Chapter Sixty-SixRaphael's POVI sat down on the couch in defeat. I’d mange’s to make Camilla angry at me again. Every time we wanted to talk, I somehow always said the wrong thing and pushed her further away from me.It wasn’t my intent to shame her for her decisions when she was younger or make her think Aurora was something to be hidden. I’d fucked up, once again.The chairman who had followed behind her returned to the living room.“She’s leaving, tonight. She’s packing already.”“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say all those things to her.”“But you did. You can’t seem to let go of the past, can’t you? You always bring that up in every conversation you guys have. She’s already apologized for that countless times. Why do you have to keep punishing her? She’s already going through enough.”“I know. I'm sorry but she took those years of my life. I can never get that back. You had a hand in that too.”“You know, you could have refused the marriage. But you didn’t, because of your father
Chapter Sixty-SevenCamilla’s POVThe past week was just a rush of things. We moved out of our old house into a much safer house. We also hired private security just in case. I was thinking of changing schools for Rory but I just decided to let her continue going there. It’d be hard for her to adapt to a new environment.I spent almost all my time at work. I put in all the hours I’d taken off before. I met with Alexander one time and vented to him. He was a good friend, he reassured me and gave me words of encouragement to keep going. It was finally Friday and I was happy to spend the weekend in bed. I dropped Rory off at school and then went to work. I went to my office and got started on work. During my lunch break, I got a call from Alexander. “Hey. How are you doing?”“I’m fine. How are you?”“Good, good. How’s the new place?”“It’s alright. It’s a lot different than our old house and Rory’s a bit scared to sleep in her new room but she’ll come around.”“I know she will. Any ne
Chapter Sixty-EightRaphael's POVI rounded up my work and set to leave the office. The driver was already going to pick Jason up so I didn’t have to worry about that. Emily was having dinner with us tonight so I called her to let her know I was off work.I drove to the house and after I had freshened up, Emily had arrived. She offered to cook for the dinner so she arrived early.I let her do the cooking and went to the living room to watch TV.After a few minutes, I got a call from Camilla. It took me by suprise. We hadn’t really spoken all week. I was trying to give her the space that she deserved.“Where are you?” She asked.“What?” I was taken aback by the question.“Where did you go with my daughter?” She asked again.“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Was she drunk or?“What do you mean by you don’t know what Im talking about? The school said you came to pick Rory up.” “What? I'm in New York.”“Are you being serious?”“Yes. What happened?” I was starting to get wor
Chapter Sixty-NineCamilla’s POV‘I didn’t want to hurt your little girl before, but now you made me mad.’ That was the next message I received from that same number.I showed the message to Rapheal who then sent it to the PI. We also called the police to let them know that the person texted again. So far, it seemed like they weren’t after ransom or anything. They just wanted to hurt me and my daughter.“We’re running out of time, Raphael.”“We’re not. Trust me, they’re not going to do anything to her. They know better.”The police now had a breakthrough. With the help of the PI, they had managed to track the phone number, but what was weird was that the location was New York. There’s no way they flew with Rory to New York. That was impossible.The NYPD got involved and took care of finding the person behind the number in New York.They still focused on finding her here.After a while, we got a call. They had an idea where she was. I picked up the keys and dashed out of the house wit
Chapter SeventyRaphael’s POVCamilla was furious after, but Alexander managed to calm her down. She was a thin line away from causing me major bodily harm. I understood her. My personal life had interfered with hers, causing trouble for her.What I didn’t understand was why and how Emily did what she did. I was still trying to wrap my head around everything. How did she find out about Camilla and her life back here in California?We all made our way to the station to give our statements. We spent about an hour in the station. They also asked Rory some questions about the man who took her. She said he was kind to her and that he gave her ice cream and let her watch TV.By the end of the night, they had managed to track down the guy who took her and confirmed the relationship between him and Emily. She was the one who hired him to do the kidnapping.The guy immediately confessed to everything. It kind of made me wonder why a hardcore criminal would confess to his crimes that easily. He
Chapter One Camilla ~~~~ After setting up the table I went upstairs to freshen up and wait for Raffael. It was our third anniversary and I made dinner. I also decorated the room with some flowers and scented candles. It was currently ten minutes past 10 and he still wasn’t back. I tried calling him but he wasn’t answering his phone. I called Anthony, his assistant but he also didn’t pick up the phone. It was getting really late but I was determined to stay awake till he came back. I went to make coffee so I could stay awake. “Ms Edwards I don’t think he’ll be back anytime soon. You should go to bed.” Martha, my housekeeper said with a pitiful expression on her face. “I’ll wait one more hour. You can go to bed.” I waved her off picking up my phone to try and call him again. “Not to overstep but you know he’s not coming back. Goodnight.” She said before retiring to her room. She wasn’t wrong. I knew he wasn’t coming back. At least not today. He’d probably show up tomo
