Chapter 10 - THE DAUGHTER MALCOLM HIDThe revelation changed the shape of every relationship at Alderwyn.
Malcolm and Celeste Prescott had begun an affair thirty-six years earlier, when Celeste was newly married to Victor. Camille was born two years later. Victor knew she might not be his biological daughter, but acknowledging the truth would have destroyed his first Senate campaign and Malcolm’s position inside Hawthorne Global.
They built a bargain instead.
Victor raised Camille publicly.
Malcolm protected the Prescotts financially.
Celeste kept both men’s secrets.
Camille grew up calling Malcolm “Uncle” in front of others and “Father” only behind locked doors.
Rebecca found proof in Helena’s archived legal correspondence. Six months before her death, Helena had ordered a private paternity test using a glass Camille left at Alderwyn. The result showed a 99.8 percent probability that Malcolm was her father.
“Why did Helena investigate?” Nora asked.
Rebecca turned to the final page.
“Because Malcolm used the employee fund to pay Camille’s hidden trust.”
Twenty million dollars had been diverted over twelve years into a private account created for her education, homes, and future investments. Victor then routed additional money through public development projects.
Helena planned to expose both men.
That made Camille more than a witness.
She was the financial reason the conspiracy began.
Not the cause of Helena’s death.
But the secret everyone had chosen to protect.
Ortiz obtained a warrant for Malcolm’s communications and Victor’s financial records. A judge also authorized police protection for Evelyn.
Julian asked Rosebridge to move her to a secure medical unit.
Nora refused his offer to pay privately unless the arrangement went through an independent victim-support trust.
“I will not owe the Hawthornes for keeping my mother alive,” she said.
Julian accepted the boundary.
“Then I’ll fund the trust without controlling it.”
On the drive back to Connecticut, Marcus called.
Camille’s car had been found at a private airfield. Her passport remained in the glove box. The aircraft scheduled to take her to Montreal departed without her.
“She never intended to flee,” Marcus said. “She wanted Malcolm to believe she did.”
“Where is she?”
“We traced a prepaid phone to the old Prescott campaign office in Hartford.”
Ortiz redirected the convoy.
They found Camille inside a records room surrounded by open boxes. She held no weapon. Her silver gown from the engagement lay across a chair, sealed inside a garment bag. The damaged hem was missing a strip of fabric.
“I needed something with my blood on it,” she explained.
“Why?” Ortiz asked.
Camille pointed to a steel case beneath the table.
“Because Malcolm keeps evidence only when he believes it can be used to control someone.”
Inside were letters from Celeste, bank instructions bearing Malcolm’s signature, photographs of secret family meetings, and a small digital recorder.
Camille had stolen the case from Malcolm’s private office during the blackout.
She planted her car at the airfield and left the bloodstained fabric to make him believe she had been taken.
“You could have brought this to police,” Julian said.
“My father owns judges.”
“Which father?” Nora asked.
Camille looked at her.
“Both of them, in different ways.”
Nora’s cheek still carried the yellowing outline of Camille’s hand.
“You do not get to turn yourself into the victim.”
Camille lowered her eyes.
“I know.”
“You attacked me because you recognized Helena’s locket.”
“I thought you were working for Malcolm. Then I thought you were going to expose me in front of Julian.”
“So you raised a crop over me.”
“Yes.”
She did not ask for forgiveness.
That was the first honest thing she offered Nora.
Ortiz activated the recorder.
Malcolm’s voice filled the room.
He was speaking to Victor three nights before the engagement.
“If Nora Bennett appears with the locket, Camille will handle her. She has more to lose than either of us.”
Victor answered.
“And if your daughter refuses?”
Malcolm’s reply came without hesitation.
“Then she joins Helena.”
Camille began to cry.
Julian looked at the woman he had planned to marry.
She had been cruel, deceptive, and willing to protect herself at Nora’s expense.
She had also been marked for death by the man whose approval she had chased her entire life.
Then another voice appeared on the recording.
A woman.
Older.
Calm.
“You promised Helena would be the last.”
Camille stared at the recorder.
“That’s my mother.”
Celeste Prescott had been present during Malcolm and Victor’s conversation.
And according to travel records, she had supposedly died in France six years earlier.
Ortiz secured the campaign office and separated Camille from the others. Camille agreed to remain in protective custody only after receiving written confirmation that she could consult independent counsel rather than a Prescott or Hawthorne attorney.
Nora watched her sign the form.
The hand that had held the crop now shook so badly that the signature crossed the margin.
“Did Malcolm tell you your mother was alive?” Nora asked.
“He said she died hating me.”
“Victor?”
“He said illness made her cruel at the end.”
Both fathers had used an absent woman to discipline their daughter. Whenever Camille questioned them, they placed Celeste’s supposed final disappointment between her and the truth.
Camille looked at the recorder.
“If that is really her voice, then she knew what they planned for me.”
Ortiz stopped her from drawing a comforting conclusion.
“The recording proves she was present. We still need to determine whether she was free, cooperating, or being controlled.”
May you like
The next truth might save Celeste’s reputation.
It might also destroy it.
