Chapter Five
Camilla ~~~ The last forty-eight hours have been hell for me. My name had been on the lips of everyone. The media had been putting out the most outrageous news about me. I woke up this morning, deciding to block out any negativity. I showered and then went downstairs to eat my breakfast. Raffael came downstairs and sat at the other end of the table. “Good morning.” He said as he sat down. I didn’t give him a reply. I looked up at him and saw that the handprint from the slap I gave him was gone. Thank God. I wouldn’t know how to explain that to my grandfather. “Grandpa called, he wants us to go to his house after you meet with the shareholders,” I said. “How did you know I have a meeting with the shareholders?” He asked. I merely stared at him and ignored him. I was done with my food so I left the table and went back upstairs. I picked up the phone and texted Skye. I was really thankful for her. She was the only person I had apart from my grandfather and Raffael. I couldn’t possibly tell my grandfather about what was happening so Skyee was the only person I could talk to. She replied to my text immediately and then called me. “Hey.” “Hi. I’m on my way now.” “Ok. See you soon then.” She said and then hung up the phone. I picked up my bag and headed downstairs. We planned to go shopping today to take my mind off everything that was happening. I got in the back seat of the car. I usually didn’t go out with security but today I did. I don’t want to be attacked by some randos on the street. We drove to Skye’s house to pick her up first before heading to the city. We got to the mall and we put on our shades to avoid being recognized. We walked around the mall going to different stores. We went into the Dior store to pick out some bags. We were looking at the bags, checking them out. After a few minutes, we both decided on the bags we wanted. We paid and left the store. So far, we have made it without being noticed by anyone. We were on our way to another store when I spotted someone familiar. “Skye?” I called out softly. “Yeah?” “Look who it is,” I spoke up, pointing over in the direction of the person. She looked over to see. “Tori. What’s she doing here?” “I mean it’s a public space. We don’t own it.” “Yeah right. I have some things to say to her.” “Not here, Skye. Come on, let's go.” I dragged her along with me into the store. If I were to confront Tori in public, it would make it to the headlines. We moved around the aisles trying to pick out some clothes. Skye went into the fitting room to try on a dress so I could convince her to buy it. I sat down on one of the benches waiting for her to come out. While I was waiting, someone came and sat beside me even though there were many other benches to sit on. “How’s the divorce coming along?” I looked over at Tori who was seated beside me. She had a stupid smirk on her face. “Can you please move away? Find somewhere else to sit.” “Did you think nobody would recognize you in those ugly shades?” I wasn’t in the mood to exchange words with her. I wasn’t going to stoop to her level. I stood up trying to leave when she held my arm back to stop me from going. “Let go of me,” I warned. “Or what?” “Tori.” I gritted out “I just wanted to talk to you. Why are you leaving?” She said with a fake smile. The security came rushing to see what was happening. When she saw them, she let go of my hand immediately. “Pathetic bitch.” She said as she turned to leave. I pulled her back by her hand and slapped her. Hard. “Don’t you ever insult me? I won’t take that from you.” I said angrily. She had already taken my husband. What made her think she could disrespect me like that? At this time, Skye had come out from the fitting room and passersby were already noticing the commotion. She held her cheek in shock. “Did you just slap me?” “I’ll do it again if you don’t stay in your place.” She tried to hit me back but was stopped by the security. “Come on, Camilla, let’s leave,” Skye said, pulling me away. We went back into the fitting room so Skye could change back into her original outfit. We left immediately after. When we got in the car, the tears I’d been holding back came out rushing like a dam. “Oh, Cammy,” Skye cooed, pulling me closer to her. She wrapped her arms around me, rubbing my back. “Shhh. Don’t cry. She’s not worth it.” “It’s not her. It’s him.” I managed to say in between sniffles. “He’s the cause of all this.” “I know but you have to be strong. Don’t let them get to you.” I pulled away from her embrace. “He embarrassed me in front of thousands of people. Even if he wanted us to get divorced, he should have done it more respectfully and quietly. The whole world knows I’m married to a loser.” I said cleaning my tears. “You’re still going to stay with him?” “I don’t have a choice, Skye, I can’t let her win too.” The rest of the ride we drove in silence with my head on Skye’s lap. We dropped her off at home and then I went home to get ready to meet with my grandfather. Raffael wasn’t back yet so I took my time getting ready. I cried a little in the bath before wiping my tears and promising myself I wasn’t going to cry because of him again. After two hours, Raffael finally got home. He quickly got ready and we were on our way. I don’t speak to him the whole of the ride and I caught him giving me side glances. After a while, we finally got to the house.Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Four Raphael’s POVAfter Camilla called me in the middle of the night frantically trying to explain that she had gotten a call from Jeremy, I got dressed quickly and waited for her to arrive. I forwarded the number to the tech team so they could start tracing it. After a few minutes, she arrived and we went down to the station.Before I retired for the night, Jeremy’s father was brought in and when we went back to the station, he had already confessed to everything.We waited for them to pinpoint the location of where Jason was being held. It was a lot faster with the help of Jeremy’s father. The time was ticking. I’d played the recording of Jeremy’s call with Camilla. What was he going to do after 24 hours?There was no way I was dropping any charges against him. Not after all the trouble he caused. If there was any way those charges could be dropped, he still couldn’t go back to his normal life. Camilla sat with me rubbing her hands on my legs. She
