Chapter 5
Lorenzo met Camille once.
Only once.
Rachel insisted both attorneys attend.
No bodyguards inside.
No private threats.
No dramatic family room.
A conference room downtown.
Camille arrived wearing no engagement ring.
Lorenzo noticed the pale mark on her finger.
She noticed him noticing.
“You enjoyed that.”
“No.”
“You tore a ring off my hand in front of everyone.”
“I removed it.”
“You slapped me.”
“Yes.”
Her attorney shifted.
Lorenzo continued.
“I gave a complete statement to the responding officer.”
Camille blinked.
She had not expected that.
The engagement reception staff had called local police after the physical confrontation.
Lorenzo had not suppressed the report.
He admitted striking Camille after she reached for Mia again.
Whether prosecutors viewed the act as unlawful would be their decision.
Camille looked almost disappointed that he would not pretend it had never happened.
Then she turned to Nora.
“She has manipulated you for years.”
“Nora isn’t here.”
“She doesn’t need to be.”
Camille leaned forward.
“She wants to raise your daughter.”
Lorenzo said nothing.
“She hates that you were going to marry me.”
“Did she tell you that?”
“She didn’t need to.”
“So no.”
Camille’s jaw tightened.
“She undermined everything.”
“What?”
“Staff assignments. Wedding deliveries. Guest access. Vendor approvals.”
Vendor approvals.
Rachel noticed the same phrase.
Lorenzo asked:
“What vendors?”
Camille hesitated.
Then:
“All of them.”
“Name one.”
“Why?”
“Because you brought it up.”
Camille glanced at her attorney.
Then said:
“Arden Hospitality.”
Lorenzo knew the name.
Her brother Owen’s company.
They had supplied temporary servers, floral coordination, valet crews, rentals, and catering support for several engagement events.
Lorenzo had approved the relationship because Camille said keeping parts of the wedding within her family mattered to her.
He had not reviewed individual invoices.
Nora had.
That was her job.
Lorenzo leaned back.
“Did Nora reject invoices from Owen’s company?”
Camille’s expression changed.
Barely.
Enough.
“How would I know?”
Rachel asked:
“You just said Nora interfered with vendor approvals.”
Camille looked at her attorney.
The attorney intervened.
“We are not here for a financial examination.”
Rachel nodded.
“Then we can obtain the records elsewhere.”
The meeting ended ten minutes later.
Camille left angry.
Lorenzo stayed seated.
Rachel looked at him.
“You saw it.”
“Yes.”
“What do you know about Arden Hospitality?”
“Almost nothing.”
“That changes today.”
It did.
The first invoices looked ordinary.
Then duplicates appeared.
Two sets of linen rentals for the same dinner.
Overlapping temporary staffing hours.
A premium valet charge for a luncheon with twelve guests and no outside vehicles.
Nora had flagged several.
Camille overrode her.
Samuel approved some because he assumed wedding costs were Camille’s domain.
The amounts were not enormous individually.
Together, they exceeded $180,000 in five months.
Lorenzo stared at the total.
Rachel said:
“Still not proof of fraud.”
“No.”
“But now Nora’s role has a second dimension.”
Lorenzo understood.
May you like
Nora was not only standing between Camille and Mia.
She was standing between Camille’s family and money.
