Camille’s Smile Cracks
Chapter 07 - Camille’s Smile Cracks
Camille Voss did not run.
Running was for people who admitted guilt with their shoes. Camille walked toward the service path with a planner’s clipboard tucked under one arm and her phone held loosely in the other hand. She smiled at the first guard who blocked her way.
“I need to coordinate guest transportation,” she said.
The guard did not move.
Camille’s smile remained, but something behind it tightened. “Mr. Whitmore will not appreciate his guests being trapped.”
“Mr. Whitmore gave the order.”
Her eyes slid toward the garden.
Edward was speaking with a detective near the signing table. Serena stood beside Mia. Julian was no longer smiling. All three points of Camille’s carefully drawn triangle had collapsed, and she was left holding a clipboard full of lies.
She turned back. “Then I should assist the police.”
“You will.”
A second guard approached from behind her.
Camille laughed softly. “This is absurd. I planned a wedding.”
Mia, who had been watching from the bench, suddenly stood. “Check the emergency kit.”
Everyone turned.
Camille’s face went flat.
Mia pointed toward the white tent behind the floral arch. “She kept a silver emergency kit in there. She told us only she could touch it. After Mr. Vale threatened me, he walked toward that tent.”
Camille said, “Catering staff invent stories when frightened.”
Serena stepped forward. “Then you won’t mind if we look.”
For the first time, Camille’s smile failed completely.
The kit sat beneath a table covered in folded napkins. Inside were safety pins, makeup wipes, breath mints, a sewing needle, stain remover, and a small black pouch tucked into the lining. A detective opened it with gloved hands.
There were three more tiny containers.
There was also a flash drive.
Camille’s knees did not buckle. She was too proud for that. But her hand moved to the headset behind her ear as if she could still hear instructions from a world where the plan had worked.
Edward looked at her. “Who else?”
Camille’s eyes flicked toward a man near the terrace. A lawyer from the Whitmore board. He turned away too late.
Serena saw the glance.
Her heart sank past betrayal into something colder.
Julian had not merely tried to trap her. He had found people inside her own father’s empire who were willing to help.
May you like
The wedding garden had not been invaded.
It had been infiltrated.
