Chapter 10 - “HE PROMISED HE WOULD LEAVE YOU”Cambria did not know Arielle had identified Julian.
That became useful.
She requested another meeting.
Arielle agreed.
This time private dining room at neutral club.
Cambria arrived confident.
Arielle wore white.
Cambria laughed.
“Trying to look innocent?”
Arielle smiled.
“No.”
“Trying to make red look predictable.”
Cambria’s expression tightened.
They sat.
Cambria placed phone down.
“I’m giving you one chance.”
“To do what?”
“Leave with dignity.”
Arielle almost laughed.
“My marriage is not property you negotiate.”
“Dorian wants me.”
“Then why are you talking to me instead of living happily with him?”
Cambria’s smile faltered.
Arielle leaned back.
“If Dorian had chosen you, I’d already know.”
Cambria played recording.
Dorian’s edited message.
Then more.
One audio:
Dorian:
I’ll handle Arielle. Just give me time.
Cambria paused.
“There.”
“He promised.”
Arielle asked:
“Full recording?”
“Yes.”
“Play ten seconds before.”
Cambria went still.
“Why?”
“Because I asked.”
“You don’t get to order me.”
Arielle smiled.
“Then it’s edited.”
Cambria’s face tightened.
Arielle continued:
“I have original.”
Silence.
Cambria’s confidence cracked for first time.
“You don’t.”
“I do.”
Arielle played.
Full message.
I’ll handle Arielle. I’ll tell her what happened between us, and then you stay away from my family.
Cambria’s face went white.
Arielle stopped.
“So.”
“Anything else you’d like to edit?”
Cambria stared.
Then laughed.
Different.
Sharper.
“You think that makes him innocent?”
“No.”
“I think it makes you a liar.”
“Dorian is still cheater.”
“Yes.”
“I know.”
That seemed to frustrate Cambria.
She needed Arielle to defend husband so she could dismantle defense.
Arielle refused.
Then:
“He told me he loved me.”
Arielle’s expression changed only slightly.
“Proof?”
Cambria hesitated.
Interesting.
“No recording?”
“He said it in person.”
“When?”
“September.”
Arielle knew Dorian claimed no sex after June and no kiss after July.
September apartment visit possible.
“What exactly?”
“He said ‘I love you.’”
Arielle studied her.
Cambria’s breathing changed.
Tiny.
Maybe lie.
“Did he say ‘I love you’ or ‘I care about you’?”
Cambria snapped:
“What difference?”
“A very large one to someone building a fantasy.”
Cambria’s eyes flashed.
Then Arielle asked casually:
“How is Julian?”
Cambria froze.
Beautiful.
“What?”
“Julian Mercer.”
Cambria recovered.
“I know many people.”
“So does Natalie Vale.”
Color changed.
Arielle knew she hit.
Cambria leaned forward.
“Stay out of things you don’t understand.”
“Interesting advice.”
“Take it yourself.”
Cambria stood.
Arielle remained seated.
Before leaving, Cambria said:
“Dorian came back to me after every time he said it was over.”
Arielle answered:
“That makes him weak.”
“Not yours.”
Cambria turned.
Arielle added:
“But if you’re sleeping with Julian too, it also doesn’t make him yours.”
Cambria stopped.
Then left.
No denial.
Arielle called Marisol.
“Push Julian.”
Not harassment.
Public/legal records.
Travel overlap.
Events.
Marisol found:
April 2 — Cambria and Julian at Charleston event.
May 9 — same Miami hotel.
June 17 — Julian in Los Angeles, not New York.
July 29 — Julian in Atlanta.
August 12 — Julian in Savannah.
September 3 — Julian in New York.
Cambria could plausibly see both men in same months.
Then Natalie Vale contacted Arielle first.
Message:
We don’t know each other, but I think we have the same problem.
Arielle stared.
She answered:
Cambria?
Natalie:
Yes.
Then:
And I think she may be pregnant.
Arielle felt the room go still.
Pregnant.
No announcement yet.
But if true—
Dorian could be father.
Julian could too.
And Cambria’s next move became obvious.
She had already framed Arielle once.
Now she possessed something far more powerful than a staged fall.
May you like
A baby.
Or the possibility of one.
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