Chapter 7 - THE FALL OF CAMILLE
The courtyard outside the lake house was completely silent, except for the crackle of the dying fire and the rain hitting the gravel.
Camille’s mercenaries didn’t even try to draw their weapons.
They dropped them.
Evan walked through the line of surrendered men, his face carved from stone. He kicked their guns away and nodded to his team to zip-tie their wrists.
Adrian walked up the muddy embankment, Marcus beside him, and me holding Leo’s hand tightly.
As we reached the front porch, the front door slowly opened.
Camille stood there.
She wasn’t crying anymore.
Her face was totally devoid of emotion. Her expensive coat was ruined, her hair plastered to her face, but she stood tall, clutching a thick leather folder to her chest.
“You think you’ve won?” Camille said, her voice echoing in the damp night air.
Adrian stopped at the bottom of the porch steps.
“It’s over, Camille. Your men are detained. Your father’s syndicate is finished. Evan has already dispatched teams to dismantle your remaining operations in the city.”
Camille’s lips curled into a twisted, arrogant smile.
“You’re a fool, Adrian.”
She opened the folder and pulled out a single sheet of heavy parchment paper.
“Do you know what this is?” she asked, holding it up. “It’s the Romano succession deed. Signed by your uncle before he died.”
Adrian’s eyes narrowed.
“It states that in the event of Marcus Romano being discovered alive, the entirety of the Romano estate, including the trusts, holdings, and properties, legally transfers to his rightful executor.”
She tapped her own chest.
“My father had Marcus declared legally incompetent eleven years ago. I am his power of attorney. If he is alive, I own everything. The house. The money. The men pointing guns at me.”
She looked at the security guards.
“Stand down!” she shrieked. “I sign your paychecks now!”
None of the guards moved.
Evan didn’t even blink.
Camille’s smile faltered. “Did you hear me? The Romano empire is mine!”
Marcus stepped forward, stepping out of Adrian’s shadow.
He looked up at the woman who had kept him in a concrete room for a decade.
“You missed a clause, Camille,” Marcus said quietly.
Camille glared at him. “What?”
Marcus held up his right hand.
The silver ring with the black stone gleamed in the harsh floodlights.
“The succession deed requires the seal of the family ring to be enacted,” Marcus said. “My father never gave it to our uncle. He gave it to me. And I’ve hidden it in the sole of my shoe every single day for eleven years.”
Camille stared at the ring.
The color completely drained from her face.
“And,” Marcus continued, turning to look at his younger brother. “The head of the family can transfer power at any time. Verbally. In front of witnesses.”
Marcus took the heavy silver ring off his finger.
He stepped down the stairs and walked over to Adrian.
Without a word, Marcus took Adrian’s hand and pressed the ring into his brother’s palm.
“It was always supposed to be you, little brother,” Marcus whispered.
Adrian looked at the ring, then at Marcus. The years of grief, anger, and betrayal dissolved in that single look between them.
Adrian slipped the ring onto his finger.
He looked up at Camille.
“Evan,” Adrian’s voice rang out with absolute, undeniable authority.
“Yes, sir.”
“Take her. And put her in the same sublevel cell she kept my brother in.”
Camille screamed.
It was a horrible, guttural sound. She lunged forward, but two of Evan’s massive guards caught her mid-air. They dragged her down the steps, her heels kicking wildly in the mud.
“You’re nothing!” she screamed, locking eyes with me as they dragged her past. “You’re just a pathetic maid! He’ll throw you away just like the rest of them!”
I didn’t look away.
I stood my ground, holding Leo’s hand.
“I am not a maid,” I said clearly, making sure she heard me over her own screaming. “I’m the woman who ended you.”
Camille was shoved into the back of a black van. The doors slammed shut, cutting off her screams instantly.
The silence that followed was heavy, but clean.
The nightmare was over.
Adrian turned around and walked over to me.
He didn’t care about the mud, the rain, or the fifty armed men watching him.
He reached out, cupping my face in his large, warm hands.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his thumbs gently wiping the soot from my cheeks.
“I’m okay,” I whispered, looking up into his dark eyes.
Adrian let out a breath and pulled me against his chest, wrapping his arms around me so tightly I felt like I could finally stop holding myself together.
“Excuse me,” a small voice said.
We pulled apart.
Leo was looking up at us, tugging on my ruined coat.
“Are we going home now?” the boy asked.
Adrian looked at his nephew, then at Marcus, and finally, down at me.
May you like
He smiled. A real, genuine smile.
“Yes,” Adrian said. “We’re all going home.”
