Chapter 13 - Camila’s CopyWarren’s defense team attacked the phone.
It was predictable.
Camila’s video was “selective.”
“Out of context.”
“Possibly manipulated.”
They suggested she had recorded Warren because she wanted leverage after he threatened to fire her.
Camila read the accusations in Elaine’s office.
Her hands shook.
“I knew this would happen.”
Serena sat beside her.
“They’re trying to scare you.”
“It’s working.”
Camila had spent years earning stability.
A reliable job.
A small apartment.
Enough money to help her mother.
Now a wealthy man’s lawyer was portraying her as dishonest.
“You don’t have to do interviews,” Elaine said.
Camila shook her head.
“I’m not afraid of reporters.”
“What are you afraid of?”
Camila looked at Serena.
“That Milo will think I waited too long.”
Serena understood.
“You opened the door.”
“I should have opened other doors sooner.”
“So should I.”
Camila looked down.
The digital forensic report arrived two days later.
The video was authentic.
Its creation timestamp matched Camila’s account.
The file had not been edited.
Cloud backup logs showed it uploaded automatically minutes after recording.
There was no technical evidence of manipulation.
Warren’s lawyer stopped using that argument publicly.
Privately, another problem emerged.
Camila had more.
Not another dramatic video.
Something quieter.
Audio.
She had accidentally recorded part of an argument weeks earlier while using her phone to dictate a grocery list.
The microphone captured Warren speaking with someone in the study.
Camila had forgotten about it until investigators reviewed her cloud history.
The recording was difficult to hear.
But enhanced analysis made several phrases clear.
Warren:
“Once the house closes, nobody cares where the bridge money came from.”
Male voice:
“Grant cares.”
Warren:
“Grant cares about Grant.”
Then:
“If Serena gets nervous, I have enough to make her afraid of court.”
Serena listened once.
Only once.
“That voice isn’t Grant.”
Detective Park agreed.
“Do you recognize it?”
“No.”
The number called by Warren that evening belonged to a prepaid phone.
But cell records placed the device near Harbor Row.
Investigators began comparing employees and contractors.
The search led back to Harris Project Services.
The shell vendor.
The missing investor money.
A construction consultant named Dean Colter had deposited checks for Harris Project Services.
When investigators approached him, he initially denied knowing Warren.
Bank surveillance images contradicted him.
Dean retained counsel.
Then he began negotiating.
The conspiracy Warren had built on silence was becoming crowded with people who preferred saving themselves.
Meanwhile, Milo returned to school.
Serena drove him.
At the entrance he froze.
“You want me to walk in?”
“No.”
She waited.
“You want me to leave?”
“No.”
So they stood beside the car.
Eventually Milo said, “What if everybody knows?”
“Some people might.”
“What do I say?”
“Whatever you want.”
“That’s not helpful.”
Serena smiled.
“Okay. You can say, ‘It’s private.’”
“What if they keep asking?”
“‘I said it’s private.’”
“What if they still keep asking?”
“Then you walk away.”
Milo considered that.
“Can I tell them Warren’s a jerk?”
Serena almost laughed.
“Probably not the official recommendation.”
For the first time in weeks, Milo smiled.
At school, no catastrophe occurred.
Two friends asked where he had been.
He said he was sick.
One said, “Cool.”
And they went to science.
Children sometimes offered mercy by being distracted.
That evening Milo came home happier.
Serena found Camila in the laundry room.
“You know you can leave.”
Camila looked up.
“What?”
“You don’t owe us your life because you helped Milo.”
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
Camila folded a towel.
“I’ve thought about leaving.”
Serena felt a surprising stab of fear.
Then immediately hated herself for it.
Camila was not another person Serena could hold through need.
“If that’s what you want—”
“It isn’t.”
Serena waited.
Camila continued.
“But things have to change.”
“Yes.”
“I will not take instructions from another person who claims they come from you.”
“Agreed.”
“If you want something, you tell me.”
“Yes.”
“And I want a real employment contract.”
Serena smiled slightly.
“Done.”
“With defined hours.”
“Done.”
“And overtime.”
“Obviously.”
Camila raised an eyebrow.
“It was not obvious before.”
Serena accepted that.
“Then it will be written.”
They shook hands.
Not employer and grateful servant.
Two adults rebuilding boundaries.
That night Detective Park called.
Dean Colter had begun talking.
Harris Project Services had been used to route Harbor Row money.
Warren authorized the payments.
Dean took a percentage.
The rest went where Warren directed.
“How much did Warren personally receive?” Serena asked.
“We’re still tracing it.”
“Why did he need my money if he already stole investor money?”
“Because some of what left Harbor Row went to earlier debts and losses. He was moving money from one problem to another.”
A chain.
That was Warren’s financial life.
Every new source of money covered an older hole.
Then Park added something.
“Dean says Warren talked about leaving the country if Harbor Row collapsed.”
Serena went still.
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“With what money?”
“We don’t know.”
But Serena thought about the black notebook.
The fake identity.
The storage unit.
And the missing portion of investor funds that investigators still could not trace.
Maybe Warren’s final plan had never been to save Harbor Row.
May you like
Maybe the loan against Serena’s house was not meant to rescue the project.
Maybe it was meant to fund his exit.
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