Chapter Thirty-ThreeCamilla’s POVI drove to the school and when we got there, I went in to get her while Raphael waited outside. When I got to her class, her teacher was having a conversation with two parents whom I recognized. They were the mothers of the girls who were talking about Rory.They all turned to look at me when I entered the class.“She’s here.” One of the women said when they saw me.“Ms. Brown. Good afternoon. Can you join us please?” The teacher said.I moved to where they were standing to join in on the conversation because it was obviously about my daughter and me.“I’ve talked to them about the incident that happened and they are refusing to apologize or make their kids apologize.” The teacher said again.“Listen young lady. My child is not wrong in this situation. It's not her fault you decided to whore around and not know the father of your child.” The other woman said.“Excuse me.” I was taken completely aback by what she said.“You heard me right. I have to
Chapter Thirty-FourRaphael’s POVCamilla dragged me out of the class and didn’t stop pulling me till we got to the car.I was tempted to say something but I could see that she was angry so I decided to let it slide. She took Rory from me and tucked her in her car seat.She was about to get in the driver's seat when I stopped her. “I’ll drive. Give me the keys.” I stretched my hand forward and she hesitated for a while before she handed them to me.She went and got in the passenger seat while I got in the driver's seat and started the car.We were driving quietly until Rory spoke up.“Mummy, are you angry?” She asked.“No baby. Why would I be?” Camilla responded calmly even though she was visibly angry.“I don’t know. You look angry.” She replied.“Your mummy’s just having a bad day.”“Don’t frown your face mummy. It doesn’t look good.” I almost laughed out loud.“Ok, baby.” She said with a smile on her face.The rest of the ride was quiet and we finally reached the house. We went ins
Chapter Thirty-FiveCamilla's POV“Aren’t you coming to eat?” O asked Raphael on my way to the dining room.“I am.” He said and stood up, following behind me.Skye served the food and we said grace and went on to eat.The table wasn’t this silent as either Rory or I had something to say. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t feel that comfortable talking with Raphael around. I didn’t know why Rory wasn’t saying anything.“Rory, how was school today?” Skye asked.“School was good. We learned a lot today and our teacher gave us more time for recess.” She said concentrating on her food.“That's great. Camilla, how was work?” She turned to me.“It was fine. Had a lot of work to do today. There are only a few people at the office right now and I’m in charge so it was a bit stressful.”“You’ve got this. It’s only for a few weeks too.” Skye said. “How was your day, Raphael?” I didn't expect her to ask him but it would have been weird if she asked everyone but him.“Uhm, my day was f
Chapter Thirty-SixRaphael’s POV“Mummy, look. Daddy got a necklace for me.” Aurora said as soon as Camilla came out of the kitchen.I scanned her face and from her expression, I could tell something was wrong.“Really? Let me see.” She said and took the necklace from her. She looked at it for a good minute.“It’s really pretty, mommy.” Aurora said.“Yes, it is baby.” She replied and handed it back to her. “Thank you.” She said to me.“It’s nothing. She’s my daughter after all.”“I want to put it on.” Aurora said.“Come here. Let me help you.” I said and she ran to me.“You guys are having fun without me.” The chairman said coming into the living room.“Pops. How are you?” Aurora said going to hug him. “You’ve been sleeping.”“I’m fine, Rory. I was tired. How are you? How was school?” “School was fine. Look at the necklace my daddy got me.” She said and showed him the pendant.“It’s really beautiful.” He said.“I know right.” She replied and ran off.“How are you doing?” The chairman
Chapter Thirty-Seven Camilla's POV After Raphael left, I wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody so I went and locked myself up in my room. Skye got Rory ready for bed and they all stayed up watching TV till 8:30 and went to bed. After they went to bed I came out for a glass of water. I spent a little time in the kitchen and when I was about to leave, I saw Skye coming out of the room. “I thought you were already asleep?” I asked. “I came for a glass of water. But I'm glad I ran into you.” “Why?” “I wanted to talk to you about Raphael.” She said and sat on a chair. “What about him?” “Look at the way you treat him, Camilla. You act like he's going to take Rory and sell her off. Give him some grace. I know you're hurt but for Rory’s sake please.” “But.” She interrupted me. “I know he hurt you. He's trying to make amends. If you would just let him.” “I’m trying to forgive him but I just can’t. Every time I think to be nice I just remember that morning he came hom
