Chapter 6 - THE WOMAN BEHIND THE BRIDE
Camilla Valenti arrived at the estate at nine the next morning.
She wore cream.
Pearls.
No fear.
Adrian invited her into the study.
I wasn't supposed to be there.
Eleanor insisted.
“Sophie stays.”
Camilla looked at me.
“The maid?”
“The witness,” Eleanor corrected.
Camilla smiled.
“I see.”
Adrian placed the financial records on the desk.
“Explain.”
Camilla didn't touch them.
“I assume you've already decided what they mean.”
“Humor me.”
“You sound like your father.”
“Which one?”
That landed.
Camilla looked at Eleanor.
“So you finally told him.”
“You knew?”
Adrian's voice changed.
Camilla sighed.
“Everyone who mattered knew.”
I watched that sentence strike him.
Everyone who mattered.
Meaning Adrian hadn't.
Camilla continued.
“Lorenzo didn't care.”
“I care.”
“Because Eleanor made you care.”
Adrian stood.
“No. Because you used my father's company to finance Vivian.”
Camilla's smile disappeared.
“She was supposed to stabilize you.”
“By stealing thirty-four million dollars?”
“By giving this family an heir.”
The room went still.
I looked at Adrian.
He looked sick.
Camilla continued as if discussing a merger.
“You're thirty-eight. Unmarried. No children. Eleanor controls the trust. Marcus DeLuca has spent decades waiting for the Valenti structure to weaken.”
“Marcus wasn't attacking us.”
“Marcus is your biological father.”
Eleanor's voice sharpened.
“He has never asked Adrian for anything.”
“He doesn't need to. His blood is already sitting at the head of our company.”
Adrian understood.
This wasn't only money.
Camilla had hated the truth of his birth for decades.
To her, Adrian wasn't fully Valenti.
Even though Lorenzo had chosen him.
Raised him.
Named him.
Camilla wanted a child born from Adrian and Vivian because she believed she could control the next generation.
Vivian's access to the trust would give Camilla control until that child inherited.
Adrian's voice became almost inaudible.
“You planned my marriage.”
“I introduced you.”
“You paid her.”
“I protected this family.”
Eleanor laughed.
“No. You protected your idea of it.”
Camilla turned.
“You betrayed my brother.”
“Your brother forgave me.”
“He was weak.”
Adrian slammed his hand onto the desk.
“Don't.”
Camilla looked at him.
For the first time, she seemed to remember whose house she was standing in.
Adrian leaned forward.
“Lorenzo Valenti was my father because he decided to be.”
Silence.
“You don't get to dishonor him because his decision doesn't fit your obsession with blood.”
Camilla's face hardened.
“You'll regret speaking to me like this.”
“No.”
He gathered the documents.
“I regret listening to you for thirty-eight years.”
Then Camilla smiled.
“You still don't understand.”
“What?”
“Vivian doesn't need the trust amendment anymore.”
Adrian stopped.
“Why?”
“Because you signed the prenuptial agreement yesterday.”
His face changed.
“I haven't signed the prenup.”
Camilla's smile widened.
“Oh, Adrian.”
She opened her handbag.
Removed a copy.
His signature was at the bottom.
Not similar.
Exact.
I saw his face.
Someone had forged it.
But Camilla wasn't finished.
“According to this agreement, Cross Meridian receives control of the disputed shares if the wedding is canceled by you less than seventy-two hours before the ceremony.”
I looked at the clock.
The wedding was in sixty-eight hours.
May you like
The trap had already closed.
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