“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.”