That night, Dahlia still couldn’t give Camilla a clear answer.
Camilla was done waiting around about the divorce. The next morning, she packed up and headed straight for Saddlebrook Estates. She didn’t tell anyone ahead of time—she was half-afraid Barnard would pull another trick—so she just showed up unannounced. Not that it mattered. Barnard wasn’t home anyway.
The only people in the enormous living room were Daisy and Davina, sitting across the table from each other, picking at breakfast, both looking irritated. When Daisy saw her, a flash of suspicion crossed her face. She stood up, moved to block the doorway, and glared at Camilla, eyes wide. “Why are you here? My daughter already told you, this isn’t your home anymore.”
Davina stayed silent, but her gaze was just as wary as she watched Camilla come in.
Camilla took in the whole mother-daughter act—their eagerness to play host, to take command of the house. She kept her voice calm. “I’m here to finish the divorce with Barnard. I came early to grab his documents, to prevent anything like yesterday from happening again.”
Davina’s attitude eased, if only a little. She still looked confused, though. “Barnard… he didn’t come back last night. I actually have no idea where his documents are.”
Normally, Davina would’ve kept quiet about Barnard not coming home, just to save face. But talk of the divorce seemed to wake her right up. She didn’t care about pretending anymore.
Camilla shook her head. “It’s fine. Just call him and tell him to come back.”
She hesitated for a second, not wanting any more surprises, and added, “But don’t tell him I’m here.”
“Oh… okay!” Davina looked a little dazed at Camilla’s tone but nodded quickly and fumbled for her phone. By the time she was dialing, Camilla was already making her way up the stairs, heading straight for the study with the confidence of someone who’d done it a hundred times before.
Something about Camilla’s calm, take-charge attitude made it hard for Davina not to just listen and do what she said.
Back when she used to help Barnard with the Carter Group, all his important papers were kept in the study safe. She knew the password too, no problem, and could get whatever she needed.
Upstairs, Camilla entered the code, heart thumping, half-worried he might have changed it. Instead, the safe beeped and swung open. Everything was just as she remembered. All the documents were exactly where they’d always been. Barnard’s ID wasn’t there, but everything else was. There was also a new addition, a yellow folder pushed to the side.
It might’ve been something to do with the Carter Group, something confidential. At first, Camilla thought she’d just ignore it. Then she caught sight of the label on it, and her heart skipped.


VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Divorced the Cheat Married the Fleet (Camilla and Lance)