Chapter 7: The Woman in the File
The store speakers went silent.
Camille stood beneath the white designer lights, staring at the dark screens.
“Mom?””
Her voice sounded strangely small.
Victor didn't move.
Camille turned toward him.
“Dad.””
He looked at the floor.
“Who was that?””
Victor's jaw tightened.
“Someone trying to hurt you.””
“Who?””
“I don't know.””
Adrian immediately said, “That's a lie.””
Victor looked up.
“Don't.””
Camille stepped closer.
“You know exactly who that was.””
“No.””
“You recognized the voice.””
Victor's silence confirmed it.
Camille's eyes filled with anger.
“Who is he?””
Victor shook his head.
“You need to leave.””
“No.””
“Camille, please.””
“You've said that all night.””
She pointed toward the screens.
“You've told me nothing except lies.””
Victor took a slow breath.
“Your mother died when you were young.””
“I know.””
“She had nothing to do with the company.””
Adrian looked at him.
“That's another lie.””
Victor snapped around.
“You weren't there.””
“I was.””
Camille stared at Adrian.
“You knew my mother?””
Adrian's expression softened.
“Yes.””
“How?””
He looked toward the locked office door.
“Your mother was my partner.””
Victor's face hardened.
“Stop.””
Camille went still.
“My mother was your partner?””
Adrian nodded.
“In the company?””
“Yes.””
Victor stepped toward him.
“You promised you would never tell her.””
Adrian's voice remained calm.
“I promised your mother.””
Camille whispered, “Why?””
Adrian looked at her.
“Because she wanted you protected.””
“From what?””
“Your father.””
Victor's face reddened.
“You have no right.””
Adrian turned toward him.
“She died believing you would keep Camille safe.””
“I did.””
“You kept her ignorant.””
“I kept her alive.””
The words struck the room.
Camille stared at her father.
“What does that mean?””
Victor didn't answer.
Adrian walked to the counter.
He placed the death certificate beside the contract.
“Your mother didn't die twenty-four years ago.””
Camille stopped breathing.
“What?””
Victor whispered, “Adrian.””
“Her death was recorded.””
Adrian looked at Camille.
“But the record was falsified.””
Camille's fingers began to tremble.
“You're saying my mother was alive?””
“For years.””
“Where?””
Adrian hesitated.
“I don't know.””
Victor said quietly, “Neither do I.””
Camille turned toward him.
“You don't know?””
Victor shook his head.
“She disappeared.””
“When?””
“After the company dispute.””
“Why?””
Victor looked toward the glass doors.
“Because Bell found her.””
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“He didn't find her.””
Victor looked at him.
“He threatened her.””
Camille covered her mouth.
“What did he threaten her with?””
Victor's eyes closed.
“You.””
The store became silent again.
Camille lowered her hand.
“Me?””
Victor nodded.
“Bell told her that if she went to the authorities, you would disappear too.””
Camille stared at him.
“That's why you told everyone she was dead?””
“Yes.””
“You let me believe my mother died?””
“I thought it was safer.””
“You let me grow up thinking she abandoned me.””
Victor's eyes filled with tears.
“I was trying to protect you.””
Camille stepped back.
“You didn't protect me.””
Her voice broke.
“You erased her.””
Adrian watched quietly.
Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a second photograph.
A younger woman stood between him and Victor.
Camille stared at her face.
She knew those eyes.
She had seen them in her own mirror.
“That's her.””
Adrian nodded.
“My mother.””
“Yes.””
Camille touched the photograph.
“Why do you have this?””
“Because she gave it to me.””
“When?””
“Two days before she disappeared.””
Camille looked at the back.
There was writing.
She turned it over.
*If Camille ever learns the truth, give her the key.*
Camille looked up.
“What key?””
Adrian reached into his coat again.
This time he removed a small brass key.
Victor's face went white.
“No.””
Camille noticed.
“You know that key.””
Victor backed away.
“Adrian, don't.””
“What does it open?”” Camille asked.
Victor said nothing.
Adrian answered.
“Your grandfather's private archive.””
Camille frowned.
“I thought it was destroyed.””
“So did everyone.””
“Where is it?””
Adrian looked toward Victor.
“Your father knows.””
Victor shook his head.
“I don't.””
Adrian stepped closer.
“You hid it.””
“I was told to.””
“By Bell?””
Victor nodded.
Camille stared at him.
“Where?””
Victor swallowed.
“Under the old headquarters.””
“Where is that?””
Victor didn't answer.
Adrian did.
“Three blocks from here.””
Camille looked around the store.
“There?””
Adrian nodded.
“The company built this flagship on top of it.””
Her eyes widened.
“The archive is underneath this store?””
“Yes.””
Monica suddenly spoke.
“That's impossible.””
Adrian looked at her.
“Why?””
“This building was renovated completely.””
“Not the basement.””
Monica's face changed.
“The basement has been sealed for years.””
Victor whispered, “It isn't sealed.””
Everyone turned.
He looked terrified.
“There is another entrance.””
Camille stared at him.
“Where?””
Victor looked toward the back wall.
Behind a display of diamond handbags.
Adrian followed his gaze.
“Of course.””
Camille walked toward the display.
She pulled one handbag from its glass stand.
Nothing.
She pulled another.
Still nothing.
Then Adrian pointed.
“The panel.””
A thin seam appeared in the marble.
Camille pressed it.
A section of wall clicked.
It opened.
Behind it was a narrow staircase descending into darkness.
Monica took a step back.
“No one told me this existed.””
Victor whispered, “Bell did.””
Camille looked down the stairs.
“Then we're going.””
Victor grabbed her arm.
“No.””
She pulled away.
“You don't get to stop me anymore.””
Adrian moved beside her.
Victor stared at him.
“If she goes down there, everything changes.””
Adrian replied, “Everything already changed.””
Camille looked at the darkness.
Then at the brass key in Adrian's hand.
“Give it to me.””
Adrian placed it in her palm.
She closed her fingers around it.
A faint metallic sound came from below.
Then a man's voice echoed up the stairwell.
“Camille?””
She froze.
Adrian's face hardened.
Victor whispered:
“That's impossible.””
The voice came again.
Closer.
“Camille, it's me.””
May you like
And this time, she recognized it.
It was her mother's voice.
