Chapter 4 - THE TWISTED ALLIANCEElliot felt the air leave his lungs. “What did you say?”
Camille took a step forward, her high heels clicking sharp and rhythmic on the floor. “Did you really think I was stupid, Elliot? Did you think I didn't notice you staring at old photos of Naomi for the last two years? Did you think I didn't know about the secret searches on your laptop?”
Naomi stood up slowly beside Elliot, her hands shaking, but her posture defensive. “You stole my daughter.”
“I didn't steal anything,” Camille said smoothly, pulling a crisp set of legal documents from her attorney’s briefcase. “I merely protected my family’s financial interest. You see, Elliot, when your father came to me six months ago worried that you were getting cold feet about our wedding, we made a deal. He promised me forty percent of Vance Enterprises’ voting shares the day we got married. But there was a clause: if our marriage ended due to your infidelity or a surprise heir, I would lose everything.”
Camille smiled, an expression full of pure venom.
“So, I hired a private investigator to track Naomi down. I knew she was living in Maine under an assumed name. I waited until our wedding day was finished, and then I arranged for her to receive a fake ticket to Italy—at the exact same gate, at the exact same time as our honeymoon flight.”
Elliot’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt. “You orchestrated the meeting at Gate C12.”
“Of course I did!” Camille laughed softly. “I needed you to react! I needed you to break your marriage vows in front of witnesses! And the moment you knelt down and touched that girl, my lawyers filed an emergency petition for custody evaluation. By showing that Naomi was hiding a child from a high-profile family, and by alleging she took a bribe, we proved she was unstable.”
“Why?” Elliot demanded, taking a dangerous step toward Camille. “Why take Bella?!”
“Because a child is leverage, Elliot,” Camille whispered, her eyes flashing with cold ambition. “If Naomi wants her daughter back, she will sign a document surrendering all future child support and parental rights claims against the Vance family forever. And if you want to see that child ever again, you will remain married to me for exactly five years, until my father’s merger is fully integrated.”
She held out a pen toward Naomi.
“Sign the full surrender of custody, Naomi. Leave the country. And maybe—just maybe—we’ll let you see Bella on her eighteenth birthday.”
Naomi stared at the legal documents in Camille’s hand. Her body was shaking, her face pale as snow.
“You’re a monster,” Naomi whispered.
“I’m a businesswoman,” Camille corrected sharply. “You have twenty-four hours to sign, or my lawyers will ensure you spend the next five years in prison for extortion and corporate blackmail based on that two-million-dollar payment.”
Camille turned on her heel and walked out of the precinct, her lawyers following close behind.
Elliot turned to Naomi. Her eyes were empty, filled with a terrifying despair.
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“I’m going to kill them,” Elliot said, his voice dropping into a register of deadly calm. “I’m going to tear down everything my father and Camille built.”
“No,” Naomi whispered, gripping his coat collar tightly. “We don't need to kill them, Elliot. We need to play their game—and burn them from the inside.”
