Chapter 13 - THE WOMAN WHO FINALLY STOPPED CRYING
Camille Ward stopped asking for sympathy.
She started giving names.
Dates.
Locations.
Accounts.
For five hours, she explained how Helena Vale operated.
Helena rarely ordered anyone directly.
She suggested.
Influenced.
Created fear.
Then gave people the illusion that the decision was theirs.
Camille described private sessions where Helena convinced her that Elena had ruined Adrian’s life.
That Elena looked down on Camille.
That Elena was using pregnancy to trap Adrian.
None of it was true.
But truth had never been Helena’s strongest weapon.
Emotion was.
Ruiz asked.
“Why did you shove Elena?”
Camille stared at the table.
“Because Helena sent me a recording.”
“What recording?”
“Adrian.”
“Saying what?”
“That when the baby was born, he would never leave Elena.”
Ruiz frowned.
“Was it real?”
“I don’t know anymore.”
Camille covered her face.
“I went to the house to confront him.”
“He wasn’t there.”
“No.”
“So you confronted Elena.”
“Yes.”
“What did Helena tell you before you went?”
Camille looked up.
“She said Elena would pretend to be weak.”
Ruiz understood the cruelty of the setup.
Helena had prepared Camille to interpret Elena’s pregnancy itself as manipulation.
Camille continued.
“When Elena told me to leave, I thought she was laughing at me.”
“Was she?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I pushed her.”
Silence.
Camille swallowed.
“The second she fell, I knew.”
“Knew what?”
“That Helena wanted it.”
Ruiz leaned closer.
“Why?”
“Because Mrs. Harlow didn’t react.”
Ruiz remembered.
The caretaker had comforted Camille.
Not Elena.
Camille continued.
“Mrs. Harlow looked at me like she was waiting for something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then you started crying.”
Camille nodded.
“I panicked.”
“You tried to make Elena the aggressor.”
“Yes.”
“At what point did you realize Elena was recording?”
“When she lifted the phone.”
Camille almost smiled bitterly.
“That was when I understood Helena had been wrong.”
“About what?”
“She said Elena would break.”
Camille looked toward the mirror.
“She didn’t.”
At St. Vincent’s, Elena was walking slowly around the maternity floor under supervision.
Dr. Blake wanted movement.
The contractions remained irregular.
Her baby remained stable.
Robert walked beside her.
“You should rest.”
“I have rested enough for one lifetime.”
“You’ve been here less than a day.”
“It feels like six months.”
They passed a window overlooking the city.
Elena stopped.
Mercer Industries headquarters was visible in the distance.
A glass tower built by her grandfather.
Expanded by her father.
Nearly stolen by Graham.
“I never wanted to run it.”
Robert looked at her.
“I know.”
“Dad always knew.”
“Yes.”
“He still left it to me.”
“Because he trusted you.”
Elena stared at the tower.
“I used to think that meant he didn’t understand me.”
Robert waited.
“Now I think he understood exactly.”
Elena touched her belly.
“He didn’t leave me the company because I wanted power.”
“He left it because I didn’t.”
Robert smiled slightly.
“That was his theory.”
Elena looked at him.
“Would you help me?”
“With what?”
“When this is over.”
Robert’s expression softened.
“Anything.”
“Help me change it.”
“The company?”
“The trust.”
“Everything.”
Elena turned toward him.
“No more family throne.”
“No more secret succession games.”
“No more one person controlling thousands of lives because of a surname.”
Robert nodded slowly.
“Your father might argue.”
“He can haunt me.”
Robert laughed.
It was the first genuine laugh Elena had heard since the staircase.
Then her phone rang.
Ruiz.
She answered.
“We found Helena’s vehicle.”
“Where?”
“Airport parking.”
Elena’s expression tightened.
“She left?”
“No.”
“How do you know?”
“Her passport hasn’t been used.”
“Then why leave the car there?”
“To make us think she flew.”
Robert looked at Elena.
Ruiz continued.
“We checked traffic cameras.”
“She entered another vehicle.”
“What vehicle?”
“A Mercer Industries executive car.”
Elena frowned.
“Whose?”
Ruiz answered.
“Yours.”
Elena stopped.
“My car?”
“Your corporate sedan.”
“I haven’t used it in weeks.”
“We know.”
“Who has access?”
Ruiz paused.
“Your personal assistant.”
Elena’s face changed.
“Rachel?”
“Yes.”
Rachel Kim had worked for Elena for six years.
She knew Elena’s schedule.
Her meetings.
Her medical appointments.
Her passwords.
Her travel.
She had been one of the few people Elena trusted completely.
Elena whispered.
“Where is Rachel?”
Ruiz answered.
“That’s what we’re trying to find out.”
Robert looked worried.
Elena stared at the city.
Once again, Helena’s reach extended closer than expected.
Not simply into Elena’s company.
Into Elena’s marriage.
Her home.
Her clinic.
Her staff.
Her life.
Then Elena remembered something.
“Mateo.”
“Yes?”
“Rachel booked Northgate.”
Silence.
“What?”
“She was the one who originally gave Adrian the clinic information.”
Ruiz became very quiet.
“When?”
“Two years ago.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
Elena’s heart sank.
May you like
Because suddenly Adrian may not have been the beginning of the path to Northgate.
Rachel was.
