CHAPTER EIGHT: I'm done.
1509 Words
Camila’s POV
I stood frozen in the doorway, my father’s words hanging heavy in the air like a death sentence.
“If you walk out of that door… we are done.”
My heart hammered violently against my ribs.
For a split second, the old Camila hesitated.
But that girl was gone. She had died last night on the yacht.
I walked out without saying a single word.
“Camila!” My mother’s voice cracked into loud, theatrical sobs behind me. “Camila, come back here! Don’t you dare walk away from this family!”
Footsteps hurried after me.
“Cammy! Cammy, wait!” Vivian’s voice was close, breathless. “Please, let’s just talk about this.”
I didn’t stop. I didn’t even look back. My heels clicked sharply against the floor as I pushed through the front doors and stepped outside.
The morning air hit my face, but it did nothing to loosen the knot in my chest.
“Camila!”
Alex’s voice stopped me cold.
He was standing right at the gate, looking every bit the polished heir in a crisp button-down shirt, holding a massive bouquet of white roses like some kind of peace offering.
The sight of him made my stomach turn.
“There you are,” he walked toward me, extending the flowers with a small, careful smile. “I’ve been waiting.”
I walked straight past him.
“Camila, come on. ” He fell into step beside me, his voice dropping to something low and controlled. “Don't be like this. I think we need to talk about this rationally.”
I said nothing.
“You’re angry. I understand that. But you’re making this bigger than it has to be.”
I kept walking.
“What happened was a mistake. A terrible one, I know that. But everyone makes mistakes, Camila. That’s just the reality of it”
“Everyone makes mistakes,” I repeated quietly, more to myself than to him.
“Yes.” He sounded almost relieved that I’d spoken. “Exactly. And our families have too much at stake for us to let one moment—”
“One moment?” I said. “You’re standing outside my family home with flowers, telling me that catching you with my sister was one moment that I’m making bigger than it has to be.”
He paused. But only briefly.
“I’m saying we’re both adults. We can handle this like adults. Think about what we’re throwing away. Think about our families.” His voice tightened slightly when I didn’t respond. “Camila, say something.”
I said nothing.
“Let’s stop embarrassing ourselves,” he continued. “The whole city is talking about us.”
I almost laughed.
Us?
Not about what he had done. Not about my humiliation. Not about Vivian.
Us.
He still didn’t understand, or maybe he simply didn’t care.
Not once had he even said he was sorry.
Not once.
Vivian had caught up now, hovering several feet away, looking between us with an expression that couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to be.
“Alex,” she said quietly.
He ignored her. His attention stayed fixed on me.
“I’ve already spoken to my father,” he kept going. “We can still fix this. Once you tell the reporters you overreacted, everything will calm down. You know how these things work. People will forget in a few weeks. We’ll get married, our parents will get the merger, and life goes back to normal.”
Normal.
Was he actually serious?
He actually still wanted me to marry him after everything.
“Cammy." Vivian's voice added. "Please, just listen to him. Let's talk about this—"
I stopped walking.
I don’t know what it was. Something small and final clicking into place.
The flowers still in Alex’s hand. His voice still running through his list of reasonable points. The particular expression on his face — not of a man who had broken something, but of a man who was mildly inconvenienced by the mess.
I turned around.
Alex’s face shifted immediately. For the first time since seeing me, his confidence returned. He thought I’d changed my mind.
He even lifted the flowers again. “I knew you’d understand.”
I walked toward him.
His smile widened with every step I took.
When I stood directly in front of him, he looked almost relieved.
“See?” he said softly. “I knew we’d—”
I raised my hand and I slapped him hard across the face.
The sound cracked through the morning air. His head snapped to the side. The flowers fell from his hand. A bright red handprint bloomed on his cheek.
He turned his head back slowly, staring at me with an expression I had never seen on his face before.
Shock.
Pure, unperformed shock.
“You…” His voice barely worked. “You slapped me?”
I met his eyes without flinching.
“I should’ve done it yesterday.”
His mouth opened. But no words came out.
I turned away before he could find his voice.
Behind me, I heard Vivian gasp.
Neither of them followed.
As if the universe had finally decided to show me a little mercy, a taxi pulled up outside the gate. I climbed into the back seat and pulled the door shut.
“Drive,” I told the driver, my voice shaking only slightly.
The driver hesitated, glancing at the scene outside. "Miss, is everything—"
"Please drive," I yelled.
He pulled away.
I watched Alex and Vivian grow smaller in the rear window—him still holding his cheek, her standing frozen beside him. They looked like statues. Like pieces of a life I no longer wanted.
I leaned back against the seat and finally let the tears fall.
Silent at first, then harder, my shoulders trembling as everything crashed over me again. I pressed a hand to my mouth, trying to hold back the sobs, but they broke through anyway.
I cried until the worst of it passed.
Then I sat up, wiped my face with the back of my hand, and reached for my phone.
The screen was still full of notifications, but I ignored them all and found Claire’s contact.
My best friend had missed the engagement party because of a last-minute business meeting.
Lucky her.
I pressed call.
She picked up on the first ring.
“Camila! Oh my God, finally!” Her voice burst through the speaker warm and urgent. “I’ve been calling you nonstop since I saw the news! What the hell happened? Are you okay?.”
The concern in her voice shattered the last of my composure.
“I…” My voice cracked. “I’m trying to be.”
“Oh, honey.” Claire immediately softened. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t there. That stupid business meeting, I swear I almost walked out of the meeting when I saw the news.”
“You don’t have to apologize.”
“I do. I only leave you for a day and the world catches fire.” She exhaled. “Alex is an i***t,” she muttered. “No.” She corrected herself immediately. “i***t is too nice. I hope his expensive suits shrink in the wash.”
Despite everything, I smiled. That was Claire.
Always dramatic.
“There she is,” Claire said gently. “That’s the sound I wanted to hear.”
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted.
“You don’t have to know.”
“I have nowhere to go. My father just cut me off.”
“You have somewhere. You have me. Where are you right now?”
“In a cab.”
“Come here. Come to me. You don’t even have to ask. My apartment is yours. For as long as you need. I mean it.”
Fresh tears filled my eyes.
I exhaled slowly. “Claire—”
“I have wine. I have food. I will listen to every single thing you have to say and then we are going to figure this out together.” She paused. “And if I ever see Alex Laurent, I’ll accidentally introduce my handbag to his face.”
I laughed again.
“Now tell the driver my address.”
I nodded before realizing she couldn’t see me.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “I’m on my way.”
“I’ll be waiting. And Camila?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re stronger than all of them combined. Don’t you forget that.”
The call ended.
I leaned my head back against the seat and watched the city move past the window — ordinary and indifferent and continuing without me, the way it always had.
This was it.
No more playing the perfect daughter. No more swallowing pain for the sake of the family name.
For the first time in my life, I was truly on my own.
And somehow, that terrified me a little less than going back.
- Writer
