Chương 8
He stopped.
She stood behind him, smaller than she had looked all evening.
“If you expose this, my family will destroy me.”
He turned around.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“They will have to answer for what they did.”
Camilla looked down.
“And me?”
Enzo did not answer immediately.
Because that was the part he did not know.
Not because he wanted to protect her.
Because he was still trying to understand whether she was another victim of the same system or one of the people who kept it alive.
“I do not know yet,” he said.
The honesty was painful.
But it was the first honest answer either of them had given each other in a long time.
The honesty was painful.
But it was the first honest answer either of them had given each other in a long time.
Camilla looked at him as if she wanted to argue.
She always had an argument ready.
A reason.
A defense.
A way to turn a wound into a negotiation.
This time, nothing came.
Enzo opened the door.
“Where is your security chief?”
Camilla looked surprised by the question.
“He left after the guests started leaving.”
“Name.”
She hesitated.
“Victor Hale.”
“Where can I find him?”
“I do not know.”
Enzo studied her face.
Not for guilt.
For fear.
She was afraid of Victor.
That was something he had not considered.
“Camilla.”
She looked away.
“He does not work for me.”
“He works for your family.”
“Yes.”
The distinction mattered to her.
Maybe because she had spent years learning that there were different levels of power inside her own home.
“My father hired him.”
“Then call your father.”
Her expression changed immediately.
“No.”
The reaction was too fast.
Too instinctive.
Enzo noticed.
“Why?”
“Because he will make this disappear.”
“That sounds like what you wanted before.”
Camilla flinched.
The words landed because there was truth inside them.
“I wanted the embarrassment to disappear.”
“And now?”
She looked toward the floor.
“Now I want the truth to stay long enough for someone to do something about it.”
Enzo did not respond.
Not because he disagreed.
Because he was still deciding whether he believed her.
That was the difficult part.
People rarely changed all at once.
They moved slowly.
Sometimes after years of pretending not to know what they knew.
Sometimes after consequences finally reached them.
Sometimes because losing control forced them to see what control had hidden.
“I need to find Adeline,” he said.
Camilla looked up.
“Why?”
“Because she is involved.”
“She is not involved in this.”
“She is involved because she was recorded.”
Camilla looked uncomfortable.
“Enzo.”
“What?”
“Be careful.”
The warning sounded genuine.
That bothered him.
Because genuine fear from someone who had caused harm was harder to understand than cruelty.
“What are you afraid will happen?”
Camilla shook her head.
“I do not know.”
“That is not true.”
She pressed her lips together.
The silence answered for her.
“Camilla.”
She sat back down.
“My father does not like losing control.”
“Neither do you.”
The words were quiet.
But they were accurate.
She looked at him.
“No.”
For once, she did not deny it.
“He taught me that control was the only thing keeping people from hurting you.”
Enzo leaned against the doorframe.
“And did it work?”
Camilla gave a small, tired laugh.
“No.”
The answer surprised him.
“It just made me become someone I hated.”
The room became quiet again.
Outside, a car started in the driveway.
Another guest leaving.
Another person escaping the aftermath.
Enzo looked at the woman sitting in front of him.
He did not forgive her.
He did not know if forgiveness was even possible yet.
But he finally saw that the person who had hurt Adeline was also someone who had spent years inside the same machine.
That did not erase responsibility.
It only complicated it.
“I am going to talk to Victor,” he said.
Camilla stood.
“You cannot just confront him.”
“Why?”
“Because he will deny everything.”
“Then I will ask questions.”
“That will not work.”
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“Because people like Victor do not answer questions.”
The sentence carried experience.
“Then what do they answer?”
Camilla hesitated.
“Pressure.”
Enzo nodded slowly.
“Good.”
She frowned.
“You think this is simple.”
“No.”
He picked up his phone.
“I think it is overdue.”
He left the room before she could respond.
Michael was waiting in the hallway.
The attorney looked between Enzo and Camilla.
Neither explained.
Michael had worked with powerful families long enough to understand when a conversation had created more problems than it solved.
“Did you find anything useful?” Enzo asked.
Michael nodded.
“Victor’s location.”
“Where?”
“His apartment in the city.”
“Alone?”
“Unknown.”
Enzo looked at him.
Michael understood immediately.
“You are thinking about going there.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
The answer was immediate.
Enzo raised an eyebrow.
“You did not even consider it.”
“I did.”
Michael adjusted his glasses.
“That is why I said no.”
“This is not a legal meeting.”
“Exactly.”
Michael lowered his voice.
“You are angry.”
“I am focused.”
“You are both.”
Enzo did not argue.
Because he was.
Anger had always been easy to hide when it belonged to him.
He could turn it into work.
Into planning.
Into decisions.
But tonight was different.
Tonight he had seen someone powerless waiting for permission to speak.
He had seen himself among the people who watched.
That was harder to ignore.
“I need to know what he has,” Enzo said.
“And you will.”
Michael looked toward the hallway where Camilla remained inside the sitting room.
“But not by walking into a confrontation without knowing what he is prepared to do.”
Enzo looked away.
“You sound like my father.”
“That is insulting.”
A small smile appeared despite everything.
For a moment, the tension broke.
Then Michael’s expression became serious again.
“There is another issue.”
“What?”
“The staff.”
Enzo looked at him.
“The recordings.”
“Yes.”
May you like
Michael lowered his voice.
“If Victor has been collecting footage for months, we need to find out who else was affected.”
