

“I don't know.””

“You expect me to believe that?””

“I never knew who the biological father was. Eleanor refused to tell me.””

“Was it Richard Laurent?””

“No.””

The answer came quickly.

Sophie watched his face.

“Are you certain?””

“Yes.””

“Then why was Richard at the hotel?””

“Because he knew where the child was placed after your mother died.””

Sophie stepped closer.

“Placed?””

Adrian rubbed both hands over his face.

“Your mother arranged for the child to be raised by another family. She believed it was the safest option. The arrangement was made before Eleanor and I married.””

“Did she tell you about the child?””

“Eventually.””

“When?””

“Two years before she died.””

“Why didn't you bring her into our family?””

“Eleanor wanted to protect her privacy. The adoptive family had agreed to keep the arrangement confidential.””

“And you respected that decision for twelve years without ever telling me I had a sister?””

“I was respecting your mother's wishes.””

Sophie laughed bitterly.

“Convenient. Every secret seems to become Mom's wish when you don't want to answer a question.””

Adrian flinched.

She pulled the photograph from her bag and placed it on the desk.

“Then explain this.””

He stared at it.

“Where did you get that?””

“Room 614. Along with financial records and a letter accusing you of helping Richard hide something.””

Adrian picked up the photograph.

His fingers trembled.

“Who else saw these documents?””

“Richard. The woman. Someone broke into the room before I could finish reading everything.””

“Did you take the files?””

“Some of them.””

“Good.””

Sophie frowned.

“Good?””

“Because if they were still there, whoever arranged that meeting would have destroyed them.””

She stared at him.

“You're talking as if you knew this would happen.””

“I suspected someone was searching for the records.””

“Who?””

“I don't know.””

“Stop saying that.””

Adrian lowered the photograph.

“Eleanor believed someone had diverted money from the foundation. She found evidence connecting the transactions to a network of holding companies. She also discovered that someone had used my signature to authorize transfers I never approved.””

“Then why did you sign anything?””

“Because I authorized a temporary freeze on the funds. The document you saw may have been altered to make it appear that I approved their release.””

“May have been?””

“I need the original.””

Sophie opened her bag and removed the folder marked M. Morel — Private.

Adrian's eyes widened.

“Where did you find that?””

“In the briefcase.””

She laid the birth certificate on the desk.

“Now tell me who Maya is.””

Adrian looked at the document for a long time.

“Her adoptive parents named her Maya Bennett. She grew up believing she was their biological daughter.””

“Does she know?””

“I don't know.””

“Where does she live?””

“I can't tell you.””

Sophie slammed her hand against the desk.

“Why?””

“Because I promised Eleanor I would never reveal her identity unless Maya chose to come forward herself.””

“She came forward tonight!””

“She called herself your sister. That doesn't mean you know who she is or what she wants.””

Sophie stared at him.

“Are you suggesting she's lying?””

“I'm saying we need to be careful.””

“Careful about what? Finding out whether my own sister is alive?””

“Careful about the fact that someone is using her identity to reach you.””

Sophie stepped back.

For the first time, she considered the possibility that the woman at the hotel might not be the answer to her questions.

She might be the person who had created them.

Her phone vibrated.

A message from an unknown number.

Your father is telling you the version of the story he can live with.

Another message followed.

Ask him why he paid Richard Laurent $4.8 million six weeks after your mother's death.

Sophie turned the screen toward Adrian.

He went white.

“Who sent that?”” he whispered.

“I don't know.””

She opened the attachment beneath the message.

It was a scanned bank transfer confirmation, dated six weeks after Eleanor's accident. The funds had been transferred from a Morel Héritage account to a company registered under Richard Laurent's family office.

The authorization bore Adrian's signature.

But this time, the document included a handwritten note.

Final payment for the agreement concerning E.M.

Sophie looked at her father.

“What does E.M. mean?””

Adrian couldn't speak.

“Dad.””

He stood abruptly and walked toward the window.

“It's not what you think.””

“Then tell me what it is.””

“Your mother had uncovered something that could have destroyed both our families.””

“And you paid Richard nearly five million dollars to keep it quiet?””