Chapter 9 - CAMILLA AT THE COFFEE SHOP
Camilla returned the earrings in a paper bag.
No velvet box.
No apology note.
Just the earrings and the sapphire bracelet.
Audrey met her at a coffee shop because she wanted witnesses and because neutral furniture made everything easier.
Camilla looked smaller without the red gown.
She wore jeans, a black sweater, and no jewelry.
Audrey sat across from her.
“Why did he have the bracelet too?”
Camilla looked ashamed.
“He gave it to me after our trip to Miami.”
“And you believed he bought that too?”
“At first.”
Audrey waited.
Camilla looked down at her coffee.
“Then I saw an old picture of you wearing it.”
Audrey’s expression changed.
“So you knew.”
“Yes.”
That answer mattered.
Audrey could forgive being lied to more easily than participating after recognition.
Camilla continued.
“I didn’t give it back.”
“No.”
“I told myself you had everything. That you didn’t care.”
Audrey almost smiled at the bluntness.
“That made stealing from me feel fair?”
Camilla’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
There it was.
Not seduction.
Not romance.
Resentment.
Julian had fed Camilla a story where Audrey’s privilege justified taking from her.
The same way he had convinced himself Audrey’s year away justified replacing her professionally.
The same mechanism.
Different scale.
Camilla pushed the bag closer.
“I’m sorry.”
Audrey looked at it.
Then at her.
“I believe you are.”
Camilla swallowed.
“That’s it?”
“What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“Forgiveness?”
“Maybe.”
Audrey leaned back.
“I’m not there.”
Camilla nodded.
Fair.
Then she said something Audrey had not expected.
“He told me you hit him once.”
Audrey stared.
“What?”
“That you threw things. That you used your father’s money to control him. That you threatened to ruin his career whenever he tried to leave.”
Audrey laughed in disbelief.
Camilla’s face crumpled.
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I know now.”
Audrey stopped laughing.
For years Julian had been building parallel versions of reality.
To Audrey, Camilla was proof Audrey had become cold.
To Camilla, Audrey was abusive and entitled.
To the board, Audrey had abandoned her career.
To investors, Malcolm had already chosen Julian.
Every audience received a version calibrated to make Julian’s desires look inevitable.
That required skill.
It also required people willing not to verify.
Camilla said, “There’s another woman.”
Audrey went still.
“What?”
“Not now. Before me.”
Of course.
A former regional manager in Denver named Elise Warren.
Julian had told Camilla Elise was “obsessed” after a brief relationship ended.
Camilla had found messages suggesting it lasted nearly a year.
During Audrey’s father’s illness.
The period Julian later described as the time Audrey “left” him.
Audrey felt no fresh heartbreak.
Just confirmation.
She thanked Camilla for the name.
Camilla looked surprised.
“That’s all?”
Audrey stood.
“No.”
She picked up the paper bag.
“This too.”
Then, before leaving, she said:
“If Julian ever contacts you and makes you feel like protecting him will protect yourself, remember the gala.”
Camilla nodded.
Audrey walked away.
Not friends.
May you like
Not sisters-in-betrayal.
Just two women no longer required to hate each other in order for one man’s story to work.
