Chapter 12 - CAMILA'S PRICE
I did not respond to Camila.
I took a screenshot and sent it to Evelyn and Rachel.
Rachel called first.
“Do not meet her alone.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Do not promise her anything.”
“I wasn't planning to.”
“Do not threaten her.”
“That one I was considering.”
Rachel was silent for a beat.
“Consider it privately.”
I almost laughed.
It was the first genuinely funny moment I had experienced in days.
Evelyn called thirty seconds later.
“She has counsel.”
“How do you know?”
“Her lawyer contacted Martin this morning about the internal investigation.”
“Then why is she texting me?”
“Because frightened people do irrational things.”
“Or strategic things.”
“Yes.”
I stared at Camila's message.
“She says Gavin didn't move the files.”
“That can mean many things.”
“It sounds like she knows who did.”
“Do not ask by text.”
“So what do we do?”
“We tell her lawyer she contacted you and that any communication needs to be arranged properly.”
I hated the slowness of proper procedure.
I also understood why I needed it.
Camila was not a frightened stranger.
She was the woman who had spent two years in a relationship with my husband.
She had accepted an apartment.
She had worn the necklace.
Company money appeared around her like smoke.
Whatever she wanted from me was not likely to be simple.
At 7:20 that evening, her lawyer called Evelyn.
By nine the next morning, a meeting had been arranged at a neutral office near the courthouse.
I did not want to go.
Then I realized I needed to see Camila somewhere that was not Gavin's lap.
She arrived wearing a cream sweater, black pants, and no jewelry.
The absence of the necklace was louder than if she had worn it.
Her attorney, a compact woman named Lena Ortiz, sat beside her.
Evelyn sat beside me.
Rachel joined by video because she had a custody filing that morning.
For several seconds, Camila and I looked at each other.
She looked younger than I remembered.
That did not make me feel sorry for her.
It made the two years feel even more obscene.
Camila spoke first.
“I am sorry.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
Evelyn touched one finger to the table.
A silent reminder not to explode.
I looked at Camila.
“For what part?”
Her eyes dropped.
“All of it.”
“That is convenient.”
“I know.”
“No, I don't think you do.”
Lena shifted slightly.
Camila raised a hand.
“It's okay.”
Then she looked at me again.
“I knew he was married.”
“Good place to start.”
“He told me the marriage was over.”
“It wasn't.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew he went home every night.”
“Not every night.”
The answer cut me.
Camila saw it happen and closed her eyes.
“I shouldn't have said that.”
“No.”
I kept my voice level.
“You should say everything.”
She swallowed.
“He said you slept in separate rooms.”
“We didn't.”
“He said you had not been a real couple since Mia was born.”
“He lied.”
“He said the only reason he had not filed was because you were emotionally fragile and he was afraid you would use Mia against him.”
For a second, I could not speak.
It was the story he was now telling the court.
He had rehearsed it with Camila for years.
“How long did he say that?”
“From the beginning.”
My stomach turned.
The affair had not only required lies to me.
It had required a complete invented version of me for her.
Camila continued.
“He said you did not want to work.”
“He said you spent too much.”
“He said he had to control the household accounts because you were irresponsible.”
My fingers went numb.
I thought about the six-dollar coffee I had walked away from.
The Target receipt.
The ballet shoes.
The endless accounting of groceries.
He had turned his control into evidence of my incompetence.
Camila looked ashamed.
“I believed him.”
“Why?”
“Because he showed me things.”
“What things?”
“Screenshots of your spending.”
I almost laughed.
“Groceries?”
“Target.”
There it was.
The $214 purchase.
I remembered exactly what it had been.
A winter coat for Mia.
Two school uniforms.
Laundry detergent.
Cold medicine.
A birthday gift for one of Mia's classmates.
And a pair of socks for me.
Gavin had shown that receipt to his mistress as proof that I was reckless.
I looked down because the room had blurred.
Evelyn did not touch me.
I was grateful.
I did not want comfort in front of Camila.
I wanted facts.
I looked back up.
“Tell me about Crestline.”
Camila's attorney leaned forward.
“Before we do that, there needs to be clarity about my client's status.”
Evelyn's expression cooled.
“She has no agreement with North Harbor.”
“She is prepared to cooperate.”
“That is her decision.”
“She faces potential exposure based on transactions she did not design.”
I looked at Camila.
“Did you accept the necklace?”
“Yes.”
“Did you accept the apartment?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know Summit Crest paid?”
“The apartment, yes.”
“The necklace?”
“No.”
“Did you think Gavin paid personally?”
“Yes.”
“Did you ask?”
“No.”
“Did you receive money through CR Strategic?”
Her face changed.
“No.”
“Did you know about it?”
“I knew there was a vendor with my initials.”
“That did not concern you?”
“I asked Gavin.”