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Three Camilla’s POVAfter I hung up the phone, I was still shaken.“What happened?” My grandpa and Skye asked. I looked over at Rory who was also visibly confused. “Jason was kidnapped.” I said.“What?” They both exclaimed.“By who?” My grandpa asked.“They think it’s Jeremy.” I answered.“Jeremy? Jeremy’s in jail. How could he possibly have a hand in this?” He asked. I still hadn’t told him that Jeremy escaped.“I didn’t want to tell you before because I didn’t want you to worry but Jeremy escaped from police custody this morning.”My grandpa put his hand on his chest and started rubbing it. He looked like he was having another heart attack.“Grandpa, are you okay?” I asked, rushing to his side.Carla too panicked and went to get him a glass of water. We were all concerned.“I'm calling 911.” Skye said, bringing out her phone.Carla handed the glass of water to him and he drank it.“I'm fine, I'm fine. No need to call.” He said and we all sighed in r
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty TwoRaphael’s POVAfter my call with Camilla, I called my assistant to arrange for extra security to be put around the house. I also carried more security when I was on my way to work.When I got to work, I met with my assistant and cybersecurity team. They were working on tracing the file that contained our plans. They also filled me in on what had happened.I had a meeting with my legal team. We needed to file a lawsuit that would at least stop the progress of our rivals. They couldn’t get away with stealing our designs. We also contacted the city to inform them.I called for an emergency meeting with the board. Most of them were already aware of the situation at hand. It was a few minutes but eventually we all settled down in the conference room.We started the meeting by talking about the breach and what we were doing to correct it. “We all are very concerned about your position.” One of the older board members said. He used to be my fathers right h
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty OneCamilla’s POVI had talked to my grandpa about my conversation with Jeremy. He said he was going to inform his assistant to continue with the investigation. It was going to be a full sweep of everybody on the board.I was having vivid nightmares of what happened in that room with Jeremy which ended with him attacking me. I woke up at various points during the night breaking out in sweats.I was really tired when I woke up but I didn’t want to rot in bed all day. I got up as early as I could and went to check up on my grandpa and then Rory. After getting ready for the day, we went downstairs to have breakfast.While we were having breakfast, I got a call from my grandpa's assistant. I figured he wanted to give me updates on the case. I stepped away from the table to answer.“Hello.”“We have bad news.” He said and my heart dropped. “What happened?”“Jeremy escaped. He's on the run now. The police are currently searching for him. He disappeared around
Chapter One Hundred and TwentyRaphael’s POVIt seeme like there was never meant to be a moment of rest for us. We first thought everything had ended with Jeremy but it was clear that was something bigger behind it. I could see that Camilla was drained, really drained. I suggested that she take a step back from everything and let the lawyers and the team handle it. She was also worried about what her grandfather had told her about taking over the company.I thought it was a good idea. She of all people deserved to run the company. But before all of that, we needed to get rid of the threat that was lurking around. Since Jeremy was not working alone, there was someone out there that still wanted their family gone.After she left the house, I went upstairs to check on Jason and Tori. I’d found a new place for Tori to stay. This one was much more secure and I’d also hired security for her.I knocked on her door.“Come in.” She said.I walked inside and she and Jason were on the bed. I wa
Chapter One Hundred and NineteenCamilla’s POVAfter Raphael found out Jeremy was behind the article and every other thing, he reported to the police along with evidence. New charges were filed against him along with the existing ones.I’d finally told my grandpa that Jeremy was the one behind his heart attack. He refused to believe he was working alone. I also told him that when they were questioning him, his father came in and left in a matter of minutes.My grandpa requested to talk to him personally but I advised him not to. Talking to him would only rile him up and make his health worse. I told him I would talk to him instead.Jeremy’s charges were released to the public and people were already speculating on why he came after mine and Raphael’s family. There were different theories going around. I got ready early that morning to go and see Jeremy. When I got to the station, I entered the small interrogation room and waited for him to arrive. After waiting for a few minutes, he