I answer emails I don’t remember receiving. Cam scrolls through something on his phone, jaw tight, shoulders squared. We exist in parallel lines.
Nothing explodes.
I call that a win.
Then Cam’s phone rings.
I see his body react before he even looks at the screen. The way his spine straightens. The way his jaw locks like something just snapped into place.
My stomach drops.
Evelyn Sterling.
He puts it on speaker without asking. The sound of her voice fills the kitchen, calm and measured, the way someone sounds before they deliver bad news.
“Cam. Lila.”
I brace without knowing why.
“I’m calling because ERS has initiated a Compliance Review of your marriage contract.”
The room tilts.
My breath catches sharp and shallow, like I’ve been punched just under the ribs.
“A review?” Cam asks.
“Yes,” Evelyn says gently. “An anonymous complaint was submitted overnight.”
I glance at Cam. His face is locked down. Unreadable.
“It flagged boundary violations,” she continues, “concerns of emotional entanglement affecting public perception, and a suggestion that one partner may be using the other to rehabilitate public image.”
I feel cold all at once.
My chest tightens as something ugly clicks into place.
Cam must have told them the kiss crossed a line.
That I crossed it.
I don’t look at him.
Because if I do and I see confirmation in his face, I’m not sure I’ll stay standing.
Evelyn keeps talking. Process. Protocol. Timelines. Reassurances wrapped in clean corporate language.
I hear almost none of it.
Cam doesn’t reach for me.
I don’t reach for him.
I’m only half-listening to Evelyn’s voice when my phone buzzes in my hand.
The headline fills the display, bold and brutal, like it’s proud of the damage it’s about to do.
CAM DRAKE ‘PLAYS HERO’ — USING LILA HART’S ANXIETY TO FIX HIS IMAGE?
