Chapter 6 - THE FATHER WHO USED HIS OWN DAUGHTER AS BAIT
Camila waited until Eleanor left.
Then she slapped Julian.
Not as hard as Vanessa had slapped her.
Hard enough.
Julian took it without raising a hand.
Vanessa watched with an expression somewhere between satisfaction and pity.
“You knew,” Camila said.
Julian touched his cheek.
“I suspected.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“Before I started working here?”
“Three weeks after.”
Camila laughed in disbelief.
“So you watched Rosie in your house for weeks and said nothing.”
“I had no proof.”
“You had enough proof to sign a declaration.”
“For counsel.”
“For leverage.”
Julian’s silence betrayed him.
Vanessa sat down.
“Tell her the rest.”
Julian turned.
“You knew too?”
“I found the investigator invoice.”
Camila’s voice dropped.
“Investigator?”
Julian walked to the window.
“When Camila applied through the agency, security flagged the name. I remembered Harbor. I had my investigator trace her history.”
“You investigated me.”
“Yes.”
“He found Rosie.”
“Yes.”
“And the dates.”
“Yes.”
Camila’s hands trembled.
“Why not ask me?”
“Because I also discovered Eleanor had contacted you.”
Camila went still.
Julian turned back.
“I did not know whether you were here to tell me I had a daughter, extort me, expose Vanessa, or help Eleanor seize the trust.”
“So you let me stay.”
“Yes.”
“You let Rosie get close to you.”
His face tightened.
“I did not plan that.”
“But you used us to see what we would do.”
“Yes.”
The word was ugly.
Julian did not decorate it.
Camila looked toward the ceiling.
“My daughter called you Daddy because she liked you.”
His voice softened.
“I know.”
“And you were studying her mother like a suspect.”
“Yes.”
Camila wiped angry tears away.
“You are no better than your father.”
Julian flinched for the first time.
Vanessa leaned forward.
“He is different from Thomas.”
Both looked at her.
She shrugged.
“Not necessarily better. Different.”
Julian almost smiled despite himself.
Camila did not.
A custody attorney arrived that afternoon.
Not because Camila called one.
Because Julian had already retained her.
Camila saw the engagement letter on his desk.
Dated ten days earlier.
Her rage returned.
“You were preparing for custody.”
“I was preparing for every outcome.”
“That is what people say when they want to control everyone else’s choices.”
“I will not lose my daughter because I was three years late learning she exists.”
“And I will not lose mine because you have more money.”
Julian’s voice sharpened.
“I did not say I wanted to take her from you.”
“You hired a custody lawyer before you told me you suspected anything.”
“I hired counsel because I knew this could become a war.”
“You helped make it one.”
Again, true.
That evening, Camila packed.
Vanessa found her in the servants’ corridor folding Rosie’s clothes into a suitcase.
“Leaving?”
“Yes.”
“Julian will file to prevent you from taking Rosie out of state.”
Camila looked up.
“Are you warning me or threatening me?”
“I haven’t decided.”
Vanessa leaned against the doorframe.
“You think I hate you.”
“You slapped me.”
“I was angry.”
“That is not a defense.”
“No.”
Vanessa looked at the little yellow dress lying on the bed.
“I hated what Rosie represented.”
Camila’s expression hardened.
“She is a child.”
“I know that now in a way I did not three years ago.”
Camila studied her.
“Why are you helping me?”
“I’m not.”
Vanessa gave a tired smile.
“I’m helping myself.”
She handed Camila a flash drive.
“What is this?”
“Julian’s investigator file. His attorney strategy. Draft custody options.”
Camila stared.
“You stole this?”
“I copied it.”
“Why?”
“Because if Eleanor convinces the court that all of you are dangerous, she gets the trust. If Julian crushes you in custody court, he becomes exactly what Eleanor claims. And if you run, you prove his lawyers right.”
Camila closed her hand around the drive.
“What do you want?”
Vanessa’s eyes were cold and clear.
“A divorce settlement Julian cannot rewrite after this scandal.”
There it was.
No sudden sisterhood.
A transaction.
Camila understood transactions.
“What are you offering?”
“Enough evidence to stop Julian from overpowering you.”
“And in return?”
“You testify that I did not physically or legally threaten Rosie after learning the DNA result.”
Camila stared at her.
“You did threaten me three years ago through that settlement.”
“Then say that too.”
Vanessa held out her hand.
“I’m asking for truth, not loyalty.”
Camila shook it.
The next morning, Julian received notice that Camila had retained the best family-law attorney in the city.
Attached was a preservation demand citing documents only one person inside the mansion could have given her.
May you like
Julian slowly looked toward Vanessa’s empty breakfast chair.
And realized his wife and the mother of his child had just formed an alliance against him.
