Divorced the Cheat Married the Fleet (Camilla and Lance) novel Chapter 195

Davina was recovering in the same hospital. Even though Elise had Lance’s bodyguards watching over her, Camilla couldn’t relax. She worried something unexpected might happen, so she pulled a doctor aside for a quick update on Elise’s condition and tried to arrange a transfer to another hospital. The doctor shook his head, saying Elise had just woken up and she wasn’t stable enough to be moved. With that, Camilla could only let the idea go for now.

The Carter family was too busy with their own problems to bother her, which left Camilla with a rare stretch of quiet days. Besides dealing with work and spending time with Jasper, she found herself visiting Elise more than anything else. The days slipped by until it was time for the meeting she’d arranged with the auction house about selling her Carter Group shares.

Two days before the auction, Calvin reached out again, insisting on meeting her in person. He even came straight to BLC. Camilla didn’t want her private business with Calvin becoming office gossip, so she chose a quiet, private restaurant instead.

As usual, Calvin had Laura with him, probably hoping she’d keep things civil. But after everything that had happened lately, Laura couldn’t muster a smile. She poured Camilla a glass of water, her fingers fidgeting around the rim. She opened her mouth the way people do when they want to say something, but nothing came out.

Camilla broke the silence first. “So. You came here because you’ve made up your minds? You want to buy my shares?”

That was exactly why Calvin and Laura were there. Still, hearing Camilla say it so directly, Calvin looked like he was going to explode. He shoved a folded document across the table to her, jaw tight, holding back his anger.

“Camilla, you know as well as I do, with the Carter family’s situation now, you’re not going to get a high price for those shares, even at an auction. I’m willing to buy them back at the current market price, and we can both be done with it. Save ourselves some trouble. What do you think?”

He pushed the contract closer. Camilla understood exactly what he was really trying to say, even if he couldn’t say it out loud. Barnard and Davina’s scandal had wrecked the Carter Group’s reputation, shares were in free fall, and other shareholders were dumping their stock for whatever they could get. If Camilla decided to auction her shares now, Calvin would have to fend off rivals looking to get a piece of the chaos and worry about even more bad press. The whole thing could spiral out of control.

Laura took Calvin’s lead and tried to sound gentle. “She’s right, Camilla. Even if you go to auction, I doubt you’d get much for those shares. It’d be easier to just settle this among ourselves.”

Every word Camilla spoke was a slap in the face, and the way she said, “I can live with it,” made him look like he might actually come undone.

Camilla’s tone stayed steady. “Barnard should be careful. I’ve already filed for divorce. If you think you can intimidate me now or try to use your so-called family rules, I’ll just add it to my case.”

Camilla had always acted quiet and polite around Calvin and Laura before, so Laura was visibly stunned at the change in her. She put a hand on Calvin’s arm, signaling him to calm down, and tried to soften her voice. “Camilla, no matter what Barnard did, our family’s treated you decently over the years. Your mom got better thanks to help from the Carter Group, didn’t she? Can’t we try to talk this through one more time?”

With all the other shareholders desperate to bail, Calvin had already spent a fortune buying back what he could, just to keep the Carter Group shares from flooding the market. The money he was offering Camilla now was scraped together from every corner he could manage.