Chapter 10 - What the Camera Saw
The camera was part of Luna & Sugar's insurance protocol.
After a hotel employee had damaged a $19,000 wedding cake the year before and blamed Camila's team, she started placing a tiny motion-activated camera inside major display bases during setup. It pointed only at the cake structure and surrounding floor.
She had almost forgotten about it.
Bianca clearly had not.
Nolan disconnected the device and carried it to the office.
The footage began at 3:14 p.m.
Staff rolled in tables.
Florists crossed back and forth.
Camila's team assembled tiers.
At 5:58 p.m., Camila left to help the catering crew.
At 6:21, Bianca entered the frame.
Alone.
She knelt beside the cake table.
Removed the locking pin.
Slipped it into her pocket.
Victoria whispered, "Oh my God."
The footage continued.
At 6:24, Daniel appeared.
Camila glanced at him.
He went pale.
On video, Daniel said something too quiet for the microphone.
Bianca answered clearly.
"You said scare them, not kill anyone."
Rafael slowly turned toward his son.
Daniel looked sick. "I never told her to touch the cake."
The recording continued.
Daniel: "I said make the invoices go away."
Bianca: "And the baker's brother?"
Daniel: "Handle it."
Victoria stepped backward as if he had hit her.
Daniel stared at the screen. "No. No, that's not what I meant."
Mateo stood up. "You told her to handle me?"
"I meant the documents! The accounting questions!"
Camila's anger went cold.
That was the problem with men like Daniel.
They gave vague orders so they could later choose what the words had meant.
The video showed Bianca and Daniel moving away.
Then Bianca returned ten minutes later, crouched directly in front of the camera, and muttered to herself:
"If that stupid bakery girl checks this base, I'm finished."
Camila folded her arms.
"Bakery girl."
Mateo looked at her. "You want me to put that on a T-shirt?"
"Maybe tomorrow."
Even Elena laughed softly.
Then the screen flashed as someone walked into frame at 6:39.
A third person.
Victoria leaned closer.
The person wore a hotel uniform and carried the ruined backup cake box.
They looked directly toward the camera.
Nolan inhaled sharply.
"Wait."
Camila recognized the face.
It was not a stranger.
It was Noah Pierce.
Nolan's nineteen-year-old son.
Noah worked part-time at the hotel while attending college.
On camera, he carried the backup cake out of view.
Two minutes later, he returned without it.
Nolan stared at his son's face on the screen.
"No," he whispered.
Then the office door opened.
Noah stood there, crying.
"Dad," he said, "I can explain."
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