Divorced the Cheat Married the Fleet (Camilla and Lance) novel Chapter 387

The business partners who had once toasted with Calvin were now fleeing the sinking ship. Debt collectors swarmed the gates of the Carter residence. Inside, Laura sat on the sofa, weeping uncontrollably as the sheer panic set in.

Davina heard the commotion from outside but lacked the business acumen to understand they were facing total ruin. Sitting beside Laura, she offered a tissue and a naive smile. "Mom, why are you crying? It's just some people asking for money. It's not a big deal. Back when my family built our house, we owed a lot of money too. The collectors yelled a bit, realized we couldn't pay, and left. Dad and Barnard are so smart. I'm sure they'll pay it off in no time. Please don't be sad."

"What do you know?" Laura snapped, her anxiety boiling over into raw fury. "Do you think running a corporate empire is the same as building a cheap farmhouse? How much did that even cost? A few thousand dollars?"

Seeing Davina's stunned, deer-in-the-headlights expression, Laura felt a sudden, sharp pang of regret. Unbidden, Camilla's image flashed through her mind. Back when Camilla was part of this family, she handled every crisis with flawless efficiency. She found solutions. Davina, on the other hand, was entirely useless, lounging around with a careless attitude while the world burned down around them. She didn't even understand why Laura was crying.

Though stung by the outburst, Davina muttered defensively, "Why are you yelling at me? I was just trying to make you feel better. Debt is debt, isn't it? Besides, we can't do anything about it anyway. Trusting Dad and Barnard is the right thing to do."

Laura desperately wanted to trust her husband and son, but she knew this was different. Decades-long partnerships had evaporated overnight. Shareholders were practically giving away their equity. The Carter family was finished. Even if she believed in Calvin, he wasn't a god. He couldn't reverse total annihilation.

Calvin walked into the room just in time to hear Davina's oblivious comments. Instead of feeling comforted by her blind faith, he felt a wave of sheer disgust at her stupidity. "Your mother and I need to discuss something," he said coldly. "Go to your room."

Knowing Davina would only get in the way, Calvin refused to speak freely in her presence. Davina opened her mouth to argue, but intimidated by Calvin's dark scowl, she swallowed her words and stomped upstairs.

Once the bedroom door clicked shut, Calvin tossed Laura a box of tissues. "Enough. Stop crying. What good does that do?"

Laura wiped her face, still sobbing quietly. "What are we going to do? Are we really going bankrupt?"

A flare of intense irritation crossed Calvin's face. "This is all your precious son's fault! He knew he was divorced, yet he couldn't stop provoking that woman. If he hadn't stirred up so much trouble, we never would have ended up like this."

Laura shrank back, too terrified to defend Barnard. Once Calvin's anger subsided, she whispered, "So... what's our next move?"

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