Chapter 9 - The Ballroom at MidnightThe baby shower venue looked different without guests.
No music.
No champagne.
No laughter.
Only chandeliers glowing over empty tables dressed in white and gold.
Pastel flowers lined the stage.
A giant sign read:
WELCOME, BABY MERCER.
Naomi stood in the service corridor with Beatrix and two licensed investigators.
Roland arrived separately.
Alistair insisted on coming.
No one trusted anyone enough to object.
At 11:26 p.m., Graham Vale entered through the ballroom’s side door.
He was seventy-one, silver-haired, immaculate, and visibly irritated.
Camille arrived four minutes later.
She wore a dark coat over the emerald maternity gown she had apparently been fitting for the next day.
Naomi and the others watched from a monitored service room.
One investigator recorded only what venue management had legally authorized in the commercial common area.
Vale placed a leather portfolio on a table.
Camille did not sit.
“You’re late,” she said.
“You’re reckless,” he answered.
“You said the transfer was done.”
“The board approval is conditional.”
“Because Naomi asked one question.”
“Because Roland failed to disclose relationships we told him to keep separate.”
Roland’s jaw tightened.
Naomi looked at him.
He whispered, “I never knew Halcyon was my mother’s.”
She believed he might be telling the truth.
Vale opened the portfolio.
“The transaction can still close.”
“How?”
“Tomorrow Roland publicly acknowledges the child.”
Camille smiled without warmth.
“He will.”
“And signs the beneficiary certification.”
“He will.”
Alistair whispered, “That certification would be false.”
Beatrix nodded.
“If Roland knew.”
Roland looked sick.
Camille continued.
“Once the sale closes, Naomi loses audit access.”
Vale said, “And Mercer Urban is outside the public group.”
“What about Asterline?”
“Halcyon terminates the contract.”
Camille finally sat.
“Then we offer Naomi another acquisition.”
“And if she refuses again?”
Camille looked toward the enormous windows.
“She won’t after tomorrow.”
Naomi felt Beatrix’s hand touch her arm.
Stay calm.
Vale asked, “What are you doing tomorrow?”
“Giving Naomi what she deserves.”
Vale’s expression hardened.
“This obsession with humiliating her is childish.”
For the first time, Camille’s composure cracked.
“You don’t get to call it childish.”
Vale looked bored.
“I placed you near her for information, not revenge.”
Naomi’s heart seemed to stop.
Roland turned toward her.
Alistair swore under his breath.
Camille stood.
“You placed me near her because Samuel Ellis had documents.”
Vale’s voice remained cold.
“And because Naomi trusted easily.”
The words struck harder than Naomi expected.
Her friendship had been engineered.
Not from the first champagne spill by chance.
Deliberately.
Camille stepped closer to Vale.
“You told me the Mercers destroyed my mother.”
Vale lowered his voice.
“They did.”
“What does that have to do with Naomi?”
“Nothing.”
Camille laughed bitterly.
“That’s what you never understood.”
Naomi watched.
Vale had recruited Camille for one purpose.
Camille’s hatred of Naomi had become personal later.
“Why do you hate her?” Vale asked.
Camille’s face tightened.
“Because she had everything.”
“Jealousy.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Camille slammed her palm onto the table.
“She had a father who protected her. A husband everyone admired. A company everyone praised. She walked into rooms and people listened.”
Vale’s expression remained empty.
“And you decided to take her husband.”
“I decided to prove her life wasn’t as perfect as she thought.”
Roland closed his eyes.
Camille continued, voice shaking now.
“Then he chose me.”
Vale almost smiled.
“Roland chose whoever admired him most.”
Roland opened his eyes.
Naomi did not look at him.
Vale slid documents across the table.
“Tomorrow is business. Keep your emotions out of it.”
Camille stared at the papers.
“What is this?”
“Beneficiary certification.”
“And the other document?”
“Resignation.”
“Whose?”
“Roland’s.”
Silence.
Vale continued.
“Once the paternity discrepancy becomes public, Evelyn Mercer will demand his resignation for misleading shareholders.”
Camille’s face changed.
“That wasn’t the agreement.”
“No. The agreement changed.”
“So Roland loses the company.”
“Yes.”
“And Alistair?”
“Implicated in the fraud and affair. He loses credibility.”
Alistair leaned against the wall.
Naomi suddenly understood.
The brothers were being removed simultaneously.
Evelyn Mercer would regain effective family control through Halcyon.
“What about me?” Camille asked.
Vale closed the portfolio.
“You are compensated.”
Camille laughed.
“Compensated?”
“Northstar is yours.”
“That company will be investigated.”
“That is why you should leave the country after the transaction.”
Camille stared at him.
“You’re sacrificing me.”
Vale finally looked tired.
“You were always paid for risk.”
Camille reached for the portfolio.
Vale pulled it away.
“You’ll receive copies tomorrow.”
“You don’t trust me.”
“No.”
Camille’s face became frighteningly still.
“Then you should.”
“Why?”
She lifted her phone.
“Because I recorded every conversation with Evelyn Mercer.”
Vale froze.
Naomi’s pulse jumped.
Camille smiled.
“She thinks I’m stupid too.”
Vale whispered, “Delete them.”
“No.”
“Camille.”
“Northstar becomes clean. I receive ten percent of the Halcyon acquisition vehicle. And Naomi’s company is left alone.”
Naomi stared.
That final demand surprised everyone.
Vale seemed surprised too.
“Why protect Asterline now?”
Camille’s expression became unreadable.
“Because I want Naomi to know I could have taken it.”
Vale laughed once.
“You still need her to see you.”
Camille’s smile disappeared.
Vale left at 11:47.
Camille remained alone.
She looked around the empty ballroom.
Then she walked to the gift table.
There was already a gold-ribbon box there.
Naomi’s box.
Except Naomi had never delivered it.
She turned to Beatrix.
“That’s not mine.”
Beatrix’s face changed.
Camille picked up the card.
She read it.
Then smiled.
OPEN WHEN ROLAND MAKES HIS TOAST.
Exactly the message Naomi had planned to attach.
Someone had copied her idea.
Camille lifted the lid slightly.
Naomi could not see inside.
But Camille could.
Her face went white.
She dropped the lid.
Roland whispered, “What is it?”
Camille spun toward the ballroom doors.
For the first time that night, she looked genuinely terrified.
Her phone rang.
She answered.
“Hello?”
A distorted voice spoke too faintly for the monitoring equipment.
Camille listened.
Then whispered:
“No.”
A pause.
“You weren’t supposed to have that.”
Naomi felt every hair on her arms rise.
Camille looked directly toward the darkened service corridor.
Not at them.
But close enough.
The voice continued.
Camille’s hand began to shake.
Then she said something no one expected.
“Naomi didn’t send it?”
The call ended.
Camille stared at the gold-ribbon box.
Inside was something powerful enough to frighten her.
And someone else had placed it there using Naomi’s planned message.
Roland looked at Naomi.
“If you didn’t send it…”
“I didn’t.”
Alistair’s face went pale.
“I know who did.”
Naomi turned.
“Who?”
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He swallowed.
“Our mother.”
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