The air crackled. Frank's hand twitched, ready to step between them. April's face was a mask of terrified innocence.
Camille's fingers hovered in the space between them, a breath away from the white fabric of April's dress.
Then, she let her hand drop to her side.
The smile on her face widened, becoming something sharp and dangerous. She looked directly at April, her voice light, almost cheerful.
"Congratulations, April. You finally managed to turn helplessness into a career plan."
The unexpected blessing threw April completely off balance. Her mouth opened and closed, but no words came. She could only stare, bewildered.
Frank's face was a thundercloud. He understood the venom dripping from Camille's sweet words.
Camille turned her gaze from April to him. The smile vanished from her face as if it had never been there. Her expression was now a flat, frozen plane of ice.
Their marriage had never been built on tenderness. Frank needed the Garner name, tarnished but still useful, and Camille needed the Walters protection after her family collapsed. She had endured his coldness, his neglect, and the quiet humiliations of being treated like a decorative wife because the marriage still preserved something essential: her position.
But a pregnant mistress changed everything. April was no longer just an affair Frank could hide behind closed doors. The child in her belly was a claim. A future scandal. A potential heir. A quiet little knife pointed straight at Camille's place as Mrs. Walters.
"Frank Walters," she said. Her voice was not loud, but it cut through the airport noise with terrifying clarity. "I want a divorce."
The words detonated in the space between them.
Frank's pupils shrank to pinpricks. He stared at her, his mouth slightly agape. He couldn't believe she would do this. Here. Now.
A flicker of pure joy crossed April's face before she expertly replaced it with a look of horror.
She clutched Frank's arm, her body swaying. "Frank, oh no... Did I cause this? This is all my fault..."
She began to sob, soft, theatrical little sounds. The mole beneath her eye glistened with a single, perfectly placed tear.
Her performance snapped Frank out of his shock. Rage, hot and blinding, flooded his system.
"Camille! Are you insane?" he snarled, his voice a low growl. "Do you have any idea what you're saying?"
Camille lifted her chin, her amber eyes meeting his without a trace of fear. "I've never been more sane in my life."
A small, bitter laugh escaped her lips. "You flew home with your pregnant mistress hanging off your arm and expected me to stand here like a well-trained wife. Frank, please. I'm not one of your junior associates. You don't get to bore me and insult me at the same time."
Her words were a scalpel, expertly dissecting his pathetic, cowardly plan.
Someone's phone flashed. Then another. The vultures were circling, eager to capture the messy, public implosion of a prominent family.
Frank saw the flashes, and panic warred with his anger. His reputation. His family's name.
"This isn't the place for this!" he gritted out, reaching for her arm, trying to physically drag her out of the spotlight.
Camille took a sharp step back, avoiding his touch as if he were diseased. The look in her eyes was one of pure revulsion.
"The divorce papers," she announced calmly, her voice ringing with finality, "will be at your office tomorrow. My lawyer will be in touch."
April's sobs grew louder. She sagged against Frank, a damsel in deep distress.
"Camille, please don't blame Frank... It was all me..." she choked out between sobs.
Camille watched the pathetic display with dead eyes. She felt nothing. Not anger, not jealousy. Just a vast, empty exhaustion.
She looked at Frank. "Control your mistress. If she wants to cry on cue, tell her to save it for a room without witnesses. This act is cheap, and unfortunately for both of you, I have excellent taste."
That was the final straw. The insult to April, the woman he was supposed to be protecting, ignited the last of his self-control.
"Camille Garner!" he roared, his voice echoing in the high-ceilinged hall. "You've gone too far!"
She gave him one last look. It was a look of pity and contempt, all rolled into one.
Then she turned away before he could reach for her again. Cameras were still rising around them. April was still crying. Frank was still saying her name like a threat. Camille kept walking, each step steady, until their voices dissolved into the airport noise behind her.
