Chapter 5 - The Socialite’s Private Contract
Before investigators could locate Isabel, Bianca requested a meeting.
Her attorney accompanied her.
The assault charge remained active.
So did questions about the attempted fire.
Bianca entered the conference room without makeup or jewelry.
For the first time, she looked younger than Charlotte.
“I did not order the fire,” she said.
“You dragged me across a floor.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Bianca looked down.
“Julian told me you were an extortionist using Charlotte’s identity.”
“And hitting an extortionist was acceptable?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
“Because he said you were trying to take everything from us.”
Charlotte leaned back.
“Us?”
Bianca placed a document on the table.
It was a private engagement contract.
Julian promised Bianca control of the Solmere Foundation, a residence at the Paris property, and two percent of company equity after marriage.
In exchange, Bianca agreed to use her father’s political network, manage public perception, and help establish that Charlotte had suffered psychological problems before her supposed death.
The contract contained talking points.
Charlotte was impulsive.
Paranoid.
Grieving.
Unprepared for leadership.
Possibly suicidal.
Bianca had repeated those claims at charity events and interviews.
“Did you know I was alive?” Charlotte asked.
“Not until three weeks ago.”
“What happened three weeks ago?”
“I saw you near the Palm Springs property.”
“You recognized me?”
“I recognized your scar.”
“Why not report it?”
“Julian said you had staged your death to blackmail the company.”
Bianca had accepted the explanation because it protected her future.
Then Julian asked her to sign a new contract.
It transferred all promised equity into a trust he alone controlled.
“He was preparing to leave me with nothing,” she said.
Charlotte did not offer sympathy.
Being deceived by Julian did not erase Bianca’s cruelty.
“What do you want?”
“Protection.”
“In exchange for?”
“His second phone.”
Bianca had taken it from Julian’s suite before the lobby incident.
The phone contained messages with Senator Laurent, Russell Dane, the private physician, and the contractor connected to the fire.
It also contained a voice recording.
Julian spoke with an unknown man.
Charlotte survived Nevada. The body identification held, but she is asking questions.
The man replied:
Then repeat the yacht solution.
Lena froze the audio.
“Who is that?”
Bianca answered quietly.
“My father.”
Senator Malcolm Laurent had not merely helped hide Julian’s crimes.
He had helped order Charlotte’s death.
Bianca agreed to cooperate.
Her charges would not disappear.
But her evidence could prevent another attack.
Charlotte looked at her.
“Why did you humiliate me in the lobby?”
Bianca’s eyes filled.
“Because everyone was watching, and I wanted them to see I still had power.”
Charlotte understood the impulse without excusing it.
Cruelty performed before a crowd was often fear wearing expensive clothing.
“You wanted strangers to believe I was beneath you.”
“Yes.”
“You will testify to that.”
Bianca nodded.
Public accountability was part of the agreement.
No private apology.
No quiet settlement.
May you like
The same lobby that watched Charlotte bleed would eventually hear Bianca admit why she did it.
---
