LOGINCamilla Gomez sacrificed everything for Darian Baldore. When he was accused of murder—a crime that could have shattered his billion-dollar empire—she took the blame, trusting his promises that he would clear her name and bring her back to him once it was safe. Instead, she was abandoned. Branded a killer. Sent to prison to rot while the man she loved moved on as if she had never existed. Worse, she was carrying his child, forced to bring new life into the world while trapped in a nightmare. Seven years later, she returns—not as a broken woman, but as a force to be reckoned with. She’s rebuilt herself and forged her own empire, and she has only one goal: to make them pay for their betrayal. But Darian isn’t the man she left behind. He had moved on with his life, forgetting all about Camilla, but when he found out that his supposed wife couldn't carry his child, he could hardly believe it. Just on the night he was drunk, he crashed into Camilla. At first, he believed he was seeing a ghost but then when she appeared as a powerful CEO. He could not let her go again. Now, he wants her back. But Camilla didn’t come home for love, she came for revenge. And if Darian won’t let her go, she’ll destroy him herself. No
View MoreCamilla’s POV
I had just gotten back from work with the thought of throwing my husband a surprise wedding anniversary. It was our fifth year of being together. We had grown a little distant from ourselves but I still feel the same way about the man who made my heart flutter. Getting down from my car, I couldn't help but feel weird. The compound was awfully quiet and the chirping sound of the crickets could be heard. I got to the door and noticed the faint voice of a woman. The aura and the cologne greeted me as I pushed the door handle and walked in. My eyes darted to the enigmatic figure who sat across the table with Darian seated in front of her. It was Alessia Baldore, the icy queen. She was known for her ruthlessness in the business world and many people learned to fear her. I gulped down the thick saliva at the back of my throat and wondered what she was there for. Alessia’s icy gaze met with mine. She had never approved of Darian getting married to me anyway; I was nobody. A stain to the Baldore family name. But tonight was different. I noticed the look she had on, it was more of a request than an actual command tonight. “ What is going on?” I stuttered gently as I walked into the living room. “ Take a seat, Camilla.” Alessia commanded. I nodded gently and wanted to sit opposite her but funnily, she patted the leather chair beside her gently. “ Move closer.” Alessia bellowed oozing an aura of command. That was more like it, I know her to give command and not a request. Without wasting time, I walked towards her and sat down. I looked at Darian and noticed he had his eyes down. Did he impregnate another woman? All sorts of thoughts raced through my mind and I couldn't wrap my head around what was actually going on. “You do love him, right?” Alessia broke the silence again looking at me. I nodded and smiled, “With all my heart.” “Good, you do know I never accepted you right from the onset. You were never the kind of woman I wanted for my son.” Alessia crossed her legs before she continued. “Darian here made a very grave mistake and only you can rewrite that mistake.” Alessia looked at me and paused. She slowly placed a finger on my chin and smirked. “Now that I can see you up close, you look more like a Baldore now. But that depends on what your answer is going to be.” The air conditioning was on, blowing cold air through the mansion but why do I feel hot? I cleaned the sweat that slowly came from the inner scalp of my head wondering what the supposed request would be. “You see, Darian here was accused of killing his Ex-girlfriend, that is an indelible stain on the company and not only the company, the entire Baldore’s name as well. But the truth was that he didn't do it but you know those journalists, always going after the rich people.” Alessia said with a frown on her face. “We just need someone to take the blame. You will be out in no time. You will have a short sentence and Darian.” Alessia's face darted towards her son. “Will be waiting for you. You can officially have Baldore's name right behind your name. No more Gomez but Baldore.” Panic set in. I was home early to give Darian a surprise but here was a surprise that I couldn't even process. Before I could decide, Alessia dipped her hands into the red leather purse she was holding. “I am sure you are going to need an assurance.” She placed a sleek paper in my hands. “C’mon, go through it.” My hand felt slightly light like a feather shook gently. My eyes darted towards Darian and back at the paper promising me a lot of wealth and power just by taking the fall. “He didn't do it right?” The word slowly left my mouth “Of course darling. He didn't.” Darian darted towards me with a bent knee. It has been a long time since I have seen him to be that sweet towards me. I could see the fear in his eyes and I was beginning to doubt if he had done it or not. “Yes, you need to trust me and my mother. We will come get you out. It will be as easy as a piece of cake. I promise to treat you right once you are back.” Darian promised. I looked at the paper I was holding and back at their faces. “Darian was my life, my world and not only that I had been craving to have his attention and that of his mother. I slowly picked up the pen and signed away my life. Without knowing the damnation that awaits. In a jiffy, the door was swung open and two hefty policemen walked in. “Mrs Camilla Gomez, you are charged with the murder of Miss Aurora Emerson. You have the right to remain silent as anything you say or do will be useful against you in the court of law.” I looked at Alessia with the hope of our agreement intact but the look on her face said it all. No wonder she was called the icy queen. She adjusted her rumpled skirt and put on her shade. I watched as she slowly walked out of the room leaving me to my fate with the police. “ I..Darian..do something.” I said as I stuttered, not sure of what I should have said. But instead, he smirked, “I don't know what you want me to say or do. You just confessed to killing my girlfriend.” he said coldly. I felt my stomach churning. What just happened? Have I been played? The world tilted. My legs nearly gave way, but the officers kept me upright. No. No, no, no. I screamed in my head. