19
Merritt
I was staring at the document on my computer without even seeing anything. I was waiting for Marissa to give me an update of the situation, all the while thinking about what the hell was Camilla doing. Anger didn’t leave me for a second, and I wanted nothing more than to march into her office and demand answers. However, I didn’t want to make an even bigger scandal.
“Do you understand me?!” I heard someone yell outside of my office. “Get your hands off me!” A female shouted. “I’m going in anyway!”
What was going on now?
“No, you are not! I won’t let you bother Senator Dawson when he is working!”
I stood up, expecting to see some snooper from the media bulldozing their way into my office. I needed to prevent that.
I opened the door and froze at the doorstep, half-surprised, half-pissed off to find Camilla arguing with my secretary.
“Camilla?” She turned around to face me. “What are you doing here?”
“I came here to talk with you, obviously. But your secretary wouldn’t even listen to me when I told her it’s urgent.”
“It’s okay,” I said to my secretary, grabbing Camilla’s upper arm. “I need to talk with her.” I pulled Camilla into my office and closed the door behind me.
I was prepared to argue with her about why she would release those photos, but then she backed away from me and began to cry. I was rendered immobile, bowled over by her reaction. Why was she crying?
“Camilla?” I wanted to reach for her, but my anger didn’t let me. I still felt the sting of her betrayal. “What is going on? Why are you crying?”
She shook her head, visibly trembling, and met my gaze. “Why would you have my phone hacked?”
Excuse me? “What? What are you talking about?”
She began sobbing, wrapping her arms around her as if to protect herself. “You know what I’m talking about, Merritt. I’ve seen that article in the tabloid. Our photos are all over the front page!”
I fisted my hands, boiling with anger now. “Yes. And that’s all because of you!”
She recoiled, gaping at me. “Me?! You’re the one who has hacked my phone and sold those photos to that tabloid.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Camilla? Hacking your phone? Are you serious? I haven’t done anything like that!”
She shook her head again, backing away from me. “You’re lying. I should’ve known you would lie and refuse to accept your responsibility. Just tell me why you would do that. I thought…” She whimpered, looking away. “I thought we had something. I thought you really liked me. But now I know it was all a lie.”
She glared at me. “This was your revenge. You’ve probably held a grudge against me all this time for refusing you twice. First, that night at the bar, then the second time when I told you to cool things off. I bet that really hurt your ego.”
At first, I just stared at her, trying to understand her logic. My ego was hurt? She really thought I had something against her because she had refused me?
“You know nothing about me, Camilla. I’m not flawless, but I’m definitely not some jerk who does things for such stupid reasons. I would never get back at you for such an idiotic reason. I would never get back at you, period. When you refused me, I was ready to let you go. I certainly didn’t plan to you use you while planning some sick payback.”
“And since we’re blaming each other, let me tell you a few things too. You had a legitimate reason to do it as well.”
Her eyes widened. “I can’t believe this. You blame me?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Just like you blame me.”
“What possible reason could I have to do that?”
“You tell me. Maybe you wanted to advance your career, and this was your way to achieve it.”
The moment I said this I regretted it because her eyes filled with utter sadness and her face fell. I could see that I’d hurt her, and I wished I could take back my words.
“I seriously can’t believe this. I thought you knew me, at least a little bit. I thought you knew how much I value hard work and honesty. Yes, I want to go a long way but not by using dirty, cheap tricks. Besides, think about it. How would this scandal bring me any good? I will most likely lose my job now! No, not most likely. I will lose my job!”
She was becoming more distressed, and my heart clenched. I didn’t want to see her like this. Lost and suffering.
“And not only will I lose my job, but I’ll also have to face the attacks from the public. I will have to face my parents and Carter and explain to them how I managed to get myself in this mess. This will break their hearts.” She ran her hands through her hair, her tears never-ending. “And you know what? I’m disappointed in myself. I’m disappointed that I accepted to be with you despite knowing better. Now, I have to pay for that mistake. All because of you.”
I was watching her meltdown, not quite able to say anything as the realization dawned on me. I cursed myself for being so stupid and full of mistrust. She truly believed that I was the one who had hacked her phone and released the images. This was not an act.
All my anger evaporated, and I went to her, erasing the distance between us. I placed my hand on her shoulder, a pang hitting my chest when I saw her wince.
“Look, I didn’t hack your phone. You have to believe me. I really care about you, Camilla, and I want to make you happy, not ruin you. Think about this—even if I wanted to get a revenge on you, do you think I would do something that can damage my career too? Because this can damage my career, and it won’t be pretty.”
