Divorced the Cheat Married the Fleet (Camilla and Lance) novel Chapter 171

The board’s constant pressure, plus Barnard’s own disapproval, made it impossible for anyone to take Camilla’s suggestion seriously.

In the end, she had no choice but to go along with the Carter family’s plan and stand beside Barnard at the press conference.

Once everything was settled, the conference room started to empty out. In no time, the only people left were from the Carter family.

Calvin looked at Camilla, his tone all sincere and serious. “Camilla, you see it, don’t you? The whole board really values you as Mrs. Carter. Your place here has always been solid. Even if that woman has a baby, it doesn’t change a thing for you. You’re untouchable. So let’s stop talking about divorce, okay?”

Camilla shot back, “So, what, Dad? Being Mrs. Carter means I just have to tolerate a mistress and her illegitimate child? And I’m supposed to step in every time and fix their mess?”

Calvin sighed. “Don’t make it sound so ugly. I’m not going to let that woman stay around Barnard for long. Once the baby’s born, I’ll figure out a way to get rid of her. As for the child, if you really can’t stand seeing it, we can arrange for it to be raised somewhere else. We can’t afford another scandal about forcing someone to have an abortion. So, just bear with it for now.”

This time he said it right in front of Barnard, not even trying to hide how much he despised Davina.

Barnard just stayed silent, not saying a word to defend either the baby or Davina.

Eventually, Calvin left too, and his assistant handed Camilla the press release draft they were supposed to memorize.

She glanced at it and almost laughed. It was the same old script pretending that she and Barnard were madly in love. It claimed Davina was just a nanny and Barnard was only helping her fight for custody out of gratitude. The statement painted Barnard as a devoted, selfless husband, and all Camilla had to do was back up the story.

Calvin’s assistant gave instructions, “Barnard, Camilla, Calvin wants you to stay in here all morning and memorize the statement. Lunch will be brought in. The press conference this afternoon needs to go perfectly, no mistakes.”

The door clicked shut and Camilla heard the lock turn. Calvin really didn’t trust her. Even though she was trapped inside Carter Group’s headquarters with nowhere to run, he still needed a lock to keep her in place.

Once everyone else was gone, Barnard sat next to Camilla and spread the script out in front of her. “Camilla, we don’t have much time. Let’s get this over with.”

She looked at him, not hiding her contempt. “Barnard, do you seriously have no shame, just making things up like this?”

He shrugged. “Making things up? How is it making things up? As far as the public knows, we’ve always been this happy. We’re only playing our part.”

Camilla gave a small, humorless laugh. “The board knows everything now. I thought you’d use this chance to help Davina move up. What are you after?”

Camilla let out a cold laugh, thinking that Barnard really did act like some ancient king, dreaming about having his wife and his mistress at the same time—even though he wasn’t even in charge yet.

The press conference was a total spectacle.

Calvin went up first, blaming all the wild rumors online on people with bad intentions. Then he talked about how Barnard and Camilla had always been so in love, before bringing the two of them up on stage.

Standing next to Barnard, Camilla felt less like a person and more like a pretty prop.

Barnard did all the talking, and Camilla just muttered a few rehearsed lines whenever he glanced her way. Her cold attitude made no difference. Barnard put on his whole performance until the very end.

As the press conference was wrapping up, Barnard declared, “All those rumors are completely made up. My wife and I have never even considered divorce, right, Camilla?”

Camera flashes went off everywhere, lighting up Camilla’s face, while the board’s shareholders in the front row watched her intently, waiting to see how she’d play along.