Chapter 8 #3
Then came the dinners after late shoots.
The private texts. The confidences. He told her about growing up in Norway, born to wealthy parents who died in a skiing accident when he was ten.
He said he’d been sent to Britain to live with an aunt until he inherited his fortune at eighteen.
He explained that he valued privacy, avoided tabloids, and spent most of his time at his family estate in Norway despite maintaining a residence in Los Angeles.
One day, he told her, he would take her there. Perhaps even for good.
Then he told her about Astrid. Nineteen years of marriage. An arranged union between two powerful Norwegian families. An alliance, not love. He said it had been a condition of his inheritance.
“Do you have children?” she asked one night.
He hesitated before admitting it. Two. A son, Hans, seventeen. A daughter, Heidi, thirteen.
“I don’t love her,” he said of Astrid. “But appearances matter. That’s why I disappear sometimes. To spend time with them.”
Then he looked at Camille with that same intense sincerity he wielded so effortlessly. “I’ve never met anyone like you before,” he told her. “Someone who understands me this completely.”
And her heart broke for him. This powerful, brilliant man trapped in a loveless marriage. By the time he kissed her, she was already in love with him.
After that, Simon slowly began taking over every part of her life. He told her what to wear to premieres. How to answer interview questions. Which people she could trust.
At first she convinced herself it was protection, not control. He was older. More experienced. He was helping her navigate an industry designed to consume people like her. In many ways, he filled the emotional void left behind by her father.
Her mother, Rita, at first had been thrilled that such a wealthy, influential man had taken interest in her daughter’s career. But eventually her enthusiasm turned to concern. Simon was slowly edging her out—overriding her authority as Camille’s manager and inserting himself into every decision.
Camille dismissed her concerns.
“He just has my best interests at heart, Mama. You can’t deny that because of his guidance I’m everywhere now.”
Rita reluctantly admitted that part was true. But she still didn’t trust him.
Camille wanted Simon to divorce his wife.
She never understood what kept delaying it, but there was always some explanation.
Legal complications. Family pressure. Financial entanglements.
He insisted Astrid could take most of his fortune if he wasn’t careful.
Especially because they had children and no prenuptial agreement.
Then, almost three years into the affair, Camille discovered she was pregnant.
Hope bloomed inside her. She imagined Simon finally leaving Astrid. She imagined a home. A family. A future.
So she told him. But instead of joy, he panicked.
“This is bad, Camille. For both of us. The press would destroy you. And my wife can never find out about this. She would use it against me. She would take me to the cleaners in the divorce.” His voice sharpened. “You have to get an abortion.”
She stared at him, hollowed out.
“You want me to get rid of my child?”
He didn’t flinch. He simply changed tactics.
“I’m trying to protect you.”
“You have a career to think about.”
“You’ll thank me later.”
“You’re too young to be a mother anyway.”
“You’re about to reach the peak of your fame.”
And when she still hesitated, his voice hardened.
“If you go through with this, it’s over between us. I promise you that.”
That was the line that broke her.
The thought of losing Simon terrified her more than anything else.
So she chose Simon over her baby.
After the abortion, he came to her home warm and affectionate, as though everything was fine.
He held her in his arms and told her she had done the right thing.
That he loved her. That he was proud of the sacrifice she’d made for him.
He promised he would never forget her loyalty.
He assured her the divorce from Astrid would be finalized soon and that afterward they would build a real life together.
Have children together someday. And then he told her it hadn’t even been a real baby yet. Just a clump of cells.
But Camille barely heard him.
Nothing could have prepared her for what that decision to abort the baby did to her. It shattered something deep inside her—emotionally, spiritually, physically. Grief swallowed her whole. Days blurred together. Nights were worse.
One evening, Kelly—a quiet, kind-hearted Christian from the set—found Camille curled up in her trailer crying.
Kelly didn’t pressure her. Didn’t interrogate her. She simply sat beside her in silence for a while. Then, gently, she spoke about Christ. Before leaving, she pressed a worn little Bible into Camille’s hands.
“When you’ve been lied to for so long,” Kelly said softly, “you need a voice that tells the truth.”
Camille carried the Bible around for days before finally opening it. One sleepless night, she turned to a random page and read:
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Something inside her cracked open and for the first time in years, she prayed.
“Lord, please forgive me. Forgive me for all the ways I’ve sinned against You. Please help me. Please.”
The next morning she woke with a strange sense of clarity. Lightness. And over the weeks that followed, everything began to change.
The show looked different to her now. The sleaze. The cruelty. The compromises she had once accepted without thinking. Suddenly it all felt toxic. Hollow.
And Simon—His charm. His authority. His power. It all looked thin now. Manufactured. For the first time, she saw him clearly. Saw how easily he manipulated people. Saw how completely he had manipulated her.
One evening after filming, he cornered her.
“You’ve been distant,” he said. “You’re not returning my calls. My messages. What’s going on, Camille?”
“My eyes are open,” she replied calmly. “I see things clearly now.”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s great, but don’t forget who gave you all this.”
She held his gaze steadily. “You didn’t give me anything. All you did was take.”
And for once, Simon had nothing to say.
Two weeks later, she resigned from the show.
The headlines were brutal.
The gossip even worse.
Cast and crew members eagerly leaked details about her affair with Simon. The tabloids painted her as a diva. A home wrecker. The narrative became that she had demanded Simon leave his wife, and when he refused, she quit in bitterness.
Simon called constantly. She blocked him. When he started calling from different numbers, she changed her phone entirely. When he showed up at her house, she refused to let him inside. Then he threatened legal action.
Still she didn’t budge.
And now here she was. A new beginning. One she thanked God for every day. And yet Simon still lingered over her life like a shadow she hadn’t fully escaped. A giant she would eventually have to face and slay once and for all.
God help her.