Chapter Two Camilla ~•~ “What’s this?” I asked, feigning ignorance. “Open it.” He said.I opened the file he handed to me and brought the documents out. They were divorce papers.I flipped through them and let out a laugh but there was no humor in it.He turned around to leave and then said, “Sign those before I get back.”I laughed again. “I’m not signing these.”He turned back to me. “What do you mean you’re not signing it?”I threw the papers at his face. “I’m not signing it.”“Camilla, don’t be difficult. Sign the papers so we can go our separate ways. I’m tired of this.” He picked the papers up, arranged them, and handed them back to me.“Are you deaf? I’m not signing it. You’re going to divorce me and go be with Tori?”“This is not about Tori. It’s about us and the fact that we’ve been in a loveless marriage for three years.” “I love you Raffael. I’ve always loved you. Why won’t you love me back?” “Love you back?” He scoffed. “You and your grandfather forced me into this
Chapter Three Raffael ~~ I drove my car out of the compound looking at her through the rearview mirror as she watched me leave, looking defeated. She had refused to sign the papers claiming it was because of Tori. That was half true. I’d already planned to file for divorce months ago, Tori coming back was just the tip of the iceberg. Three years ago we got married because she liked me. She persuaded her grandfather to meet with my dad and organize an arranged marriage for us. My father, in a bid to save his failing company, had no choice but to agree. I only agreed to it because of my father but after he passed a year ago, I had no reason to be in a marriage where I didn’t love my wife. My mum and sister weren’t in support of our marriage so I had backup for the divorce. I drove to the hotel where Tori was staying. I parked at the underground parking and made my way to the elevator. I pressed the button to go up to the fifth floor and made my way to her suite. “Tori?” I cal
Chapter SeventyRaphael’s POVCamilla was furious after, but Alexander managed to calm her down. She was a thin line away from causing me major bodily harm. I understood her. My personal life had interfered with hers, causing trouble for her.What I didn’t understand was why and how Emily did what she did. I was still trying to wrap my head around everything. How did she find out about Camilla and her life back here in California?We all made our way to the station to give our statements. We spent about an hour in the station. They also asked Rory some questions about the man who took her. She said he was kind to her and that he gave her ice cream and let her watch TV.By the end of the night, they had managed to track down the guy who took her and confirmed the relationship between him and Emily. She was the one who hired him to do the kidnapping.The guy immediately confessed to everything. It kind of made me wonder why a hardcore criminal would confess to his crimes that easily. He
Chapter Sixty-NineCamilla’s POV‘I didn’t want to hurt your little girl before, but now you made me mad.’ That was the next message I received from that same number.I showed the message to Rapheal who then sent it to the PI. We also called the police to let them know that the person texted again. So far, it seemed like they weren’t after ransom or anything. They just wanted to hurt me and my daughter.“We’re running out of time, Raphael.”“We’re not. Trust me, they’re not going to do anything to her. They know better.”The police now had a breakthrough. With the help of the PI, they had managed to track the phone number, but what was weird was that the location was New York. There’s no way they flew with Rory to New York. That was impossible.The NYPD got involved and took care of finding the person behind the number in New York.They still focused on finding her here.After a while, we got a call. They had an idea where she was. I picked up the keys and dashed out of the house wit
Chapter Sixty-EightRaphael's POVI rounded up my work and set to leave the office. The driver was already going to pick Jason up so I didn’t have to worry about that. Emily was having dinner with us tonight so I called her to let her know I was off work.I drove to the house and after I had freshened up, Emily had arrived. She offered to cook for the dinner so she arrived early.I let her do the cooking and went to the living room to watch TV.After a few minutes, I got a call from Camilla. It took me by suprise. We hadn’t really spoken all week. I was trying to give her the space that she deserved.“Where are you?” She asked.“What?” I was taken aback by the question.“Where did you go with my daughter?” She asked again.“What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Was she drunk or?“What do you mean by you don’t know what Im talking about? The school said you came to pick Rory up.” “What? I'm in New York.”“Are you being serious?”“Yes. What happened?” I was starting to get wor
