Chapter 4 - The Woman Behind the GlassBrielle Wasn't Playing the Role Alone
At 2:13 a.m., I received an encrypted video file.
No sender.
No subject.
Just one line.
YOU SHOULD KNOW WHY SHE ACCEPTED THE NECKLACE.
I played it.
The image was grainy.
A hotel conference room.
Nolan sat at a table.
Brielle stood across from him.
The date was six weeks earlier.
“I need protection,” Brielle said.
“You’ll have it.”
“What kind?”
“Financial.”
“That’s not enough.”
Nolan leaned forward.
“You do what I ask, and you will never need to work again.”
Brielle stared at him.
“What happens to Camille?”
Nolan smiled.
“She leaves.”
“And if she fights?”
“She won’t.”
Brielle looked uneasy.
“You said she was unstable.”
“She is.”
“Is she?”
Nolan’s smile disappeared.
“You ask too many questions.”
The recording ended.
I replayed it.
Then again.
Then I noticed something.
Brielle had not sounded like a mistress.
She had sounded like someone negotiating survival.
At 2:31 a.m., I called her.
She answered after the first ring.
“I wondered how long it would take.”
“Where are you?”
“Not at home.”
“Good.”
She was silent.
“Why did you wear the necklace?”
“I didn’t know it was stolen.”
“You knew it belonged to my family.”
“I knew Nolan gave it to me.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
She exhaled.
“You think I wanted this?”
“Yes.”
Another silence.
Then she said something unexpected.
“I hated him before I worked for him.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“My father worked for Nolan’s father.”
That caught my attention.
“He was CFO at Mercer Dynamics before your husband took control.”
I sat down.
“What happened?”
“He refused to approve a transfer.”
“What transfer?”
“Money.”
“How much?”
“Thirty-two million.”
My pulse quickened.
“What happened to your father?”
“Six months later, he was charged with fraud.”
I closed my eyes.
“Was he guilty?”
“No.”
Her voice cracked.
“They ruined him.”
I said nothing.
Brielle continued.
“Nolan approached me two years later.”
“Why?”
“He knew who my father was.”
“And?”
“He said if I worked for him, he’d reopen the case.”
My stomach dropped.
“So you became his secretary.”
“Yes.”
“And now?”
“Now I know what happened to my father.”
“What?”
“He never stole the money.”
“Who did?”
She whispered the name.
“Nolan’s father.”
I stood.
“What happened to your father afterward?”
“He died believing nobody would ever know.”
The line went quiet.
Then Brielle said:
“Nolan told me the conservatorship would make everything easy.”
I swallowed.
“You knew about it.”
“Yes.”
“And you still helped him.”
“I helped him because he has copies of my father’s records.”
I heard tears in her voice.
“If I betrayed him, he said he’d release them.”
“Then betray him carefully.”
Silence.
“What are you asking?”
“I want proof.”
“You want me to help you.”
“No.”
I looked toward the window.
“I want you to help yourself.”
She breathed slowly.
“What do you need?”
“Everything Nolan thinks is safe.”
Three minutes later, another file arrived.
A photo of Nolan’s private office.
Then another.
A hidden wall safe.
Then a handwritten number.
The access code.
I called Reed.
He answered immediately.
“I’m awake.”
“I found the safe.”
“What?”
“Brielle gave me the code.”
Silence.
Then Reed said:
“Camille, there’s something you need to know before you open it.”
“What?”
“Our father had the same safe.”
I felt cold.
“And?”
“He never opened it.”
“Why?”
“He said Mom told him there was something inside that would destroy our family.”
I looked at my reflection in the dark window.
“What does that have to do with Nolan?”
Reed’s answer was barely audible.
“Nothing.”
May you like
Then he paused.
“Which is exactly why I’m afraid.”
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