I close my eyes.
“The intimacy clause,” I say. “I want it gone.”
Chapter thirty-two
Cam
The TV is on, but it’s just light and noise.
Some highlight reel loops across the screen. Slow-motion catches. Analysts talking over each other. A world where everything is clear—wins, losses, stats, blame.
My brain isn’t in it.
I’m on my couch in my apartment, still in sweats, still pretending I’m fine, waiting for the ache in my chest to dull.
It doesn’t.
My phone lights up on the coffee table.
ERS — Legal Division.
For a second, I consider letting it ring.
I can’t stomach another conversation about dissolution terms. Dates. Procedures. The clean, clinical dismantling of the only thing that ever made me feel… steady.
But something in my gut tightens.
A warning.
Or hope.
I swipe to answer.
“Camden Drake?” a voice asks.
Noah.
“Yeah.”
He takes a breath like he’s about to deliver bad news. “I wanted to notify you directly: Lila has requested one of the restrictions in your marriage contract be dissolved.”
I sit up.
My pulse kicks hard once. Then again.
“Are you telling me the marriage is being dissolved?”
There’s a pause. The kind that feels deliberate. Weighted.
Then Noah says, “No. The intimacy clause.”
“Can you repeat that?” I manage.
“The intimacy clause,” Noah repeats, quieter now. “She started the process yesterday, pending your approval.”
My heart thuds too hard, too fast, like it’s trying to escape my ribs.
“She—” My voice breaks. I swallow and try again. “She requested that?”
