Divorced the Cheat Married the Fleet (Camilla and Lance) novel Chapter 187

Camilla’s tone was ice cold. “Since the day I married into the Carter family, I’ve done nothing but treat you all with respect. But this marriage… it was never real. Barnard set the whole thing up from the start. He knew you’d never let him marry Davina, and he was worried that bringing in someone powerful through marriage would threaten Davina’s place in the family. That’s why he picked me, with my ordinary background. He thought he could control me with these dirty tricks, keep me here forever, playing cover for him and Davina. I’m not the one who did anything wrong, and I’m not the one who deserves your blame. Mrs. Carter, it’s time you see things for what they are.”

She’d already made up her mind about the divorce. She didn’t bother calling Laura “Mom” anymore. The distant “Mrs. Carter” made Laura’s face go even paler.

Still, it was the recording that shocked Laura the most.

“How is this possible?” Laura kept shaking her head, completely lost. “How did it come to this? Barnard… how could he…”

Calvin looked shaken too, but he handled it a lot better than Laura. He turned to Camilla and spoke steadily. “So there’s really no room for discussion?”

“You came here because you got the court papers, right? So you should already know exactly how serious I am,” Camilla replied.

Laura tried to appeal to her. “Camilla, please, don’t do this. Yes, Barnard let you down. But you’ve been part of this family for all these years, we’ve shared so much. There must be some feelings there, right? Why don’t you just drop the lawsuit? We can talk about this, work out something better than just splitting up.”

Divorcing Camilla would be a mess for the Carters. Even before getting into who would get what, the scandal alone could bring massive trouble for the Carter Group. And the recording Camilla had was proof of Barnard’s terrible actions. If she let that out, the damage would be huge.

“Feelings?” Camilla gave a short, bitter laugh. “I’ve never been anything but an outsider to you. Even when Barnard cheated, you just tried to patch things up quietly, like it was no big deal, just so I’d stay. You call this a family, but where’s the real care for me? Why should I give anything up for you now? If you want me to drop the lawsuit, there’s only one way. Draw up the divorce papers with the terms I ask for, have Barnard sign, and I’ll walk away. As soon as we’re officially divorced, I’ll drop the case.”

She was done playing along with the Carter family’s lies.

Court would take time, and if she could get the divorce settled now, all the better.

Calvin said, “We can sign the divorce papers your way, and you can keep BLC. But you have to return the Carter Group shares I gave you. Those can’t stay with someone outside the family.”

Calvin had finally caught on. There was no persuading her. “So this is all about the money? Fine, I’ll buy them back at the proper price. No need for all this drama.”

Camilla shook her head. “Too late for that. If there’s a chance to sell to the highest bidder, why would I accept market price? Maybe you should focus on those upcoming auctions, Calvin. If your rivals get them, you’ll regret it.”

Maybe Calvin and Laura hadn’t known what Barnard was up to at first. But after he cheated — after Davina got pregnant — they tried to sweep everything under the rug. That’s when Camilla gave up on them for good. The whole Carter family was rotten from the inside out.

She was ready for this divorce, and she wasn’t going to go soft now.

Calvin was so angry his hands trembled. He blamed Camilla for being ruthless, but deep down, he was even angrier at Barnard for being such a fool.