Chapter 6
PART 6
Camille walked into the kitchen exactly at eight-thirty.
Her hair was flawless.
Her white blouse was perfectly pressed.
The diamond on her finger sparkled beneath the morning sunlight pouring through the windows.
She smiled the moment she saw Adrien.
"Good morning."
No one answered.
The smile slowly faded.
Instead of breakfast...
The marble island was covered with documents.
Bank statements.
Printed emails.
Security-camera screenshots.
An open laptop.
Mireille sat quietly at one end of the table.
Adrien's attorney sat beside her without saying a word.
Clara stood near the doorway, one hand resting gently on Inès's shoulder.
Camille frowned.
"What is all this?"
Adrien looked at her.
"Sit down."
Her expression hardened.
"Don't talk to me like I'm one of your employees."
"I said..."
His voice remained calm.
"...sit down."
For the first time in months, Camille obeyed.
She pulled out a chair.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Trying to understand what had happened.
Adrien turned the laptop toward her.
The first video began to play.
Camille watched herself opening the staff refrigerator.
Picking up Inès's lunch container.
Dropping it into the trash.
Her smile disappeared.
She forced a laugh.
"That's taken out of context."
Adrien said nothing.
He clicked the next recording.
The crackers.
The sink.
The running water.
The smile on her face as the food disappeared down the drain.
Then another.
Inès sitting quietly.
"You'll eventually learn that you don't belong here."
Camille's breathing became uneven.
She looked away.
"I was under a lot of stress."
Click.
Another recording.
She shoved Inès away from the refrigerator.
Click.
Another.
She hid Clara's loaf of bread inside a shopping bag.
Click.
Another.
She ordered Clara to scrub wine from the carpet after spilling it herself.
The room fell completely silent.
Finally Camille slammed her hand against the table.
"Enough!"
She stood abruptly.
"You've been spying on me?"
Adrien's eyes never left hers.
"No."
"I've been watching the truth."
Camille laughed bitterly.
"So now you're choosing a housekeeper over your own fiancée?"
"I'm choosing facts."
"You have no idea what that woman has been telling you."
Adrien slowly shook his head.
"Clara didn't tell me anything."
"I watched you do it."
Camille opened her mouth.
Closed it.
Then tried another approach.
"I was exhausted."
"You were always away."
"I had to manage this entire house by myself."
"Inès was constantly running around."
"Clara took advantage of your kindness."
Adrien's expression turned cold.
"Don't use Clara's name to justify your cruelty."
Something snapped inside Camille.
"You still don't get it, do you?"
She pointed toward Clara.
"She brought chaos into this house!"
"Toys in the living room."
"Cheap food filling the refrigerator."
"A child wandering everywhere."
"I was simply trying to restore some order!"
Adrien stared at her.
"By starving a three-year-old?"
Camille had no answer.
Instead...
Adrien pressed one final key.
The screen switched to footage from the service entrance.
A delivery truck appeared.
Boxes marked A Table for Tomorrow were unloaded.
Then transferred into another white van.
The audio played.
"Deliver half."
"Invoice Adrien for everything."
"He trusts me."
Camille's face drained of color.
"That proves nothing."
Adrien's attorney calmly slid a folder across the table.
"It proves quite a lot."
"The delivery driver has already given a sworn statement."
"We have the bank transfers."
"The text messages."
"The warehouse records."
"The shell company."
"The financial trail."
He closed the folder.
"The evidence has already been forwarded to the prosecutor's office."
Camille's confidence shattered.
Within seconds...
Her anger dissolved into tears.
She hurried toward Adrien.
"Please..."
She reached for his arm.
"I made a mistake."
"My family was drowning in debt."
"My father was about to lose everything."
"I just needed a little time."
"I was going to pay it all back."
Adrien quietly stepped away.
"You didn't steal from me."
His voice was almost a whisper.
"You stole food."
"From families who were already hungry."
She cried harder.
"We're getting married..."
"You can't destroy my life over a maid and her daughter."
The room went still.
Those words ended everything.
Adrien slowly looked down at his left hand.
Without saying a word...
He slipped off his engagement ring.
He placed it gently on the marble countertop.
The diamond glittered beneath the kitchen lights.
"There won't be a wedding."
Camille stared at the ring.
Her lips trembled.
"No..."
"You can't do this."
"I already have."
She turned toward Clara.
Her tear-filled eyes instantly filled with hatred.
"This is your fault."
For months...
Clara had lowered her head every time Camille spoke.
Not today.
She looked Camille straight in the eyes.
"No."
Her voice was calm.
"This is yours."
Before Camille could answer...
The front door opened.
Two private security officers stepped inside.
One of them spoke politely.
"Ms. de Varennes..."
"We've been instructed to escort you from the property."
Only then...
Camille finally understood.
Her power...
Her engagement...
May you like
Her carefully built future...
Had all disappeared in a single morning.
