Chapter 6
My father arrived forty minutes later.
I almost did not recognize him.
He looked older. Thinner. His face carried the damage of two years of thinking his only daughter hated him.
When he saw me, he stopped in the doorway of Lena’s shop.
“Camille,” he said, like my name hurt.
I stood.
For a second, neither of us moved.
Then I crossed the room and fell into his arms.
“I thought you stopped calling,” I whispered.
He held me tighter.
“I thought you did.”
Behind him stood Nora, the cleaning woman, now without the mop bucket, wearing a gray coat and holding a folder against her chest.
“I’m sorry it took so long,” she said.
I looked at her.
“Why help me?”
Nora’s eyes hardened.
“Your mother helped me when my husband died. Reynolds fired me from the factory when I asked about missing contracts. I’ve been cleaning that building for six months waiting for the right day.”
The right day.
The day I almost signed everything away.
My father watched the video. He listened to the audio. Then he sat down slowly, as if the truth had weight.
“Reynolds,” he said quietly.
“And Jasper,” I added.
Dad looked at me with sorrow.
“I warned you about him.”
“I know.”
“No,” he said softly. “You don’t know. Because he made sure you never got the letters where I tried to apologize for warning you badly.”
That broke something open in me.
But there was no time to fall apart.
Lena had already called a lawyer she trusted. My father called his corporate counsel. Nora handed over copies of hidden contracts, forged authorization forms, and payment records tied to shell accounts.
By evening, my 35% shares were legally frozen.
Reynolds could not touch them.
May you like
Jasper could not reach me.
And for the first time in years, I slept in my childhood bedroom with my father downstairs, Nora’s folder locked in a safe, and my phone turned off.
