•CAMILLA•
“What?” I scoffed. “What are you doing here?” I asked as my heart raced. It felt as if I were totally forgetting what the doctor told me 5 seconds ago, which was going to change my life forever. I was so concerned about Santino being in the hospital and calling me by a name that most people didn’t know. “I -“ He was about to answer when I interrupted him and turned to the doctor. “Doctor, can I speak to him for a minute, please? He and I know each other. We are friends.” “Really? That’s great. What wonderful friends you guys are. Alright, I’ll give you some time to talk,” she smiled as she turned her back and walked out the door. I quickly sat up on the bed and fumed. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, Santino. I made it clear when I left home that I never wanted to see you again.” “Well, I had no choice but to come here when you crossed the road and hit my car. Ugh,” he groaned as he sat down on the chair next to my bed. “If you think I came here because I care, you’re only fooling yourself.” “Did you say I hit your car?” I scoffed. “Good God, have you ever been able to see yourself beyond this pathetic persona that you put on every day? I can have you arrested for running me over.” “I saved your life, and what’s even worse,” he chuckled. “I am not the one who’s putting on a pathetic persona here. You, Alisha, slash Camilla, seem to have this part of the world fooled. So, tell me, what are you up to?” I rolled my eyes. “If you knew I am called Alisha here, then why did you call me by my real name? Were you trying to get that doctor suspicious?” “I was just trying to confirm that I brought the same woman that they said I brought to the hospital. Lucius Hall’s wife. Now, that’s the story that I would like to hear,” he smirked. “Get out of my face, Santino. I don’t want to see you again. The next time you bump into me on the road, I suggest you look the other way and pass. You don’t have to come here and parade yourself as my hero.” “Does your father know that you’re here? Does your family know that you’re here, disguising yourself as an orphan who got herself married to a small-town billionaire?” I opened my mouth to answer him when the door creaked open, and Lucius walked into the room with an envelope in his hand. When he closed the door behind him and saw Santino, his face changed, and he scowled. “Who is this?” Lucius snarled as he walked toward us. Santino just chuckled as he looked at me. “Is that Lucius Hall, the small-town billionaire?” Lucious threw the envelope on top of me as he squared up to Santino. “Who did you just call a small-town billionaire?” Lucius demanded with a snarl. “Do you know who I am?” “You’re a small boy to me,” Santino replied, with his hands slipped inside his pockets. “So, I would advise you to watch your tone when you talk to me.” I sighed as I leaned back on the bed because I knew that there was nothing I could do to make them stop trying to intimidate each other. Lucius was ready to throw hands when the door creaked open again, and a nurse walked in to bring me food. I looked at Santino, hoping that he would excuse himself and leave before things got out of hand, but he just sat down on the chair and didn’t seem to move. “Can I at least have a private moment with my wife?” Lucius demanded. “Wife?” Santino laughed. “You must be bluffing because there’s no damn husband who can leave his wife in the hospital all night after being hit by a car. What you’re going to do is,” he got up from the chair when the nurse left. “You’re going to do whatever you came here for and leave.” For someone who hated my guts and whom I hated, that was very sweet of him. “Santino,” I turned to him. “It’s okay. You can give us a few minutes. He won’t be long.” “I’ll be in the cafeteria,” he answered, as he focused his gaze on Lucius before walking out the door. As soon as the door closed, Lucius grabbed the envelope on the bed. “These are divorce papers. I want you to sign them peacefully because I don’t want to fight with you.” “Okay,” I sat up on the bed and sighed. “Did you bring a pen?” I asked. “What?” His face changed. “I want to sign it.” “I see what this is,” he scolded. “You’re sleeping with that loser who just left, and now you want to humiliate me. You must think I’m a fool, Alisha. This explains all the late nights and fucking excuses you kept making about being sick whenever I wanted you to do something for me. Well, let me tell you something, Missy,” he leaned toward my face. “You’re not getting a dime