Chapter 6: Fractured Trust

Camille's POV

I didn't sleep. How could I after watching Vincent stand, after hearing him confess this entire nightmare was some twisted loyalty test? Morning light filtered through the bedroom curtains, and I'd spent the entire night replaying every moment since Kieran and Nikolai arrived.

Vincent wheeled into the bedroom around eight, his face carefully neutral. "We need to talk."

"You think?" I stayed on the bed, refusing to make this easier for him. "About which part? The part where you've been lying about your recovery, or the part where you pimped me out to test my devotion?"

"Don't use that word." His jaw tightened. "I gave you permission to find happiness since I couldn't provide it."

"Permission." I laughed bitterly. "You gave me permission to betray my vows so you could what, collect evidence? Feel morally superior when you divorce me?"

"That's not what this was about." He wheeled closer, and I noticed how easily he maneuvered. How strong his arms looked. "I needed to know if you stayed because you loved me or because you pitied the cripple."

The word hit like a slap. "I never thought of you that way."

"Didn't you?" His eyes searched mine. "Be honest, Camille. When you looked at me in this chair, did you see your husband or your burden?"

I wanted to deny it, but the truth lodged in my throat. There had been moments, dark lonely moments, when I'd wondered if my entire life would be caregiving and guilt.

"That doesn't justify what you did," I said finally. "Testing me, manipulating me, offering me to your friends like some kind of experiment."

"They wanted you anyway." Vincent's voice hardened. "Kieran's been half in love with you since the engagement party. And Nikolai, well, he had his own reasons for being interested."

Something in his tone made my stomach clench. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing." But he looked away, and I knew he was hiding something. "The point is, I didn't force anything that wasn't already there."

"You created the situation." I stood, needing distance. "You put us all in the same house and gave everyone permission to act on feelings that should have stayed buried."

"Would you rather have spent the rest of your life wondering what if?" He wheeled to block my path. "Dying a little more inside every day while I pretended not to notice?"

"I'd rather you'd been honest." My voice cracked despite my attempt to stay strong. "If you could walk, if you were recovering, you should have told me. We could have worked on our marriage instead of destroying it."

"Our marriage was already destroyed." The confession hung between us, brutal and final. "The accident just made it obvious."

I stepped back like he'd struck me. "You don't mean that."

"I do." Vincent's expression shifted to something almost pitying. "We were good together when everything was perfect. But the first real test, the first real hardship, and you started looking at me differently."

"Because you shut me out." Tears burned my eyes. "You stopped talking to me, stopped letting me help. You turned our bedroom into a prison and our marriage into a punishment."

"I was in pain." His voice rose. "Every day, constant pain, and you wanted me to what, pretend everything was fine? Smile and be grateful you hadn't left yet?"

"I never thought about leaving."

"Liar." The word cut through the space between us. "You thought about it constantly. I saw it in your eyes every time you looked at me. Every time you had to help me with something I used to do myself."

Maybe he was right. Maybe I had thought about leaving in those darkest moments. But thinking and doing were different things.

"If you believed I was going to leave anyway, why the elaborate setup?" I asked. "Why not just file for divorce?"

"Because I needed to know for sure." He reached for my hand, but I pulled away. "I needed to see if given the opportunity, you'd choose someone else over me."

"And now you know." Bitterness coated every word. "Congratulations on your successful experiment."

"It wasn't meant to hurt you."

"But it did." I moved toward the door. "It hurt all of us."

"Camille, wait." Vincent's voice stopped me. "There's something else you need to know."

I turned, exhausted and emotionally raw. "What now?"

"This arrangement, the idea to have Kieran and Nikolai stay, to give you permission." He hesitated, and for the first time since his confession last night, he looked uncertain. "It wasn't entirely my idea."

My heart stuttered. "What do you mean?"

"Someone suggested it to me. Months ago, when I first started physical therapy." He wouldn't meet my eyes. "They said it would be the perfect way to test your loyalty while giving you what you needed."

"Who?" The question came out sharp. "Who suggested you destroy our marriage?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Can't or won't?" I crossed my arms, anger replacing the exhaustion. "Because it sounds like someone's been manipulating both of us."

"It's complicated." Vincent's hands gripped the wheelchair armrests. "There are things you don't understand about my family, about the business, about why certain people want certain outcomes.

"Then explain it to me." I moved closer, demanding his attention. "Stop hiding behind vague statements and tell me the truth for once."

"I can't." But the guilt on his face told me he wanted to. "Not yet. Not until I'm sure about something."

"Sure about what?"

"About whether I can trust anyone anymore." He finally looked at me, and the vulnerability in his eyes almost broke my resolve. "Including you."

The words shouldn't have hurt after everything he'd done, but they did. They cut deep into whatever remained of my feelings for him.

"I want to see your medical records," I said, changing tactics. "I want to know exactly how long you've been able to walk and what the doctors actually said about your prognosis."

"No." His response was immediate and firm.

"Why not?" Suspicion coiled in my gut. "If you're telling the truth about the timeline, about only being able to stand for three weeks, then the records would prove it."

"I don't have to prove anything to you." His voice turned cold, the vulnerability disappearing behind walls I recognized too well. "You're the one who betrayed our vows. You're the one who slept with my friends."

"With your permission." I threw his words back at him. "With your encouragement. You don't get to use my choices against me when you orchestrated the entire situation."

"I gave you a choice." He wheeled backward, putting space between us. "What you did with it is on you."

"You're unbelievable." I headed for the door, done with this circular conversation. "You know what? Keep your secrets. Keep your medical records. Keep whatever game you're playing."

"Where are you going?" Concern flickered across his face.

"Out." I grabbed my purse from the dresser. "Away from you and this house and all the lies I'm drowning in."

"Camille…"

"No." I turned at the door, letting him see the full force of my anger and hurt. "You wanted to know if I'd choose someone else over you? Well, congratulations, Vincent. Right now, I'd choose literally anyone over you."

I left before he could respond, before the tears threatening to fall could give him the satisfaction of seeing me break. In the hallway, I nearly collided with Kieran.