Chapter 11 - CAMILLE'S PRICE
Camille called Loretta three days after the gala.
Loretta almost ignored the number.
Then she answered.
"Hello, Camille."
There was a long silence.
Finally, Camille spoke.
"I need to see you."
"Why?"
"Because Oliver lied to me."
Loretta looked at the rain against her office window.
"That seems to be a recurring problem."
"I'm serious."
"So am I."
Camille took a shaky breath.
"He told me the bracelet was his grandmother's."
Loretta closed her eyes.
The lie was so unnecessary that it almost seemed crueler.
"He told me you knew about us."
Loretta said nothing.
"He said your marriage had been over for years. He said you were staying together for appearances."
"Did you believe him?"
"At first."
"And later?"
Camille hesitated.
"Later, I didn't want to ask questions."
The honesty surprised Loretta.
Camille continued.
"Oliver told me he was leaving you after the gala. He said the foundation would appoint him chairman, and we could start over."
Loretta looked at her desk.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"Because he's blaming me for everything."
Camille's voice cracked.
"He's saying I stole the bracelet. That I manipulated him. That the consulting payments were my idea."
Loretta straightened.
"What consulting payments?"
A pause.
"Oliver asked my company to submit invoices for publicity work we didn't actually perform."
Loretta felt her pulse quicken.
"How much?"
"Almost eight hundred thousand dollars."
"Where did the money go?"
"Some stayed in the company. Most went to an account he controlled."
Loretta closed her eyes.
"Camille, you need an attorney."
"I have one."
"Then you need to tell your attorney everything."
Camille began crying.
"I thought he loved me."
Loretta stared at the window.
For a moment, she saw the younger woman not as a rival but as someone who had participated in a deception and then discovered she was disposable too.
That did not erase Camille's responsibility.
It did not make her innocent.
But Loretta understood the shape of Oliver's manipulation.
"He may have told you lies," Loretta said, "but you still made choices."
"I know."
"You wore my mother's bracelet."
"I know."
"You knew it belonged to someone in his family."
Camille sobbed.
"I'm sorry."
Loretta waited.
Then she said quietly:
"An apology doesn't repair the damage. Cooperation might."
Camille agreed to provide her attorney with the records.
Within a week, investigators had copies of the invoices, correspondence, and payment instructions.
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The financial case against Oliver became substantially stronger.
And Camille learned that being chosen by a dishonest man did not mean being protected by him.
