Chapter 4 - THE SIGNATURE THEY COULDN’T GET
Arthur flipped his phone over.
Too late.
I had seen the message.
So had Camille.
Neither knew I had.
“Problem?” I asked.
Arthur smiled.
“Nothing important.”
“Then we can finish later.”
Camille stiffened.
“Roman.”
“I have a meeting.”
Arthur closed the folder.
“This should be handled today.”
“Why?”
“Because the wedding is in six weeks.”
“That is not an answer.”
His face tightened.
Small.
Almost invisible.
Naomi was right.
Arthur expected anger.
Everyone in my world did.
They knew how to manipulate rage because rage made men predictable.
So I smiled.
“Bring it tomorrow.”
Arthur left.
Camille followed him into the hall.
I turned on the intercom recording Naomi had placed earlier.
Their voices came through.
Camille whispered:
“He saw something.”
Arthur:
“He’s suspicious by nature.”
“He didn’t sign.”
“He will.”
“What if he doesn’t?”
Arthur paused.
Then:
“Patrick moves the timetable.”
My blood turned cold.
Camille lowered her voice.
“What timetable?”
Silence.
Then Arthur said:
“Ask your father.”
Camille sounded genuinely angry.
That mattered.
Maybe she did not know everything.
Then Arthur added:
“And stop touching the children unless necessary.”
My jaw locked.
Camille hissed:
“They need to fear losing him.”
“Fear is useful until it creates witnesses.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“Make Jack act out.”
“Why?”
“Because Roman trusts patterns. If the boy becomes unstable, the guardianship evaluation looks justified.”
There it was.
They were manufacturing evidence.
Jack’s behavior.
Rosie’s fear.
Camille’s recordings.
School reports.
They wanted me dead or incapacitated.
Then they wanted the children labeled unstable enough to transfer.
Naomi appeared beside me.
“You heard?”
“Yes.”
“We need the kids out.”
“Tonight.”
“No.”
I looked at her.
She continued.
“If they disappear, Camille knows.”
“She already knows I’m suspicious.”
“Not enough.”
Naomi thought.
“We create a normal reason.”
I hated that she was right.
The next day, I told Camille the children would spend the weekend with Isabella’s parents.
She frowned.
“Why?”
“Christmas visit.”
“It’s October.”
“They’re dramatic.”
Camille smiled.
She believed it.
Jack and Rosie packed small bags.
Jack barely spoke.
In the elevator, once Camille could no longer hear us, I crouched.
My son immediately tensed.
“Jack.”
“Yes, Dad.”
“You’re not in trouble.”
He looked confused.
“Rosie isn’t either.”
His eyes filled.
“Okay.”
“If someone tells you I send weakness away, they’re lying.”
His face broke.
“You don’t?”
“No.”
“Even if I cry?”
My throat tightened.
“Especially then.”
Jack looked at me for a long time.
Then he whispered:
“Mom used to say that.”
I stopped breathing.
“What?”
“Mom said crying didn’t make people weak.”
Rosie nodded.
“And Miss Camille said Mom was wrong.”
The elevator doors opened.
I wanted to turn around and end the engagement with my hands.
Instead, I took my children somewhere safe.
At Isabella’s parents’ home, Jack pulled something from his backpack.
A tiny silver USB drive.
“I found this inside Mom’s rabbit.”
My heart stopped.
Rosie’s stuffed rabbit.
The one Camille had been trying to take.
May you like
Jack whispered:
“Miss Camille keeps asking where it is.”
