Chapter 5 - What Camille Knew
Preston refused to wait.
He said he had been insulted.
He said his company would reconsider doing business with the Halcyon.
He said several important people would hear about tonight.
Margot listened until he finished.
“Security will escort you out. We’ll contact you through the appropriate channels.”
His gaze cut toward Laurel.
“You happy now?”
She thought of Ben sitting in the office, afraid to tell the truth.
“No.”
That seemed to unsettle him more than anger would have.
Camille remained where she was.
Preston reached for her elbow.
“Come on.”
She stepped back.
“I’ll find my own way home.”
His hand stopped in midair.
For one second, Laurel saw the man she remembered from blocked doorways.
Then he looked toward security and lowered it.
He left without another word.
Camille watched the doors close.
The quartet began playing between courses.
Nobody nearby pretended convincingly that they hadn’t been listening.
“Could we speak somewhere?” Camille asked.
Laurel glanced at Margot.
“Not alone,” Margot said.
Camille nodded.
They moved to a small meeting room with Ruth Ellison and the security director.
Camille sat with her hands clasped.
“I didn’t write the complaint.”
Laurel said nothing.
“But I heard about it before tonight.”
“When?” Margot asked.
“Tuesday.”
Laurel felt her pulse in her throat.
Preston had arrived with a plan formed days earlier.
“He said a hotel manager had concerns about vendor kickbacks. He wanted me to see what kind of person you really were.”
Camille looked at Laurel.
“I believed him.”
“That was convenient.”
“Yes,” she said.
The answer came without defense.
Laurel hadn’t expected that.
Camille removed her phone.
“He sent me messages.”
She scrolled, then stopped.
The security director asked her not to delete anything and explained how to provide copies.
On the screen, Preston had written that the hotel would need “a leadership reset” before serious investors considered its technology choices.
Below it was another message.
Caleb understands the opportunity.
Margot’s expression hardened.
Camille continued.
“I arranged the sponsor introduction. My father’s company bought the table.”
“Does your father know?”
“No.”
“Did you know Preston planned to offer his system as a replacement tonight?”
“Yes.”
The room went quiet.
“I thought the existing system was unreliable,” she said. “That’s what he told me.”
Laurel looked at the silver dress.
At the immaculate nails.
At the woman she had spent half the evening assuming understood exactly what she was doing.
“Did he tell you I still wanted him back?”
Camille’s eyes lifted.
“Yes.”
Laurel almost laughed.
Of course he had.
“He ended our relationship seven months ago. I left that night. I haven’t asked him to reconsider.”
Camille stared at her phone.
“He said you kept finding excuses to contact him.”
“He has a box of my mother’s dishes in his garage. I’ve asked him to return it.”
Ruth made a small, disbelieving sound.
Camille closed her eyes.
Then she said, “I’m sorry about what I said to you.”
Laurel let the apology sit.
She wasn’t ready to make it easy.
Finally, she said, “Give security the messages.”
“I will.”
Outside, applause rose from the ballroom.
The keynote had ended.
Laurel stood.
“I have an auction to run.”
Ruth followed her into the corridor.
“You’ve had quite a night.”
“It’s only nine.”
Ruth smiled.
“Then we still have time to improve it.”
At the ballroom doors, June met them with a fresh headset.
Laurel put it on.
“Where are we?”
“Package one is ready. Auctioneer’s waiting.”
“And the total?”
June turned the tablet.
The number was already past one million.
May you like
Laurel looked toward the stage.
“Then let’s finish what we started.”
