Chapter 0011

•CAMILLA•

“Have you heard that Lucius Hall got married to Don Ross’s niece? It’s believed that his brother, Daniel, has a daughter, and she’s the one who just tied the knot with the billionaire in Florida.”

“Really? I wonder why we haven’t seen the family together, especially Camilla Ross. She’s also the only daughter of Don Ross. I expected that she would have social media platforms to flaunt her fabulous lifestyle and wealth.”

“Maybe she doesn’t like the spotlight. I’ve heard that she’s not ideal to look at. Makes sense why she’s being hidden from the public.”

I scoffed as I turned off the podcast and got up from the couch. I put on my coat and went to get something to eat from the kitchen that I shared with Santino.

“I don’t think that she should be in charge of the project. We both know that she knows nothing about the family business, Don. When are you going to realize that your daughter is a leech who wants to feed off other people’s hard work and not do anything for herself?!” Cecilia’s voice echoed in the hallway, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

“She married Santino to make things easier for us, Cecilia. When are you going to give her a chance?”

I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t believe Cecilia’s nerve to gossip, no, to talk so absurdly about my name in my house.

“I won’t give her a chance until you get her off the pedestal that you’ve put her on. You might not see behind her cute persona, but I see her for who she is. When the day comes that you see what a disappointment she is to this family, it will be the day you realize I was right all along.”

Her heels clicked on the floor as she approached the hallway. I just stood near the kitchen entrance, purposely trying to make her realize I heard everything that she said to my father about me.

When our eyes locked, Cecilia just scoffed as she walked past me, barely bothered that I heard anything.

I strolled down the hallway and found my father getting up from the couch in the sitting room, and when he saw me, he breathed.

“Camilla, I didn’t see you there!”

“I thought you were meeting with Santino.”

“He canceled on us. Your mother and I didn’t want to wake you up when we came to the house. Francesca told us you were in your room taking a nap.”

“It’s okay, Father, you don’t have to pretend anymore. If Cecilia doesn’t want me in this project, it’s okay; I’ll focus on growing this baby and let you guys do your work. I don’t have to be included.”

“This is a family business, Camilla. You’re supposed to be in it as well. I’ll speak with your mother and -“

“Stepmother, Dad.” I corrected him. “But, I mean it. I am 2 months pregnant already, and I don’t think I’ll be able to deal with any pressure right now.”

My father sighed as he closed the small gap between us. “It’s alright. I set up the meeting here because I wanted to see how my daughter and grandchild are doing,” he smiled.

I giggled. “Alright, Daddy, get going before your wife comes back to eat me alive.”

He chuckled as he walked past me and left. I stood there for a moment and sighed.

It had been 2 weeks since Santino and I tied the knot, and I kept counting down the months to when I would give birth and get back to working on designing projects.

I got something in the kitchen, and when I was about to head to the third floor, passing by the stairs leading to the ground floor, curiosity got the better of me, knowing that Santino wasn’t home.

‘Fuck, Camilla. What are you doing?’ I sighed as I stepped on the last staircase.

I looked around his floor and could smell his woody cologne in the air. It almost felt as if he were still in the house.

I walked past his library room, amazed by his collection and the way he had arranged the books. It was so neat, and he had a very comfortable couch in the corner.

I was surprised because I didn’t think of Santino as a reading person. When I saw one of my favorite books in his collection, I scoffed.

“No way. Is he reading Soulbound as well? Damn prick,” I shook my head and then walked out of the library.

When I passed by a half-open door, I peeked and realized that it was his bedroom. I tried to restrain myself from evading his most private space, but fuck, he wasn’t there to see me, anyway.

I walked in, and his cologne filled my nostrils, and it brought back small fragments of our first night 4 years ago.

He and I could’ve had a wonderful thing before he took me for a prostitute and then told me to my face that I wasn’t the first girl who had tried to impress him by pretending that I didn’t care about his money or status.

He was such an idiot, and when I ran into him again escorting another girl from the club, I knew he was an asshole.

When Cecilia brought him home and told me he was her cousin’s son, whom she had arranged for me to marry to secure a business partnership with the Banks, everything changed, and I knew I couldn’t stay home.

I couldn’t stay home and be married to the boy who took my virginity and turned out to be a total asshole.

I looked over my shoulder, trying to make sure it was safe to sneak around as I walked to his closet.

He arranged his clothes by color, with separate racks for each type of clothing. He was the senator’s son, so what did I expect?

When I realized I had run out of juice in my water bottle, I walked out of the closet and was about to leave his bedroom when my eye caught something on his bedside pedestal counter.

I placed my bottle on the counter and picked up the A4 envelope, and looked at what was inside.

I was curious, thinking that there were documents about the new business that we were starting with his family.

“What the fuck?” I gasped, furrowing my brow in confusion when I saw pictures of me when I was still in Brooklyn with Lucius.

He took some pictures of me while I was shopping, others while I was jogging on a particular morning, and one as I exited my car outside the driveway at the Hall’s residency.

My hands trembled a bit while looking at the pictures. It was insane to think that Lucius had been stalking me all along. He knew where I was, and the accident might not have been coincidental.

He was following me that night.

“Camilla? What are you doing in my room?” His voice behind me startled me, and I dropped the envelope, scattering the pictures on the floor.