Divorced the Cheat Married the Fleet (Camilla and Lance) novel Chapter 420

"When he was still in my life, he never once taught me to back down from a fight," Camilla replied softly but firmly.

Her unwavering tone tugged at Carol's own memories. Her resistance finally began to crumble, and she let out a defeated sigh. "You are exactly like him. If Mahoney finds out I'm letting you run wild like this, he's going to lecture me for hours."

"Then we just won't tell them. Thank you for keeping this a secret, Carol. And please, don't breathe a word of this to Lance either," Camilla pleaded.

"Fine. It's not like I can stop you anyway. Do what you have to do." Thoroughly resigned, Carol surrendered once again.

Not long after they reached their agreement, Lance returned to the hotel. Carol tactfully excused herself from the suite, leaving the couple alone.

The moment the door clicked shut, Lance cut straight to the chase. "What were you and Carol whispering about? What are you two planning?"

Camilla put on a perfectly troubled expression. "Clement covered his tracks too well. We're completely at a dead end, so we're just going to wait until we can regroup with Mahoney and figure out our next move. What about you? When are you heading back to Cabinda?"

She tried to make the question sound casual, but it still earned her a sharp frown from Lance. "Are you that eager for me to leave?"

"No, of course not. I'm just worried about Jasper," she said, leaning into him slightly. "Lance, I really need to follow up on these leads about my dad, so I can't leave just yet. But knowing you're there to watch over Jasper is the only thing keeping me sane right now."

Lance wasn't completely convinced. His brows stayed furrowed. "Is that the truth? You better not be lying to me, Camilla."

"Why would I lie to you? Jasper has never been away from me for this long. If neither of us is with him, I'll be a nervous wreck. Besides, things have settled down here, and with Mike backing me, what happened yesterday is definitely not going to happen again. Just go back and keep Jasper company for me. I'll stay here for two more days, and if I still don't find anything, I'll fly straight back so we can all spend the holidays together."

Lance stared at her intensely for a long moment before finally exhaling. "Fine. Whatever you say. But remember this, Camilla—don't go doing something reckless and throwing yourself into danger."

The grave weight in his voice made Camilla's stomach drop. He definitely suspected she was up to something. Thankfully, he didn't interrogate her any further, and she finally allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief.

Bright and early the next morning, Camilla dropped Lance off at the airport and headed straight for The Williams Group.

In the past, whenever Barnard ran into her, he never missed a chance to flaunt whatever trivial leverage or status he had over her. Now that he was the head of a major project at The Williams Group—the ultimate chance to show off his newfound power—he was practically begging her to leave.

Camilla stared at him in pure astonishment. Barnard looked genuinely tense, and he urged her again, "Listen to me for once, Camilla. Get out of here, and stay far away from this place."

"But I came all the way here to tour The Williams Group," she said breezily.

His brow furrowed into a deep knot. "Tour what? You run a jewelry business. What does that have to do with pharmaceuticals? I'm telling you this for your own good. Stay away from this company."

His desperate, repeated attempts to drive her away only cemented her suspicions. Barnard absolutely knew something. He had likely brushed against a secret so dark and dangerous that he was utterly terrified of it.

"The jewelry market has been in a slump lately, so I've been thinking about branching out into health supplements," Camilla lied smoothly. "I heard The Williams Group is top-tier, so I just wanted to come by and learn a few things. Are you really that petty, Barnard? Now that you're an executive here, you can't even stand to see me pick up a few business tips?"

Barnard scowled, about to argue back, when a familiar, slippery voice echoed from behind him. "Camilla? Barnard? What a surprise to see you two chatting out here!"