Page 65 of Love Unscripted
When he handed her the drink, he didn’t linger there.
“Let’s go into the living room,” he said softly.
She followed, and, when they sat, he lowered himself beside her on the sofa.
The conversation softened into a quiet stillness.
“So,” he murmured, his voice low, “where were we?”
“You were telling me why you shifted to Christian films.”
Aaron leaned back slightly. “God didn’t give up on me. My family wouldn’t give up on me either.” His expression turned thoughtful. “One day I was listening to my brother preach, and I just broke. Right there in church.”
Her eyes widened.
“I wasn’t wailing,” he added with a quiet laugh. “But the tears came. I surrendered everything to God. And the peace that followed…” He shook his head slightly. “There’s nothing like it. Do you know what I mean?”
“I do,” she said softly.
Her voice had thickened with emotion—and something else.
“I know what it’s like to be broken,” she said quietly, “and then put back together.”
Aaron lifted his hand and brushed a tear from her cheek, his thumb lingering briefly against her skin.
“Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked gently.
Camille hesitated. There were still parts of the story she struggled to touch without feeling the old shame rise up again.
“You remember the other night at Geoffrey’s Malibu?” she said softly. “When I asked you how you forgive someone and still protect yourself?”
He nodded.
“I told you I wasn’t only talking about Simon. I was talking about my father too.”
Aaron stayed quiet, giving her space.
“My father managed everything for me when I was younger. My accounts, my earnings, investments, taxes—everything. I trusted him completely.” She gave a faint, humorless smile. “Honestly, I barely looked at anything. If bills needed paying, he handled it. If I needed something, I told him and it appeared. He always said he was investing my money and growing it for my future.”
She looked down at her hands.
“And for a long time, I believed him.”
Aaron’s expression tightened slightly, sensing where the story was headed.
“He’d show me statements and spreadsheets sometimes, but I didn’t really understand any of it then. I was working nonstop and I trusted my dad, so I never questioned him.” She swallowed. “Then eventually things started unraveling.”
“What happened?” Aaron asked quietly.
“He wasn’t really investing the money the way he claimed.”
Her voice lowered.
“He was gambling with it. High-risk trades. Speculative deals. Sometimes he made money, sometimes he lost badly. And when he lost, he’d move money around trying to cover it.”
Aaron frowned.
“He also started involving other people,” she continued. “He’d tell them he was managing my money too, so they trusted him. I didn’t even realize my name was being used that way.”
