Divorced the Cheat Married the Fleet (Camilla and Lance) novel Chapter 170

Calvin’s assistant was the one who came down to pick up Camilla.

On the way to the conference room, he quickly brought her up to speed. Davina’s in-laws had stormed into the company and were making a huge scene. This time, they clearly weren’t acting on impulse—they had come prepared, almost as if they’d been waiting for Barnard to take Daisy before launching their attack.

It wasn’t just the older couple either. Relatives from the Green family were downstairs too, banging on drums and shouting, demanding answers. The whole thing was a public spectacle. Word was already spreading online, and everyone knew that Carter Group’s competitors weren’t about to pass up a chance to fan the flames. The scandal was blowing up everywhere.

Calvin had called Camilla in to help manage the crisis. He wanted her and Barnard to act like everything was fine at a press conference, just like they’d done countless times before. For Camilla, this sort of damage control was nothing new. The question was whether she wanted to go through the motions again.

Calvin seemed to know exactly what she was thinking.

When Camilla stepped into the conference room, a check sat on the table, plain as day. The board members stared, expressions serious. Calvin didn’t bother with small talk. “Camilla, you know what’s going on. We need your help with PR. We’re offering top market value, and if you’ve got any other demands, name them.”

It was all business, no pretense. They were treating her like any other employee.

Camilla looked around the table, meeting the eyes of every person there. They all knew about Barnard and Davina by now. Some faces tightened when she looked their way. The anger in the room, though, wasn’t really for her—it was for Barnard. Still, under the circumstances, they had no choice but to pull together and deal with the fallout.

Camilla spoke calmly. “Honestly, there’s a simpler way. I’ll cooperate. I can publicly confirm that Barnard and I are already divorced. That way, his relationship with Davina looks legitimate, and fighting for Daisy’s custody is perfectly reasonable.”

His words carried a lot of weight, and the other board members made their agreement obvious.

Camilla’s heart sank. She thought about everything she’d done to get where she was—working herself to exhaustion, drinking at business dinners until she was sick, helping Barnard step by step until everyone in this room accepted her. Now all that hard work just felt like a trap. The approval she’d fought so desperately for had turned into shackles; she realized there was no way the board would put her interests before their own.

Pleading with them for sympathy wasn’t going to help. The only way out would be to make them see that even the housekeeper was a better option for Mrs. Carter than she was, but everyone knew that was impossible. No matter what she did, her abilities and reputation spoke for themselves.

In that moment, Camilla almost saw Laura’s point. If Barnard had cheated with a smart and successful woman instead, nobody would object to a divorce. But he chose a housekeeper, and the board would never let someone like that run the household or represent the company. Stacked up against Davina, Camilla looked indispensable. Compared to her, no one could take the title of Mrs. Carter—even if she didn’t want it anymore.