Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Camilla

~~~~~

“Don’t tell him you gave me divorce papers. He shouldn’t even know that you thought about getting divorced. Tell him you’re going to make everything right at the press conference.” I said when we got out of the car and were walking to the front door.

We got to the door and the guards standing by the door opened it for us. My grandpa and his secretary were already downstairs.

“Lala.” My grandpa said, smiling widely as he saw me. “How are you?” He asked coming to hug me.

“I’m doing good Pops, how are you?” I asked.

“Your old man’s fine.” He said with a big smile. “Raffael.” He said extending his hand for a shake.

They exchanged pleasantries and we got seated.

“So, how’s business going Raffael?” Grandpa asked.

“It’s good.” He said shuffling in his seat.” I just closed a deal with Mr Smith.”

“That’s good.”

“Dinner’s ready.” Hailey, one of the helps announced.”

“We’ll be right there.” My grandpa said Camilla her off. “We’ll talk later. Let’s go have dinner.”

We all went to the dining room and sat down. Grandpa sat at the head of the table while I sat at his right and Raffael at his left.

We were eating dinner quietly. Grandpa had a no-talking while at the table rule. He had always done that for as long as I could remember.

After an hour, we had eaten both dinner and dessert. We went to the backyard to have some fresh air.

“What is it I’m hearing about a divorce between you two? Grandpa asked Raffael.

“It’s all a misunderstanding sir, I’ll take care of it.” He answered quickly.

“Take care of it? It’s still out there. Rumors are going around. People are talking.”

“I don’t know who leaked the news but we’re working to find out.”

“So you guys are not getting divorced?” He asked me.

“No, Pops.”

“So what are those pictures going around?” He directed the question to Raffael.

He cleared his throat. “They are AI-generated sir.”

“What do you take me for? A fool?” He asked Raffael. “You think I wouldn’t know the difference between real and fake images?”

“AI is becoming advanced these days. I mean it’s the 21st century.”

My grandpa laughed but it wasn’t a good laugh. “You’re cheating on my granddaughter?”

“No sir, like I said it’s all a misunderstanding.” Raffael said trying to clear things up.

“I didn’t call you here so I can confirm anything. I already know what’s happening. I heard you scheduled a press conference. Don’t mess it up.”

“Yes sir.”

His secretary came in and whispered something in his ear. He then showed him something on his iPad and then left without the iPad.

After he left, my grandpa stared at me for a few minutes. I got confused.

“Grandpa, is anything wrong?” I asked.

“Camilla.” He said.

“Yes?” I asked wearily. He never called me by full name unless something was wrong.

“What happened today?” He asked.

I paused. I couldn’t answer.

“What happened Camilla?.” Raffael asked.

“She provoked me. I didn’t know what came over me.”

“What happened?” Raffael asked oblivious to the situation.

Grandpa passed him the iPad and he watched the video. I didn’t need to watch it to know what it was.

His mouth widened in shock as he watched it. “Camilla, what is this?”

“Raffael don’t look at me like that, this is all your fault.”

Grandpa interrupted him before he could say anything. “Now is not the time to throw blame at anybody. I’ll take care of that video.”

“I’m sorry Grandpa.”

“You guys can go home, I’ve had enough for today. Goodnight.” Grandpa said before going back inside.

“Camilla.”

“Don’t even start.” I said walking out.

I got out of the house and got in the car. He got in immediately after banging the door while closing it.

I gave him a look that said I wasn’t ready to talk about this here. He sighed heavily muttering profanities under his breath.

In no time, we reached the house. I exited the car quickly trying to avoid him talking to me.

He wasn’t having it. He followed behind me. When we got inside, he slammed the door shut.

“Camilla. What was that about?” He asked hovering above me.

“Leave me alone Raffael.” I said turning to go upstairs.

He dragged me back. “You slapped her in public?”

“What was I supposed to do huh? She kept provoking me and disrespecting me. Was I supposed to just stand there and watch her?”

“Were you stalking her?” He asked. “You sent someone to follow her around so you could watch her every move and then you went to meet her?”

“What the fuck Raffael. You think I would do that?”

“I mean who knows what your pathetic self is capable of.” He shrugged.

That struck a nerve. He called me the same thing Tori called me. Pathetic. I heaved, taking deep breaths.

“Fuck you.” I managed to say and then ran upstairs.

I closed the door and immediately jumped on the bed. I sniffed back the tears that were threatening to come out. I had already made a promise to myself not to cry because of him again. I wasn’t going to break it.

I was tempted to pick my phone up and check what was going around but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

My phone rang and I picked it up. It was Skye.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m holding up fine. How are you?”

“I’m good.”

“Have you seen the news?”

“Yes, that’s why I called. How are you feeling Cammy?”

“I don’t know. Everything’s a mess. What are they saying about me?”

“It’s best you don’t know. Stay off it if you can. It’ll only make you feel worse.”

I sighed. “Raffael’s accusing me of stalking her and going to meet her to cause trouble.”

“It’s obvious he’s brainwashed by her. Don’t think too much about it. Get some sleep, we’ll talk tomorrow. I love you.”

“Love you too.” I hung up the phone and then went to the bathroom to get ready for bed.