Waiting for news was always an excruciating kind of torture.
Camilla and Jeniffer waited together until the afternoon, only to come up completely empty-handed.
Jeniffer's father had called with absolute certainty, stating that Sarah's life abroad was spotless, without a single trace of her ever having contact with Silvania.
Either she really was that clean, or she had made contact recently and deliberately wiped her tracks to set someone up.
Once the seeds of doubt were planted, they quickly took root, making it impossible for Camilla to stay calm.
It was especially agonizing because Lance had just left for Silvania. Based on the flight time, he should have landed by now, but the lack of updates left a suffocating wave of anxiety in Camilla's chest.
Trouble always seemed to hit all at once.
Before Camilla could dwell on her worries, she received a call from Ada. Something had gone terribly wrong at the company.
Even though it was the holidays, several employees were working overtime to keep an eye on their major accounts.
Ada hadn't gone home for the holidays either. She had volunteered to stay back and work, which was the only reason Camilla had any free time.
Ada wouldn't normally bother Camilla unless it was an absolute emergency.
Upon taking the call, Camilla rushed straight to the office.
Jeniffer was too worried to let her go alone, so she tagged along to BLC.
The remaining staff were all gathered in the conference room, their expressions uniformly grim.
The moment Camilla walked in, Ada said, "Camilla, our raw material suppliers suddenly turned on us for no reason. They've cut off all supply lines.
We can't fulfill any of our production orders. We honestly have no idea what to do."
As she spoke, she handed over a tablet for Camilla to review.
The screen displayed a relentless stream of termination notices.
A betrayal of this magnitude was glaringly obvious—someone was deliberately sabotaging them.
For some reason, the ruthless tactic felt disturbingly familiar to Camilla.
"I understand the situation," Camilla said. "I'll make some calls. Everyone, get back to work for now."
"You need to hurry, Camilla," Ada warned. "We have a few expedited orders that are completely past deadline."
Promising to handle it, Camilla dismissed the team and immediately started dialing the suppliers.
The vendors she usually had a great relationship with were suddenly ghosting her as if they had all conspired together. Something was definitely wrong.
Just as Camilla was about to head out and confront them in person, an unknown number flashed on her screen. The moment she answered, a woman's sickeningly familiar drawl came through. "Camilla. If I'm not mistaken, you must be in a total panic right now."
She was targeting Dahlia again.
Pure fury surged through Camilla's veins.
It was always like this. Every time Dahlia's life started looking up, Pamela showed up like a relentless nightmare to ruin it.
It was as if she had a tracker planted on Dahlia, utterly determined to make her miserable.
"What the hell did you do to her? Why is she back?" Camilla had seen Dahlia and Magee in Valdoria.
Magee had genuinely seemed like a changed man, doting on Dahlia completely.
He knew Cabinda held painful memories for her and had even encouraged her to open a pet boutique in Valdoria. That alone proved they never planned to return.
"What could I possibly do? I just want my fiancé back," Pamela mocked.
"I'm heading to the Adams estate right now. Why don't you come watch the show, Camilla? If you hurry, you might even be in time to pick up the pieces and take Dahlia home."
From the very beginning, she had presented Camilla with a sick ultimatum.
Her career or Dahlia. She could only choose one.
Without waiting for an answer, Pamela hung up. Amidst the dial tone, Camilla could practically still hear her shrill, victorious laughter echoing in the room.

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