Chapter 2 - The Man Behind Camille's Smile)
The paused image showed Charles Danner standing just inside Mia's bedroom.
Charles had been Grant's personal attorney for six years. He had handled contract disputes, property purchases, two acquisitions, and most of the legal work surrounding Laura's estate after her death. He had eaten dinner at the villa. He had brought Mia a silver charm bracelet for her eighth birthday. He had once stood beside Grant at Laura's funeral and told him, with tears in his eyes, that he would "protect the family from anything."
Now he was visible on a secret recording made inside Mia's bedroom while Grant was out of town.
Camille moved toward the tablet.
Grant raised one hand.
"Don't."
"Grant, I can explain."
"I'm sure you can."
His voice was quiet.
Mia slid closer to Anna.
Grant resumed the video.
Camille crossed the room and pulled open Mia's desk drawer.
"Where did you hide it?" she demanded.
"I don't know what you mean," Mia said on the screen.
Charles stayed near the door.
"Camille, don't frighten her."
"You said the document could ruin everything."
"Not in front of her."
Mia on the recording went pale.
Grant paused again.
"What document?"
Camille folded her arms.
"Your daughter was going through Laura's old things."
"So?"
"So some of them are private."
"Private to whom?"
"To adults."
Grant looked at Charles on the frozen screen.
"Why was Charles here?"
"He stopped by."
"While I was in Boston."
"Yes."
"Without telling me."
"It was legal business."
"Conducted in my nine-year-old daughter's bedroom?"
Camille took a breath.
"You are twisting this because you're upset."
Grant pressed play.
The answer came from the recording itself.
Camille grabbed Mia by both shoulders.
"If you found the envelope, you will give it to me."
"I didn't."
Charles said, "Camille."
She ignored him.
"Your father doesn't need more grief. Do you understand? If you love him, you will stop digging through your dead mother's secrets."
Mia began to cry.
Grant's hand tightened around the tablet.
Then Charles did something that changed the room.
He stepped forward and said, very clearly, "You told me she never saw the signature page."
Camille turned on him.
"And she didn't."
"Then why is the envelope missing?"
Camille looked back at Mia.
"Because the little brat took it."
The recording ended thirty seconds later, after Camille shoved Mia onto the bed and warned her that Grant would send her away if she kept "inventing stories."
Nobody in the real room spoke.
Grant stared at the black screen.
Anna was crying silently.
Mia looked terrified of what came next.
Camille stood by the doorway, composed again, as if she had decided denial was no longer useful.
Grant looked up.
"Where is Charles?"
"I don't know."
"Call him."
"No."
Grant almost smiled.
It was not a pleasant expression.
"Call him."
Camille's posture changed.
"For what purpose?"
"So I can ask him why he was searching my daughter's bedroom for a missing signature page."
"Grant, listen to yourself. You are making accusations based on fragments."
"Then help me complete the picture."
She said nothing.
Grant took out his own phone and called Charles.
Straight to voicemail.
He called again.
Same result.
Then Mia spoke.
"Dad?"
Grant turned immediately.
"What is it?"
She reached under her mattress.
Camille moved before anyone else understood.
Grant caught her shoulder and shoved her back.
"Stay where you are."
Mia pulled out a thin plastic pouch.
Inside was an old envelope, folded twice and sealed with yellowing tape.
On the front, in Laura's handwriting, were four words.
FOR GRANT. ONLY GRANT.
Grant's face changed.
He took the envelope with both hands.
Camille whispered, "Don't open that."
Grant looked at her.
"Why?"
"Because Laura was sick at the end."
Mia flinched.
Grant's expression hardened.
"Laura had cancer. She was not insane."
"I didn't say insane."
"You were about to."
Camille looked away.
Grant broke the tape.
Inside were three pages.
The first was a letter.
Grant,
If you're reading this, it means either I finally found the courage to tell you or I ran out of time.
There is something wrong with the trust.
I signed papers when I was weak, medicated, and frightened. Charles told me they were routine estate updates. Later I found a second version with language I had never seen.
If I die, do not let anyone move Mia's inheritance. Do not sign anything Charles brings you without an independent attorney.
And Grant, there is one more thing.
Camille knows.
Grant stopped reading.
His eyes moved slowly to his wife.
Camille's face had lost all color.
Mia whispered, "Keep reading."
Grant did.
I don't know how much she knows, or why she has been asking about the family foundation, but I heard her arguing with Charles in the guesthouse.
They thought I was asleep.
If anything happens to me before I can prove it, protect Mia first.
Not the company.
Not the house.
Mia.
Laura
Grant read the letter twice.
The second page was a photocopy of a trust amendment.
The third page was a list of account numbers.
One account had a handwritten note beside it.
MIA - DO NOT TRANSFER.
Grant looked up.
"How long have you known about this?"
Camille shook her head.
"I didn't."
"Laura wrote your name."
"Laura hated me."
"You met Laura twice."
"She was paranoid."
Mia suddenly said, "She knew you before Dad did."
Grant turned.
The room seemed to tilt.
"What?"
Mia looked at Camille.
"I heard her tell Mr. Charles."
Camille's eyes flashed.
"Enough."
Grant stepped between them.
"What did you hear?"
Mia pressed her lips together.
Grant crouched.
"It's okay."
"No, it's not."
"Mia."
"She said Mommy was supposed to sign everything before she died. She said you weren't supposed to find out she knew her."
Grant did not move.
Camille's face had become unreadable.
Anna whispered, "Sir..."
Grant stood.
"Nobody leaves this house."
Camille laughed once.
"You think you can imprison me?"
"No. But I can call security and tell them that until police arrive, anyone attempting to remove documents from this property is to be detained at the gate."
That finally frightened her.
Grant called the head of security.
Then he called the police.
Then he called a name he had not used in years.
Evelyn Shaw.
Laura's older sister.
She answered on the second ring.
"Grant?"
He looked at the letter in his hand.
"I need to ask you something about Laura."
There was a long silence.
Then Evelyn said, "You found the envelope."
Grant closed his eyes.
"You knew?"
"I knew she hid something. I didn't know where."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Laura made me promise I would wait until Mia was safe."
Grant's grip tightened around the phone.
"Safe from whom?"
May you like
Evelyn's answer came quietly.
"From the woman you married."
