Chapter 12
Camilla requested one private meeting.
Domenico refused the private part.
They met in Rachel’s office.
Attorneys remained nearby.
Camilla looked as though she had aged ten years.
“I didn't know he found her alive.”
Domenico believed her.
That did not make forgiveness automatic.
“I thought he argued with her and left.”
“You still hid that.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Camilla looked at her hands.
“Because Marco told me if I said he followed her, everyone would think he ran her off the road.”
“So you protected him.”
“Yes.”
“Elena was dead.”
Camilla started crying.
“I know.”
“No.”
Domenico’s voice remained controlled.
“You knew she died. You didn't know what your silence was taking from everyone else.”
He told her about the recovered audio.
Not every word.
Enough.
Camilla covered her face.
“She asked him to call?”
“Yes.”
Camilla bent forward.
For several seconds no one spoke.
Then she said:
“I want to give a full statement.”
Her attorney moved slightly.
Camilla raised one hand.
“No.”
She looked toward Domenico.
“I've spent eighteen months deciding what truth this family could survive.”
She removed her wedding ring.
“I was wrong.”
Camilla’s cooperation helped reconstruct the timeline.
She admitted telling Marco Elena’s location.
Admitted concealing his trip.
Admitted knowing Elena had investigated the foundation.
Admitted moving several of Elena’s belongings after her death.
Then Domenico asked about the vase.
Camilla closed her eyes.
“She hid the envelope during a dinner at your house.”
“You saw her?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you take it?”
“I tried.”
The vase had a felt-covered weighted base.
Elena had slipped the envelope inside a narrow opening.
Removing it without visibly damaging the antique would have required breaking the seal or base.
Camilla feared Domenico would notice.
So she moved the entire vase into family storage after Elena died.
Later it became part of the wedding décor.
Camilla believed the envelope would remain hidden.
May you like
Until Livia bumped it.
The cheapest accident of the entire story had broken open the most expensive lie.
