Chapter 167

Gabriel had just called to inform her about the lawyer he arranged. Their meeting was scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Camille needed this divorce finalized immediately.

Tristan knew she misunderstood his intentions, but he didn't correct her. "Understood," was all he said.

When the silence stretched, Camille assumed he'd hang up. "Mr. Rutherford," she asked, perplexed, "was there something else?"

Her voice held no trace of the anguish Tristan expected - no sorrow, no turmoil. Just calm detachment.

Could she truly be this unaffected? Or was she masking her pain?

"Mr. Rutherford?" she prompted after three seconds of silence. "Are you still there?"

Tristan snapped back to reality. "Yes."

"If there's nothing else," Camille continued briskly, "I have work to attend to." Without waiting for response, she added, "Goodbye."

Left with no choice, Tristan muttered, "Very well."

The line went dead before he finished speaking.

Graham had expressed interest in her latest research proposal days ago. He'd asked her to compile her findings for journal submission.

Between Vertex Dynamics and NovaSight Labs commitments, she'd made little progress. Now with unexpected free time, she opened her laptop determinedly.

Tristan immediately called Arlo back. "Damien wants full custody of Chloe in the divorce. She must be contesting it?"

Arlo had called precisely about this development. "That's the thing - she's not! Signed everything without argument. Completely calm about it - unnaturally so."

This wasn't the Camille they knew. Tristan struggled to reconcile this behavior with the woman who'd loved Damien since adolescence.

"Maybe it's a ploy?" Arlo speculated. "Playing on his guilt?"

Tristan couldn't dismiss the possibility. Not with Camille's history.

"How did Damien react?" Tristan asked after a pause.

"Shocked. At dinner, he kept watching her more than usual." Arlo chuckled darkly. "If I'm right, she's playing chess while we're playing checkers."

"Or," Tristan countered, "she genuinely wants out."

Arlo snorted. "After fifteen years? Impossible."

"People change," Tristan murmured.

"Not that much," Arlo insisted. "Anyway, this works in Damien's favor. When you return and Selene recovers, we should celebrate."

Only then did he notice Tristan's unusual silence.