CHAP 18 — THE FALSE VICTORY
Everyone assumed Alden kidnapped his daughter.
Adeline did not.
“Camilla went willingly.”
Enzo looked at her.
“Why?”
“Because she’s been preparing for this.”
“For what?”
“To face him without anyone else standing between them.”
They found a note in Camilla’s handbag.
He’ll go where Grandfather died.
The old Marchetti warehouse.
The beginning of everything.
Enzo wanted to go immediately.
Cole stopped him.
“This is federal now.”
“So was the courthouse he escaped from.”
Cole did not appreciate that.
Adeline did.
The warehouse had been abandoned for years.
Alden stood inside near the spot where Richard Ashford had died more than four decades earlier.
Camilla faced him.
No weapons in her hands.
No guards behind her.
Just father and daughter.
“You ruined everything,” Alden said.
“No.”
“You destroyed your inheritance.”
“It was never yours to give me.”
“I built that company.”
“You stole it.”
“I made it valuable.”
“You murdered people for it.”
Alden’s face tightened.
“You know nothing about what power requires.”
Camilla looked at him.
“That sentence controlled my entire life.”
He stepped closer.
“I protected you.”
“You controlled me.”
“I gave you everything.”
“You gave me money and called it love because money was the only language you ever learned.”
Outside, agents moved into position.
Enzo and Adeline watched through a broken side window.
Camilla continued.
“Did you kill Mother?”
Alden said nothing.
“I need to hear you say it.”
“She was going to leave.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“She was going to take you.”
Camilla’s face broke.
Alden continued.
“She was emotional. Unstable.”
“Did you kill her?”
“I made sure she couldn’t destroy this family.”
Camilla closed her eyes.
There it was.
A confession.
The microphone beneath her collar captured every word.
Alden realized too late.
His eyes dropped toward the wire.
“You learned nothing.”
Camilla opened her eyes.
“No.”
She stepped backward.
“I learned from the maid.”
Alden laughed.
“The maid?”
“She knew being powerless and still chose to tell the truth.”
Camilla’s voice shook.
“I had every advantage on earth and spent thirty-six years being a coward.”
Alden reached for her.
Agents entered.
He ran.
Not far.
Gabriel blocked the rear exit.
Alden turned and found Enzo standing ten feet away.
For one dangerous moment, the old world seemed ready to return.
Two powerful men.
One betrayal.
No witnesses that mattered.
Alden smiled.
“Do it.”
Enzo did not move.
“Do what?”
“Be your father’s son.”
Alden spread his hands.
“Kill me.”
Enzo stared at him.
A decade earlier, perhaps he might have.
Instead, he stepped aside.
Federal agents handcuffed Alden.
“No,” Enzo said.
“You get to live long enough to hear every verdict.”
Alden’s smile finally disappeared.
As agents led him away, Adeline stood beside Enzo.
“You wanted to hit him.”
“Yes.”
“Badly?”
“Very.”
She almost smiled.
“Growth.”
“Apparently.”
The case seemed finished.
They had the confession.
The ledger.
The witnesses.
The financial records.
Alden in custody.
But two days before closing arguments, Sofia received a forensic report.
Lucia’s affidavit had been examined.
One page was written with ink manufactured after Lucia died.
A page had been added.
If the defense proved evidence tampering, it could cast doubt over everything.
And the forged page contained the most important accusation against Alden.
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Someone on their side had altered Lucia’s evidence.
The question was who.
