Chapter 9: The Real Heir
Richard Bell stood in the doorway as if he owned the room.
His silver hair was perfectly combed.
His suit was immaculate.
Not a single trace of dust touched his shoes.
Camille stared at him.
“You.””
Bell smiled.
“Hello, Camille.””
Victor looked horrified.
“Richard, what have you done?””
Bell ignored him.
Adrian stepped forward.
“You've been watching us.””
“Of course.””
“For how long?””
Bell glanced around the archive.
“Twenty-four years.””
Camille felt a chill.
“You knew my mother was alive.””
Bell's smile disappeared.
“I knew where she was.””
“Where?””
“Safe.””
“Where?””
Bell looked at Victor.
“Ask your father.””
Camille turned.
Victor shook his head.
“I don't know.””
Bell laughed quietly.
“You still lie beautifully, Victor.””
Victor's face reddened.
“You destroyed everything.””
“No,” Bell said.
“You did.””
Adrian's eyes narrowed.
“Where is she?””
Bell looked directly at him.
“Alive.””
Camille's knees weakened.
“Where?””
Bell lifted the folder.
“That's what you came here to find.””
Adrian moved closer.
“Give it to me.””
Bell shook his head.
“No.””
“Then why bring it?””
“Because I want Camille to read it.””
He held the folder toward her.
Camille didn't move.
Adrian said quietly, “Don't touch it yet.””
Bell smiled.
“Still protecting her.””
Adrian looked at him.
“You're afraid of what she will learn.””
Bell's smile faded.
“I'm afraid of nothing.””
“Then let her open it.””
Bell handed the folder to Camille.
She took it.
The first page contained a birth record.
She scanned it.
Then another.
Then another.
Her breathing became shallow.
Bell watched her.
“What do you see?””
Camille looked up.
“My mother was transferred to another state.””
Bell nodded.
“Correct.””
“Under another name.””
“Yes.””
“Who authorized it?””
Bell said nothing.
Camille turned another page.
Then stopped.
Her eyes widened.
“Dad.””
Victor closed his eyes.
She showed him the document.
His signature was at the bottom.
A relocation authorization.
He had signed it.
Camille's voice trembled.
“You sent her away.””
Victor whispered, “I had no choice.””
“You always say that.””
“I was protecting you.””
“By taking my mother away?””
“She wanted to take you with her.””
Camille froze.
“What?””
Victor nodded.
“She was going to disappear with you.””
Bell interrupted.
“And your father couldn't allow that.””
Camille turned toward Bell.
“You helped him.””
“I did.””
“Why?””
Bell's expression became cold.
“Because your mother knew the truth.””
“What truth?””
“That the company didn't belong to your father.””
Camille looked at Adrian.
“Then who did it belong to?””
Bell smiled.
“Your mother.””
Silence.
Victor looked at Adrian.
Adrian's jaw tightened.
Bell continued.
“Your mother was the original controlling shareholder.””
Camille stared at him.
“But the contract…”
“Was altered.””
“The company?””
“Built around her.””
Camille looked at Adrian.
“What about him?””
Bell's eyes shifted.
“Adrian was her business partner.””
Victor suddenly shouted.
“He was more than that!””
The room froze.
Camille slowly turned.
“What does that mean?””
Victor's eyes filled with regret.
Bell answered for him.
“Adrian was your mother's first husband.””
Camille stopped breathing.
Adrian looked at the floor.
She stared at him.
“You were married to my mother?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Before you were born.””
Camille stepped backward.
Victor looked at Adrian.
“She left you.””
Adrian's eyes hardened.
“No.””
Bell interrupted.
“She was forced to.””
Camille's voice shook.
“By whom?””
Bell looked at Victor.
Victor whispered:
“Your grandfather.””
Adrian closed his eyes.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Camille asked the question that had been haunting her.
“If Adrian was married to my mother…”
She looked at the birth record.
“…then who is the other child?””
Bell's expression changed.
He opened the second folder.
“This is where your father made his biggest mistake.””
Victor shook his head.
“Richard.””
Bell continued.
“He thought he could erase the child.””
Camille looked at Victor.
“What child?””
Bell turned a page.
A photograph slid onto the table.
A baby.
Then a second photograph.
A young man.
Then another.
Camille stared at the final photograph.
Her mouth opened.
She recognized the face.
Not because she had seen him in person.
Because she had seen him every day.
On company billboards.
In magazine interviews.
On television.
The photograph showed her older half-brother.
The company's current CEO.
Her own brother.
Camille whispered his name.
“Marcus.””
Victor collapsed into a chair.
Adrian looked at Bell.
“You're lying.””
Bell shook his head.
“No.””
Camille's hands trembled.
“Marcus is my brother?””
“Half-brother.””
“Then why didn't anyone tell me?””
Bell looked at Victor.
“Because Marcus was the heir your grandfather chose.””
Victor covered his face.
Camille looked at Adrian.
“And me?””
Bell answered.
“You were the heir your mother chose.””
Adrian's expression changed.
Camille looked down at the documents.
Two heirs.
Two claims.
One company.
Four hundred million dollars.
And twenty-four years of lies.
Then she noticed something at the bottom of the final page.
A clause.
Her eyes moved across the words.
“Wait.””
Adrian looked at her.
“What?””
She pointed.
“This says neither Marcus nor I can control the company.””
Bell smiled.
“Exactly.””
Camille read the final sentence aloud.
“Control transfers to the surviving founder upon confirmation of both heirs.””
Adrian stared at the document.
Victor suddenly whispered:
“That's impossible.””
Bell smiled.
“Why?””
Victor looked at Camille.
Then at Adrian.
“Because there was only supposed to be one surviving founder.””
Camille frowned.
“What does that mean?””
Bell's expression became almost sympathetic.
“It means your grandfather believed Adrian was dead.””
Camille turned toward Adrian.
He looked stunned.
Bell continued.
“And that's why the company was built around a lie.””
A phone began ringing.
Everyone looked at Adrian.
He answered.
A man's voice came through.
“Mr. Adrian?””
“Yes.””
“We found the missing shareholder.””
Adrian's face tightened.
“Where?””
The voice hesitated.
“Outside the store.””
Camille looked toward the staircase.
“Who?””
The caller whispered:
“Your wife.””
Adrian's hand went still.
And from above them, behind the luxury store's glass doors, came a woman's voice.
“Adrian…”
Camille looked toward the stairs.
May you like
Her mother's voice came again.
“It's time you told our daughter the truth.””