I rubbed her shoulder with my thumb, offering her a tentative smile. “It wasn’t me who did this, but we will find the one who is responsible for this. We’ll get to the bottom of this mess. I promise you that.”
I could see her struggling to believe me. I cupped her cheek ever so tenderly and wiped off one tear after another.
“Please, don’t cry. We’ll figure out how to minimize the damage.”
“So… It really wasn’t you? You didn’t hack my phone?”
“I didn’t. I was so furious when I found out about the article, thinking you were the one who was responsible for it because the photos were from your phone.”
“I didn’t give them those pictures,” she was quick to reassure me. “I would never do something like that.”
“I know.” My thumb grazed her lip, and she let out a gasp. I looked at her lips, wishing I could kiss her. “I was a fool for doubting you. I’m sorry.”
She let out a sigh. Then, surprising me, she leaned into my hand and closed her eyes. “I’m sorry too. I doubted you as well, and you didn’t deserve it. Just, I’m so scared. This is a mess, and I don’t know what to do to fix it.”
“Don’t worry. I’m going to take care of everything.” I took her hands into mine and peered into her eyes. “We’re in this together, okay? We’re going to solve this no matter what it takes. I got you.”
She nodded, a smile spreading across her face. “Thank you. You have no idea how relieved I feel right now.”
“No need to thank me.” I planted a kiss on her forehead. “I told you, I really care about you. I feel like shit when you’re not happy. And I’m not giving up on you,” I told her and drew her into a hug. Her scent was so sweet, making me desire her more than anything. “This doesn’t change anything between us. Okay? Stay with me.”
“Okay,” she muttered into my shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around my waist. “I’ll stay with you.”
Relief exploded in me, and I felt like I could deal with anything if I had her by my side. We were in a difficult situation, but we had each other, and that mattered the most. So even if all hell broke loose, it would be alright because I was with Camilla.
I leaned in to finally kiss her, wanting to show her just how much she meant to me, but before I could do that, the door burst open, and Marissa strode into my office, carrying a paper with her. Camilla and I separated immediately, but Marissa had already caught on what would have happened if she hadn’t interrupted us.
“Marissa? Where’s the fire?”
“Ha ha,” she replied, her gaze stopping on Camilla. “What is she doing here?”
I raised my eyebrow. What was with that attitude? “Marissa, slow down a little. I don’t know what your problem is, but don’t talk to Camilla using that tone.”
She didn’t even blink. “I thought we agreed that you will break all contact with her right away.”
I could sense Camilla turning rigid next to me. I sent her a gaze that said, It’s going to be alright, trust me.
“We didn’t agree to anything. I just told you that I would think about it, and now that I have, I have made my decision. I’m not giving up on Camilla. We are staying together.”
She shifted on her feet, placing her hand on her hip. “I told you about the consequences—”
“I don’t give a shit about the consequences, Marissa. And I don’t give a shit about what you think. This is my life and my career, so if you can’t respect my decision, we’re done.”
She tightened her jaw, looking as if she wanted to say something but was fighting hard not to. She was giving me an accusatory eye for allowing Camilla back into my life, but she remained silent. A smart choice.
“So? Why did you come?”
“We’ve just received a call from the police station. There’s a ransom for all of the evidence on Camilla’s phone. It seems that Camilla wasn’t the one who sold those photos to that tabloid.”
“I know I didn’t sell them,” Camilla sneered at her.
Marissa didn’t even glance at her, continuing to look between me and the paper she was holding. “Camilla was hacked. We still don’t know for sure who the perpetrator is, but the police are already investigating, and they think that they have a suspect.”
I looked at Camilla. “That’s good news!”
She returned my smile. “Thank God.”
Marissa didn’t share our enthusiasm. “As I said, we don’t know who they are, but my bet would be someone who knows Camilla.”
Camilla glared at her. “What?”
“Yes. Maybe some ex-boyfriend or something like that.”
Camilla scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”
“I would like you to refrain from making such assumptions,” I told her. “You don’t know that.”
“Fine. You’re right.” She looked at Camilla. “I’m sorry.” She didn’t sound sorry at all, but I didn’t want to waste my energy on dealing with her.
“Cancel today’s press conference.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I don’t want to go public before I get the facts straight. I want us to find the culprit first before they interview me. Okay? Only after we’ve found and sued this hacker, I’ll hold that press conference.”
“I see. Okay. I will cancel it. Anything else?”
“Make sure not to give any statements on this until I tell you so.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to the police.” I looked at Camilla. “I need you to come with me to help identify the hacker. If that is really someone you know, I’ll need you there.”
“Okay,” she agreed.