“What did he say?”
“He said it was deliberate misdirection for a confidential project.”
I stared at her.
“And you accepted that?”
“I wanted to believe him.”
The sentence made me angrier than denial would have.
Wanting to believe him had become everyone's excuse.
Mine too.
Lena placed a small digital recorder on the table.
“My client preserved several voice notes and messages after she became concerned.”
Evelyn's eyes narrowed.
“When?”
“Beginning five months ago.”
Camila looked at me.
“That was when he started talking about the next company.”
“Crestline?”
“Yes.”
“What is it?”
“A shell for now.”
“Owned by whom?”
“Not Gavin.”
The words matched her text.
I leaned forward.
“Then who?”
“Leonard Price's brother-in-law is the legal owner.”
My pulse jumped.
“Who actually controls it?”
Camila looked at Evelyn.
“Leonard has the bank authority.”
“And Gavin?”
“Gavin has a side agreement entitling him to forty percent after a financing event.”
I stared at her.
“So he does control it.”
“Economically, partly.”
“Then why did you say he didn't move the files?”
“Because Leonard did.”
“Using your credentials.”
“Yes.”
“Why did Leonard have your credentials?”
Camila's face flushed.
“I gave them to him.”
Anger surged through me.
“Why?”
“Gavin told me to.”
“Of course he did.”
“He said it was for an emergency diligence package.”
“At what time?”
“After you left the office.”
The room became very still.
I whispered, “He ordered it that night.”
Camila nodded.
“He panicked when the call stayed open.”
“About the affair?”
“About everything.”
“What did he say?”
Camila looked at her attorney.
Lena pressed play on the recorder.
Gavin's voice filled the room.
It was unmistakable.
“Call Leonard.”
A quieter female voice answered.
“Now?”
“Yes, now.”
“What about Nora?”
“Forget Nora.”
Then Gavin's voice hardened.
“If the board starts digging through expenses, they will get to the vendor accounts.”
A pause.
“Tell Leonard the package moves tonight.”
Camila's recorded voice sounded nervous.
“He said next week.”
“I don't care what he said.”
Another pause.
“Use your access so it doesn't trace to me.”
The recording ended.
I sat completely still.
My husband had ordered the data moved while chasing me toward the elevator.
He had protected Camila in the hallway.
Then he had used her account as cover.
Camila stared at the table.
“I realized what he had done the next morning.”
“You realized after you did it.”
“Yes.”
“Why record him?”
“Because five months ago he told me if anything went wrong, he would say I manipulated him.”
I almost laughed.
“He told me you were a distraction.”
Camila looked up sharply.
“What?”
“The night he came home.”
I held her gaze.
“He called you a distraction.”
Her face went white.
For the first time, I watched Gavin's lie hurt her in real time.
I did not enjoy it as much as I thought I would.
Maybe because I knew exactly how it felt.
Lena cleared her throat.
“My client is willing to provide this material to the independent investigation in exchange for appropriate consideration of her cooperation.”
Evelyn's expression remained unreadable.
“What consideration?”
“She wants protection from civil claims by North Harbor and Summit Crest related to the expenses she did not authorize.”
“That is for Summit Crest to decide.”
“She also wants six months of salary under her employment agreement.”
“That is for Summit Crest to decide.”
Lena hesitated.
“And reimbursement for legal fees.”
I looked at Camila.
“You want the company to pay your lawyer after the company paid your apartment?”
Camila flinched.
Lena started to speak.
I raised one hand.
“No.”
Evelyn glanced at me but did not interrupt.
“I am not the board.”
“I am not negotiating their money.”
“But if you came here hoping I would personally buy your evidence because we were both lied to, you misunderstood me.”
Camila's eyes filled.
“I didn't.”
“Good.”
“You made choices.”
“So did I.”
“I stayed in a marriage after warning signs.”
“You stayed in an affair with a married man.”
“Those are not the same choice.”
“I know.”
A tear slipped down her cheek.
She wiped it away quickly.
Then she reached into her bag and removed a small black phone.
“There is one more thing.”
She slid it across the table.
“What is that?”
“Gavin's second phone.”
My skin went cold.
“How do you have it?”
“He left it in my apartment the morning after the video.”
“Does he know?”
“He has texted me fourteen times asking for it.”
Evelyn did not touch the phone.
“Do not unlock or access it.”
“I haven't.”
Camila pushed a folded paper beside it.
“This was under the case.”
I opened the paper.
It was a handwritten list.
My name appeared at the top.
NORA — OFFER HOUSE / 15K MONTHLY / NDA / RELEASE NH VOTE.
Below that was another line.
IF REFUSES: PRIMARY CUSTODY PRESSURE.
I read it twice.
Then a third time.
My hands stopped shaking.
May you like
The custody filing had never been only about Mia.
It was leverage against my father's shares.