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to understand. He was supposed to know I had done this for him. But Darian’s face was devoid of any emotions. The police pushed me into the back of their truck, the sob ripped from my throat the moment the door slammed shut at my face. My bison was blurred by tears as I couldn't hold it in any longer. Then all of a sudden, nausea hit. A violent wave rolled through me, my stomach twisting painfully. I barely had time to turn before I threw up, my entire body shaking. The officer in the front seat swore, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. "You okay back there?" I wiped my mouth, a taste of bike bitter on my tongue as my hands were still trembling. The nausea that had been a constant thing in my life for the past weeks. The morning sickness that I've been ignoring. Even the dizziness and the deep-bone exhaustion. Realization slammed into me like a towing truck. I wasn't sick. I was pregnantGeorge's POVSentencing arrived three weeks later, the courthouse gallery once again filled to capacity, though the atmosphere this time carried less anxious anticipation and more the particular solemnity of a proceeding whose outcome felt, at this point, largely settled in its broad strokes. Only the specific duration remained genuinely uncertain, and even that uncertainty felt manageable now, compared to the sustained fear that had defined so much of this past year.The judge reviewed the sentencing guidelines carefully, acknowledging the severity of the multiple convictions while also noting Alessia's age and lack of prior criminal history as factors requiring consideration. When she finally delivered the sentence, twenty-two years across the combined counts, with eligibility for parole considered only after serving a minimum of fifteen, the number landed with a finality that felt, after everything, genuinely appropriate to the scope of harm she'd caused.Alessia showed little visi
Camila's pov Closing arguments stretched through most of Monday, the prosecution's summary methodical and comprehensive, walking the jury one final time through the full scope of evidence spanning weeks of testimony. The defense's closing, by contrast, felt noticeably diminished, focused almost entirely now on asking the jury to consider Alessia's advanced age and previous lack of formal criminal record as mitigating context, rather than mounting any serious argument for outright acquittal.The jury retired to deliberate late Monday afternoon, and the waiting that followed felt, in its own way, as exhausting as anything else this past year had demanded of us. George and I spent Tuesday in a state of careful, restless anticipation, unable to focus fully on ordinary work, both of us jumping every time either of our phones buzzed with a notification.I tried, that Tuesday afternoon, to distract myself with routine J and F Corporation business, reviewing quarterly reports I normally woul
Darian's povThe second week of trial brought the forensic and financial evidence, a methodical, exhaustive presentation that left even less room for the defense's sympathetic framing than the personal testimony had. The toxicologist walked the jury through years of documented prescription tampering, the pattern too sustained and too precise to be explained away as coincidence or misunderstanding. The forensic accountant traced the exact financial pathway connecting Alessia's personal accounts to the security firm that had ultimately hired the two women who'd attempted Cora's kidnapping.I watched my mother throughout this testimony, her composure gradually eroding under the sheer accumulated weight of evidence that left increasingly little room for any alternative interpretation of her conduct. By the middle of the second week, her lead attorney had shifted strategy entirely, no longer attempting to argue her innocence outright, instead focusing on mitigating factors that might reduc
George's povThe trial began on a gray, overcast Monday, the courthouse steps once again crowded with reporters, though the atmosphere this time carried a different weight, the preliminary skirmishes finally giving way to the main proceeding that would determine Alessia Baldore's fate for years to come. Camila and I arrived early, wanting to secure seats in the gallery, both of us feeling the particular tension of a fight that had finally reached its climactic stage.Jury selection had taken most of the previous week, Priya keeping us updated on the careful process of assembling twelve people capable of weighing the evidence fairly despite the case's extensive media coverage. By the time opening statements began, the jury box held a diverse cross-section of the city, ordinary people now tasked with determining whether one of its most prominent families would finally face genuine accountability for decades of careful, calculated cruelty.The prosecution's opening statement was methodic
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