from me.” “When did I ever say I wanted your money? You said you wanted a divorce, so let’s get divorced and forget this ever happened.” I held out my hand for him to give me the papers to sign. “We both know that you have no one and nothing,” he seethed. “So, you’re not fooling me. Once this asshole leaves you high and dry, you’re going to want to come back to me, but I won’t allow it.” “Okay. Let me sign the papers, Lucius.” He tossed me the papers and the pen that was on the table counter next to my bed. I took the pen and signed the papers, internally telling myself that our divorce was for the best. I tried finding love my way, but it didn’t work out, and that was okay. “Here,” I handed him the papers after scribbling my signature. “Now, do you mind leaving my room?” “When you come back to me, I’m going to remind you of this moment and how you quickly jumped into another man.” “I think you’re the one who’s going to remember this moment and regret how you humiliated me in front of your family and mistress,” I shot back. “You’re going to wish that you’d never done what you did to me.” He chuckled. “I’m sure when that happens, I’ll be drunk or dead because, Alisha, I don’t regret anything about what happened with Sasha. Why would I, when I’m about to have a son and an heir through her?” My heart skipped a beat. If only he knew I was also carrying his child after all the things that he and his mother had said to me. “Then leave this room, Lucius, and forget that we have ever been married because, after this day, it will be as if you never existed to me.” He looked at me, scoffed, then turned his back and walked out of the room. When the door closed behind him, I sighed as I leaned over and pressed the emergency button. After a little while, the doctor walked in. “Yes, Mrs. Hall, are you okay?” She asked as she closed the door and walked toward my bed. “I’m fine, Doctor. If possible, I would like to be discharged early in the morning.” “Are you sure? You had a pretty rough incident, and we were supposed to monitor you and the baby over the next few days before your discharge.” “Yes, I want to go home.”•CAMILLA• After the wedding ceremony, I pulled Santino aside in the library and closed the door. "What did you mean he's about to sell his company to you?" I whispered, just enough for people not to overhear our conversation. I didn't want to risk anyone eavesdropping on our conversation, especially Cecilia. "He's the reason I ran you over that night, so I can't let him get off easily. This is the only price that he has to pay. You're going to be in charge of his company." "Camilla?!" Francesca called down the hallway. I looked at Santino and sighed. "My goodness, this was never part of the plan." "Don't worry, you don't have to thank me now, but so you know, you can thank me in many ways when that time comes. I can't resist seduction," he whispered before he leaned back and smirked, and then opened the door. "Ugh," I rolled my eyes with a groan. "Oh, you guys were here all along," Francesca breathed when she saw me approaching behind Santino and closing the door behin
•CAMILLA•I looked at the reflection in the mirror and sighed when I saw Francesca walking into my room. I got up from the chair and looked at her."Hey." She scolded as she walked toward me and stood a few feet from me. She was upset with me, and I understood her reasons. "I'm sorry, Francesca. I know I should've taken you with me, and I understand why you're mad at me." She scoffed. "Is that why you think I've been avoiding you all morning? Camilla, I was supposed to be your friend, well," she rolled her eyes. "Assistant. Can you imagine how the last 3 years have been for me? Your father was on my neck 24/7, and I didn't even know what to say to him." I leaned toward her and took her hands into mine. "Thank you for being a good friend and keeping my secret for me. I know my happiness was all you wanted, but I'm sorry that it had to cost you. I never wanted to make your job difficult for you." She looked at me, and when I saw her mouth curling into a smile, I released a sigh of
