Divorce Him, Then Dazzle novel Chapter 8

After she finished talking things over with the shopkeeper, Camilla stood up, ready to grab her stuff and head out. On her way, her phone buzzed with a call from Catheleen Bain. Catheleen wasn’t just a college classmate—she was Camilla’s closest friend.

Back when Barbara left, she’d taken all of Camilla’s friends with her. After Camilla married Daniel, she’d felt so low she could barely bring herself to speak to anyone, let alone make new friends. But then there was Catheleen, always bright and warm, a little ball of sunshine that lit up even the worst days. After going through a few things together, the two of them had gotten close and now shared everything with each other.

“Cammie!” Catheleen’s voice was so cheerful it almost made Camilla laugh right away.

She couldn’t help but smile. “Catheleen, what’s up with the phone call? We usually just text.”

“I just missed you!” Catheleen asked, “What are you up to right now?”

“I’m out running errands,” Camilla answered.

“My internship’s almost over. Lets catch up with dinner when it’s done, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Catheleen hesitated, then said, “Hey, Cammie, you don’t sound like yourself. Is everything okay?”

Camilla hesitated for a second but decided to be honest. “Actually, I’m… planning to get a divorce.”

On the other end, Catheleen let out a squeal. “What? For real? Why?”

She’d only seen Camilla’s husband once from afar—tall, handsome, the whole package. Sure, she’d felt it was a shame Camilla got married so young—she’d always hoped to set her up with one of her male relatives—but in the end, she just wanted her friend to be happy. And now a divorce?

Camilla sighed, letting her guard down. “Yeah… he’s got feelings for someone else. We’ve been married three years, but he’s never touched me. Not once.”

“Oh my god!”

Camilla hadn’t thought about any of that. She didn’t want anything from Daniel. She just wanted to move on.

Someone in the background called Catheleen’s name. “Cammie, we’ll catch up in person soon, okay? I have to run. Bye!”

After hanging up, Camilla felt lighter, like a cloud had lifted.

She made her way to her destination—a little custom tailor shop run by an elderly couple. They’d had that place tucked away in a tiny alley for decades. Hardly anyone knew about it. She’d stumbled across it as a kid, almost by accident, and the pair had partly inspired her to study fashion design.

The alley was too narrow for her car, so she parked up the street. She grabbed the sugar-free pastries she’d picked up for the couple and started down the little alleyway.

It was cold out, the sky heavy and gray, promising snow. The alley was completely empty. The old tree at the entrance stood bare, its leaves long gone. Everything felt hushed, touched with that special kind of winter loneliness.

Camilla pulled her coat closer, stepped forward, and just as she looked up, she caught sight of a man stepping out of the shop.