Chapter 4 - LILA WASN’T SUPPOSED TO KNOW
Lila’s confidence disappeared in less than ten seconds.
She stepped away from Camden.
“I never signed anything.”
He lowered his voice.
“Lila, not here.”
“Why is my name on that company?”
“I said not here.”
She looked at me.
Not as a rival now.
As someone who might know more than she did.
I almost pitied her.
Almost.
“Did he ever ask you to sign documents?” I asked.
Camden snapped.
“Vivian.”
Lila ignored him.
“Yes.”
“What kind?”
“I don’t know. Investment paperwork.”
“When?”
“Two months ago.”
“Did you read it?”
Her cheeks reddened.
“Not all of it.”
Of course.
Camden had built his entire life around people trusting what he put in front of them.
Me included.
“What did he tell you it was?”
“A future venture.”
Camden said, “That’s exactly what it was.”
Malcolm looked at him.
“Funded by Pierce Aero?”
“No.”
“We’ll see.”
Lila crossed her arms.
“You said Northstar was clean.”
Every head turned.
Camden’s face sharpened.
There it was.
More than ignorance.
She knew the name.
I asked:
“What did he tell you Northstar did?”
She looked at Camden.
Then me.
“Acquisitions.”
“What kind?”
“Aircraft. Properties. Private clients.”
Nora whispered, “Jesus.”
I felt something cold settle inside me.
“Did he say where the money came from?”
“No.”
“Did you ever receive money?”
Lila hesitated.
Camden said:
“Do not answer that without a lawyer.”
Her eyes widened.
That frightened her more than anything else.
“How much?” I asked.
“Vivian—”
“Camden, stop.”
Lila swallowed.
“Northstar paid my consulting company.”
“How much?”
“I don’t know exactly.”
“Yes, you do.”
Silence.
“Lila.”
“About three hundred thousand.”
The maintenance supervisor muttered something under his breath.
Camden looked like he wanted the floor to open.
“What consulting?”
She looked embarrassed.
“Brand partnerships. Client events.”
Nora checked her tablet.
“We have no approved vendor relationship with Monroe Creative.”
Lila’s face turned white.
“My company?”
“Yes.”
Camden said, “Pierce Aero didn’t contract her directly.”
“Northstar did.”
“That’s separate.”
Malcolm finally lost some of his patience.
“Separate companies do not become magically unrelated when our money funds them.”
Camden turned toward me.
“You want to destroy everything because I had an affair.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“The affair is the reason we’re getting divorced.”
That was the first time I said it aloud.
Lila looked at me.
Camden did too.
I continued.
“The money is why lawyers are coming.”
His face changed.
Then he smiled.
Actually smiled.
“You think divorce scares me?”
“No.”
I put my wedding ring into Nora’s hand.
“Discovery might.”
That finally reached him.
Nine years of marriage.
Tax returns.
Bank records.
Business interests.
Asset schedules.
Hidden accounts.
If Camden had buried anything, divorce could dig it up.
Malcolm received another message.
He read it.
Then said:
“The East Seventy-Second apartment is owned by Northstar.”
Camden said nothing.
Purchase price:
$6.8 million.
Acquired eleven months earlier.
Down payment:
$2.1 million.
Almost exactly what Pierce Aero had transferred to Northstar.
Lila’s eyes filled.
“You said you bought that for us.”
Camden closed his eyes.
That sentence hurt more than expected.
Not because I wanted the apartment.
Because of the word us.
But Nora touched my elbow.
Tiny gesture.
Enough.
I looked at Lila.
“Do you live there?”
“Sometimes.”
“What else is there?”
She hesitated.
Then whispered:
“A nursery.”
The room shifted.
I looked at her.
“What?”
Lila’s hand moved instinctively toward her stomach.
Camden’s face went dead.
And suddenly I understood why the affair had accelerated.
Why Northstar bought an apartment.
Why Camden had started moving assets.
May you like
Why he had become careless.
Lila was pregnant.