Chapter Sixty-SevenCamilla’s POVThe past week was just a rush of things. We moved out of our old house into a much safer house. We also hired private security just in case. I was thinking of changing schools for Rory but I just decided to let her continue going there. It’d be hard for her to adapt to a new environment.I spent almost all my time at work. I put in all the hours I’d taken off before. I met with Alexander one time and vented to him. He was a good friend, he reassured me and gave me words of encouragement to keep going. It was finally Friday and I was happy to spend the weekend in bed. I dropped Rory off at school and then went to work. I went to my office and got started on work. During my lunch break, I got a call from Alexander. “Hey. How are you doing?”“I’m fine. How are you?”“Good, good. How’s the new place?”“It’s alright. It’s a lot different than our old house and Rory’s a bit scared to sleep in her new room but she’ll come around.”“I know she will. Any ne
Chapter Sixty-SixRaphael's POVI sat down on the couch in defeat. I’d mange’s to make Camilla angry at me again. Every time we wanted to talk, I somehow always said the wrong thing and pushed her further away from me.It wasn’t my intent to shame her for her decisions when she was younger or make her think Aurora was something to be hidden. I’d fucked up, once again.The chairman who had followed behind her returned to the living room.“She’s leaving, tonight. She’s packing already.”“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say all those things to her.”“But you did. You can’t seem to let go of the past, can’t you? You always bring that up in every conversation you guys have. She’s already apologized for that countless times. Why do you have to keep punishing her? She’s already going through enough.”“I know. I'm sorry but she took those years of my life. I can never get that back. You had a hand in that too.”“You know, you could have refused the marriage. But you didn’t, because of your father
Chapter Sixty-FiveCamilla’s POVI stormed out of the living room after I slapped Raphael. Normally I wouldn’t resort to violence but he riled me up so fast I didn’t know when I walked up to him and slapped him.How dare he? Shame me for being in love. And I thought we were already past that but if seemed we still had a lot to talk about.I went to my room and started packing up my things. I also went to Rory’s room to pack her bags. Whether he liked it or not, we were going to leave tonight.I didn’t know if I was angry with what he said because it was true or not. I wasn’t ashamed of my daughter, I could never be. I was only trying to protect her from the things I was exposed to. No child deserves to grow up under the limelight and scrutiny of the media. I was crying and I didn’t even know it. My eyes were clouded with tears and I could barely see. I sat down on the bed trying to calm myself down.I heard a knock on the door and I looked up to see a figure of my grandpa.“Are you o
Chapter Sixty-FourRaphael's POV“Did you see the news about Camilla?” Sam asked as I came out of the meeting room.“What news?”“They leaked her address, her job back in California, and her phone number. Everything about the life she’s been living these last few years is on the internet.”“What the hell? Did they say anything about Aurora?”“No. They didn’t. But I’m sure they know about her too. They’re just kind enough not to put that out.”“She must be devastated.”“I know right? Have you talked to her? When was she thinking about going back?”“I don’t know. She hasn’t said anything. I’ll call her right now.” I said.“Ok, bro. I’ll get back to work. See you later.” He said and left. I went back to my office and picked up my phone to call her. It seemed her phone was switched off. Of course it would, it would be blowing up by now with messages and calls from random people.I went online to check for the news Sam talked about. It was kind of nasty. The comments said mean things abou
Chapter Sixty-ThreeCamilla’s POVAfter spending the whole night trying to figure out what my next decision would be, I finally made uo my mind to go back to California. I wanted to spend the rest of the week here before returning though.I got up and got ready for the day. I went to check up on my grandpa and took him out for a walk around the compound.“I’ll be leaving next week.” I announced.“That’s good. You’ve spent a long time here anyway. It’s time to return to your normal life.”“But this was my life though. Here in New York.”“And it’s not anymore. You started a new one that you can’t leave behind.”We continued the walk in silence. After circling the compound, we returned to the house. Rory was already up by this time. My grandpa was to return to work in a few weeks after the doctor cleared him. For now, he was taking a break and letting Jeremy handle the company.We had breakfast and then my grandpa headed to his study. He was invested in reading nowadays. Rory kept beggin
Chapter Sixty-TwoRaphael's POVI worked from home today so I could spend a little bit of time with Aurora. Camilla still hadn’t made up her mind about when to leave for California. To be honest, it was making me kind of nervous that I didn’t know when my daughter would be leaving me.Aurora was in the middle of the room playing with her toys while I worked away on my computer. “Daddy, when will Jason be back?” She asked.“He won’t be back for long, honey. He’s at school, remember.”“Why didn't I go to school? I miss my friends.” She said.“You’ll be back to school in a bit. When you guys return home.”“Are you going to come with us?”“Uhm. I don’t know yet.”“Well, I do want you to come. And Jason too.”“We’ll think about it.”“Okay.” She said going back to her toys.After an hour or two, I went to make her something to eat.“Daddy, can we go to the park and then go get ice cream? I don’t want to stay inside all day.” She complained.“I’ll have to ask your mummy first. We can’t go o