Chapter 5 - The Contract Camille Never Signed
Adrien opened the door.
His longtime corporate attorney, Margaret Hale, stood outside.
She was sixty-three, silver-haired, and one of perhaps five people in Chicago who had never appeared intimidated by him.
She held a single sheet of paper.
“Where did you get that?”
“Camille.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
Adrien stepped aside.
Margaret entered.
“She asked me to keep it.”
“Why?”
“Because she didn't trust herself to give it to you.”
Adrien looked at the paper.
“Then why are you giving it to me?”
“I'm not.”
Margaret put it back into her folder.
Adrien stared.
“You came here at nine at night to tell me you possess something and then refuse to hand it over?”
“Yes.”
“I see why I pay you so much.”
“You pay me because I'm willing to tell you no.”
Margaret sat.
“I came because Camille called.”
His expression sharpened.
“Is she all right?”
“She is. Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
“Reacting to her name like someone pulled a fire alarm.”
Adrien said nothing.
Margaret studied him.
“I heard about Celeste.”
“Apparently everyone has.”
“Celeste called me.”
“Of course she did.”
“She wanted legal advice about canceling the ceremony contracts.”
Adrien leaned against the desk.
“Cancel them.”
“All?”
“Yes.”
“You'll lose deposits.”
“I'll survive.”
Margaret nodded.
“That was refreshingly easy.”
“Why are you here?”
“Because there is another contract.”
She opened her briefcase.
Adrien recognized it.
Camille's original employment agreement.
Six years old.
“What about it?”
“Nothing.”
She placed another document beside it.
“This is the interesting one.”
RETENTION AGREEMENT.
He frowned.
“What's that?”
“Something your former chief operating officer drafted four years ago.”
Adrien scanned it.
Five-year term.
Substantial salary increase.
Housing allowance.
Confidentiality provisions.
Non-compete.
He stopped.
The non-compete was brutal.
It would have made Ardan House impossible.
“Who authorized this?”
“No one.”
“Did Camille sign?”
“No.”
“Did she see it?”
“Yes.”
Adrien looked up.
“What happened?”
“She refused.”
“Why wasn't I told?”
“Because Camille asked me not to tell you.”
His anger rose.
“Why?”
“Because she knew you'd fire the man who drafted it.”
“I would have.”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
Margaret watched him.
“Victor Soren.”
Adrien went still.
Victor was now vice chairman of Kovac Holdings.
He had been with the company longer than Camille.
“He tried to lock her into a five-year agreement?”
“He believed she had become operationally indispensable.”
“She was.”
Margaret's eyes narrowed.
“People are not infrastructure, Adrien.”
The words landed.
He looked at the contract again.
“Why did Camille protect Victor?”
“She wasn't protecting Victor.”
“Then who?”
“You.”
Adrien looked up.
“She knew you were closing the Zurich acquisition. Removing Victor would have destabilized it.”
Of course.
Even when someone tried to trap her inside his company, Camille had protected Adrien's deal.
He felt sick.
“Did Victor send the photographs?”
“I don't know.”
“But he knew she wanted to leave.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Because she told him.”
Adrien's head snapped up.
“She told Victor before me?”
Margaret almost smiled.
“That bothers you more than the illegal contract?”
“Yes.”
“At least you're learning.”
Adrien walked toward the window.
“Why didn't she tell me?”
“Maybe because you would have made staying easier.”
He turned.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret stood.
“Ask her.”
Everyone kept saying that.
Ask Camille.
But Camille had spent six years answering every question except the ones about herself.
Adrien drove to Ardan House.
He told himself it was because of Victor.
He knew it wasn't.
The building stood on a quiet corner, three stories of old brick with tall windows and worn stone steps.
Light glowed inside.
Camille was alone in the front room surrounded by paint samples.
She looked up as Adrien entered.
“How did you get in?”
“The contractor.”
“You called my contractor?”
“I own buildings.”
“That doesn't answer the question.”
“I tipped him.”
She sighed.
“What happened?”
“Victor.”
Her expression changed.
Margaret had been right.
Camille knew.
Adrien placed the retention agreement on a folding table.
“You should have told me.”
“It was four years ago.”
“He tried to stop you from ever building this.”
“And failed.”
“He threatened your future.”
“He gave me a contract. I said no.”
“You protected him.”
“No.”
“You protected me.”
Camille looked away.
“Zurich mattered.”
“You mattered.”
The words came out harder than he intended.
Camille looked at him.
Adrien stepped closer.
“You should have mattered more than Zurich.”
Something broke open in her expression.
Not quite tears.
Worse.
Hope.
She shut it down immediately.
“Don't do this.”
“Do what?”
“Become the man I needed six years ago because you're afraid I'm leaving.”
Adrien stopped.
She was right again.
He hated that she was always right.
“What do you want from me?”
“Nothing.”
“That isn't possible.”
“It has to be.”
“Why?”
Camille's voice trembled.
“Because I spent six years wanting something I couldn't have.”
Silence.
Adrien stared at her.
Camille realized what she'd said.
She turned away.
“Forget that.”
“No.”
“Adrien.”
“What did you want?”
“Go home.”
“What did you want, Camille?”
She faced him.
Her eyes were bright.
“You.”
One word.
Nothing in Adrien's life had ever hit harder.
Camille laughed softly at herself.
“There. Happy?”
He couldn't speak.
“I loved you,” she said. “Quietly. Stupidly. Professionally. From a distance. And then you proposed to Celeste.”
Adrien's face changed.
“So I stopped waiting for something that was never mine.”
“Camille—”
“No.”
She stepped back.
“This isn't your moment to fix.”
“I wasn't going to fix it.”
“What were you going to do?”
He didn't know.
That frightened him.
Camille picked up her coat.
“I'm leaving.”
“This is your building.”
“Then you're leaving.”
Fair.
Adrien walked toward the door.
Before opening it, he turned.
“Was.”
Camille frowned.
“What?”
“You said you loved me.”
Her breathing changed.
“I said what I said.”
“You used the past tense.”
“Good night, Adrien.”
He opened the door.
His phone buzzed.
A message from corporate security.
He read it.
Then read it again.
Camille saw his face.
“What happened?”
Adrien turned the screen toward her.
Security had traced the anonymous photographs.
The account belonged to an employee inside Kovac Holdings.
Victor Soren's executive office.
Camille whispered, “Adrien…”
Another message arrived.
This one was from Victor himself.
COME TO THE BOARDROOM.
May you like
BRING CAMILLE.
IT'S TIME SHE LEARNS WHY YOU REALLY HIRED HER.
