Chapter 231

Camille remained composed.

As she had anticipated—with Damien's sharp memory, recalling these details wasn't surprising. His preparation of these dishes was likely just his way of expressing gratitude for their visit to Helena.

It held no deeper meaning.

After finishing their meal, Camille and Marianne lingered another hour before preparing to leave.

Noticing the late hour, Helena didn't insist they stay. "You and Chloe should head home early too," she told Damien.

"Understood," Damien replied. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

The four of them exited the hospital room together.

Once inside the elevator, Damien asked, "Did you drive here?"

Camille gave a brief nod.

Damien remained silent, but Chloe suddenly piped up, "Mom, are you going home tonight?"

"No," Camille answered. "I'm taking Grandma home and staying at her place."

"Then I want to stay at Grandma's house too!"

Though Chloe had grown closer to Damien recently, in Marianne's eyes, she would always be Camille's daughter.

Hearing Chloe's request, Marianne smiled warmly. "Of course, darling."

Since Marianne had agreed, Camille didn't object.

However, she reminded Chloe, "You don't have any spare clothes at Grandma's."

Before Chloe started spending more time with Damien, Camille used to take her to the Hartwell residence frequently. Back then, she and Talia had filled half a wardrobe with outfits for her.

But in recent years, Chloe's visits had decreased significantly. With children growing so quickly, neither Camille nor Talia had continued replenishing her wardrobe.

Now, there were no clothes at the Hartwell residence that would fit her.

Chloe's face fell. "Oh..."

Damien spoke up then. "I'll have someone deliver some clothes."

Camille hesitated briefly but remained silent.

Chloe brightened immediately. "Yay! I get to sleep with Mom tonight!"

Outside the hospital, Chloe happily followed Camille to her car while Damien retrieved Chloe's backpack from his vehicle and handed it to her.

"Thank you, Dad!" Chloe beamed.

Damien ruffled her hair and glanced at Camille, already seated in the driver's seat. She didn't look back, simply saying, "Chloe, say goodbye to your father."

"Bye, Dad!"

"Goodbye." As Damien responded, Camille rolled up the window, turned the steering wheel, and drove away.

By the time they reached the Hartwell residence, Chloe's clothes had already arrived.

As Chloe raced upstairs, Marianne said to Camille, "At least he's not preventing you from being close to Chloe. That's something."

She'd been concerned that with custody granted to Damien, he might restrict Camille's access to their daughter. Over time, that could have eroded their mother-daughter bond.

For any mother, that would have been unbearable.

Camille didn't explain anything to Marianne. She simply murmured in agreement, reminded her to rest early, and went upstairs.

The next morning, the Hartwell family had breakfast downstairs with Chloe.

Just then, the security booth notified them of a visitor.

Camille glanced at the screen—Damien's car had arrived.