Chapter 257
Barnard’s eyes were practically blazing. The way he glared at Camilla, you’d think he wanted to burn a hole right through her with his stare. He couldn’t stop fixating on the way Lance’s hand rested on her waist.
Camilla, who’d always been so cool, sometimes even a bit aloof with him, was now resting against Lance’s chest. She looked so small, almost fragile. She never acted like this in front of Barnard. He couldn’t believe it—he never knew Camilla had this softer side.
It was like his eyes were stuck. No matter what, he just couldn’t look away.
He opened his mouth, wanting to call her name, but right then the doors flew open and Davina came storming in, wrapped in a bright red coat. She wore a yellow silk scarf around her neck, and the colors clashed so much that it was hard not to stare.
She made a beeline for Barnard the second she stepped inside. “Barnard, oh my God, Dad said something happened to you! I was so freaked out! Are you okay? Can you come home now?” Her voice rang out across the whole hall, echoing off the walls as she grabbed his arm and gave him a frantic once-over.
But Barnard barely seemed to notice. His gaze was locked on Camilla.
One look at Davina in her loud clothes, then at Lance beside Camilla—perfectly styled and confident—and the humiliation hit him all over again. It was like a punch to the gut.
He pulled away from Davina, cool and annoyed. “Davina, what are you doing here p>
She sniffled. “Dad heard you got brought in, so he sent me to bail you out. I was terrified. Thank goodness you’re all right. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.” Her voice wobbled and suddenly she was crying, big tears rolling down her cheeks.
Barnard’s nerves were completely shot, and he could feel a vein starting to throb in his forehead. He glanced toward Camilla and Lance, suddenly afraid he’d catch Camilla smirking or looking down on him.
For the first time, standing next to Davina made him want to disappear. If it were Camilla in this situation, she’d be handling things calmly, not falling apart in the middle of a police station.
Davina finally ran out of tears and shifted her attention to Camilla. She called out, “Camilla, this is just too much! You and Barnard are still married! How could you keep sending him to the police station?
People always say that a day as a couple means a hundred days of kindness. You p>
Someone else cut her off before she could finish.
“Ma’am, we all get that you care about Barnard, but maybe save the drama for home? There are a lot of people here and listening to this is seriously awkward.” Lance said it calmly, his hand lingering on Camilla’s shoulder, practically announcing to everyone that she belonged to him, standing protectively between her and Davina.
Davina started to fire back at being called “ma’am,” but when she finally looked at Lance—taking in that almost unreasonably good-looking, slightly wicked face—she stopped, speechless. Just one glance at him and you’d have a hard time forgetting that face. She remembered Barnard used to bend over backward to please this guy.
Lance didn’t bother acknowledging how upset they looked. He just kept going. “Are you done? Because if you are, let’s get going. Camilla’s waiting to sign her papers p>
Those three words—“my Camilla”—hit Barnard like an ice pick straight through his chest.
They’re really together. It stung more than he wanted to admit.
“Sign what?” Davina asked, still in a daze.
“A divorce, obviously,” Lance replied. “Ma’am, if your memory’s that bad, you really shouldn’t butt in.
Come on, Barnard. Don’t start playing games to drag this out p>
With Lance right there, Barnard realized there was no way out. Even Davina seemed to get it. She glanced around, then just went quiet and moved to stand behind Barnard like she wanted to melt away.
Barnard refused to back down, though. “Lance, do you really know Camilla? Do you even realize p>
Lance cut him off. “Realize what? That Camilla’s the best woman in the world? Barnard, I chased her for almost six months. I finally convinced her to be with me. If you mess this up and scare her off, you can forget about the Carter family. You get two choices right now. You can come with us and just get this divorce over with. Or you can stay here and rot while we go to court. We’ve got all the time in the world. Can you say the same for your family p>
That’s when Davina lost it. She sobbed, “Barnard, Mom and Dad are waiting for a grandchild! I can’t live without you, please just go with Camilla and get this divorce already p>
Her voice was already sharp, but now, panicked and desperate, it got even louder. She didn’t care that people were starting to stare.
Barnard wanted to sink right through the floor. Who talked about wanting kids like this, in public, with everyone eavesdropping? On top of that, seeing the sickly color of Davina’s face made his skin crawl.
He could feel the heat of Lance’s smug, almost taunting gaze and couldn’t bring himself to look either of them in the eye.
A flash of anger flickered across Barnard’s face, but he quickly hid it. He answered stiffly and reluctantly agreed.
With Lance watching him, there wasn’t anywhere to run, and going back to jail was the last thing he wanted. For now, all he could do was go along with it.