•CAMILLA•“Camilla?” My brother, Paxton, gasped when he opened the door.“Hey, Pax.”He let me inside the house and then scolded me. “Where have you been all these years? Do you have any idea how worried we were? We couldn’t find you anywhere.”“I’m sorry, Pax. I promise to answer all your questions. Is our father home?”Paxton was about to answer as we walked down the hallway when Cecilia approached.“Well, well, well,” she smirked as she folded her arms across her chest. “Look who we have here. The prodigal daughter finally found her way back home. I was certain that you were dead and buried somewhere we could never find you.”“Hi, Cecilia.” I frowned as I stood in front of her.She was my stepmother and had been married to my father for over 15 years after my mother’s passing. She and I never got along.In fact, Cecilia never liked me from the day she moved in with us. She always preferred my brothers over me, and she was the reason I left home.“Paxton, please tell your father in
•CAMILLA•“What?” I scoffed. “What are you doing here?” I asked as my heart raced.It felt as if I were totally forgetting what the doctor told me 5 seconds ago, which was going to change my life forever.I was so concerned about Santino being in the hospital and calling me by a name that most people didn’t know.“I -“ He was about to answer when I interrupted him and turned to the doctor.“Doctor, can I speak to him for a minute, please? He and I know each other. We are friends.”“Really? That’s great. What wonderful friends you guys are. Alright, I’ll give you some time to talk,” she smiled as she turned her back and walked out the door.I quickly sat up on the bed and fumed. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, Santino. I made it clear when I left home that I never wanted to see you again.”“Well, I had no choice but to come here when you crossed the road and hit my car. Ugh,” he groaned as he sat down on the chair next to my bed. “If you think I came here because I car
•CAMILLA•“She pushed me into the pool.”I looked in horror as Lucius took off his jacket, gently helping Sasha to sit down on the floor and covering her shoulders with his jacket.“Did you push her into the pool?” He narrowed his eyes as he leaned toward me, and I stepped back, my heart pounding in my chest.“Answer me!”“I - She,“ I stuttered, barely able to utter a single word as I looked at Sasha, who was smirking at me.It suddenly made sense why she had jumped into the pool. She knew Lucius would believe her if she told him I pushed her into the pool.“What was the plan, Alisha?!” he sneered. “Did you want to kill her? Do you even know that she can’t swim?”“I didn’t do it, Lucius. She -““Are you calling her a liar?” He snarled. “Are you calling me a liar, even after what I saw?”“You must believe me. I didn’t do it,” I cried. “I was barely standing two feet from her when she fell into the pool. This was all her plan, Lucius. She wants you to be angry at me,” I answered as I lo
•CAMILLA•I leaned back from Lucius and felt the ground under my feet trembling. A tear silently rolled down my eye, and my heart ripped open.“I’ve done everything for you and this family. I gave my life and even my soul to this marriage. Even the time when your company barely made any money. Why are you doing this to me now?”His mother stood up, frowning. “My son doesn’t owe a wretched and barren woman any explanation about why he wants to marry a capable woman. The only thing you can do for yourself is to leave my son alone and give him the divorce that he wants.”My stomach turned as I looked at Lucius, who didn’t show any emotion whatsoever about what his mother was saying to me.“So, you brought another woman to our home to bring me shame and dishonor?” I asked.“Sasha is my fiancé, and she has every right to come here. Our marriage is over, Alisha. Plus, we don’t have any kids, so I believe it will be easy for us to go our separate ways.”Well, of course. We didn’t have any ki
•CAMILLA•“Alisha.”I was about to get inside my car and drive home when someone called my name. I turned around and looked at the person.“Hi,” I replied, with furrowed brows, because she was wearing big shades that made it difficult for me to see her face.“I wanted to confirm that it was really you,” she smirked as she leaned closer to me. “You don’t know me, but I’m sure you have an idea now about why I’m here. I don’t even have to say his name.”Then it clicked.Well, I’d be damned.The last time she and I talked was when she called my husband while he was in the shower, and I answered the call.I could recognize her voice since it was a few days ago when she called.“I don’t know you, but if you don’t mind refreshing my memory, you can remind me.” I smiled at her.She narrowed her eyes at me, irritated. “We talked. Three nights ago. Do you remember?”“No, I’m afraid I don’t.” I folded my arms on my chest and looked at her.“My name is Sasha.”“Oh, you’re my husband’s mistress?”