Chapter Thirty-EightRaphael’s POVIt was the day of the dance and Aurora and I had spent all of last night practicing our dance moves. The dance started at 2:00 pm and it was currently 11:02 am. I was on my way to their house.When I arrived, Camilla was doing Rory’s hair while Skye was steaming her dress. The chairman wasn’t at home.“Hey daddy.” Aurora said.“Hi, baby. Your hair is looking beautiful.”“Thank you.” She laughed. “I’m going to be the prettiest girl at the dance.”“You sure are.”“Hey.” Camilla said.“How are you?” I asked.“I’m good.” She replied. I went to drop my suit in the living room and came back to the dining.I sat on one of the chairs and after a few minutes, Skye was done with the dress and Camilla was done with Aurora's hair. “It looks really pretty.” I said.“Thank you, daddy.”We still had about two hours before the dance started. “What are we going to do for the next couple of hours before the dance starts?” I asked.“I guess we could watch a movie or
Chapter Thirty-NineCamilla's POVAfter Raphael and Rory left, I and Skye went to do some shopping. She and my Grandpa will be going back to New York tomorrow.We first went to the mall to get some clothes and random things that Skye wanted to take back to New York. We also got some things for my Grandpa and Rory. I knew Raphael was going to leave today. I was thinking of getting him something but I didn’t want to do too much.After we were done shopping, we went to get food. We just ordered regular burgers and went to find a place to sit.We were on our phones while waiting for our order to arrive me Skye let out a gasp.“What is it?” I asked. She didn’t reply to me immediately but kept scrolling on her phone and her mouth opened in shock. “Skye, what is it?”“It’s about Tori.”“What about her?”“You won’t believe this. She was caught stealing.”“Stealing? That’s a lie. From where?”“From a mall. She got caught with a dress in her bag.”“Oh my God. That’s awful.” I said and Skye gav
Chapter FortyRaphael's POVAfter six hours, we finally landed in New York and I went to pick up my luggage and waited for the driver to arrive.After a few minutes, he arrived and I got in the car. My assistant was there too.“How are you doing?” I asked.“I'm good, sir.” He replied. “There's a problem.”“What is it?”“Tori is in police custody.”“What? Why?”“She was caught stealing from a mall. She called me and asked me to relay the message to you.”I sighed. “Take me to where she is.”He instructed the driver to take us to the station. I couldn't believe that she was arrested. What a disappointment. I turned on my phone and of course, it was all over the news.Everybody was making mention of Jason, our son, and how they felt sorry for him. After I left her, she became more of a mess than she already was. She started using and got addicted. I've tried to get her help but she doesn't want it.We reached the station and we were led inside. We talked to the policemen and then bailed
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
Chapter Sixty-OmeCamilla’s POV“I really don’t need the wheelchair. I can walk fine on my own.”“Not according to the doctor. You don’t need to strain yourself.”“I’ll use the cane. I don't want them to see me as weak, going in there with a wheelchair.” He protested.“Fine.” I gave up. “You can use the cane, only for this meeting.”“Thank you.” They put the wheelchair back in the car and handed the cane to him to support himself while he walked. He has been out of the hospital for two days and today he had a meeting with the board of directors.I insisted on accompanying him even though he didn’t want me to. We finally agreed on me escorting him to the office and going back to the house.“Bye.” I said waving at him.“Goodbye. See you later.” He said.I got back in the car and was on my way back to the house.When I got home, I went to lie down for a bit. It was only me in the house apart from the staff. Rory was at Rapheal’s house. She has been spending a lot of time there as we did
Chapter SixtyRaphael’s POVAfter my call with Camilla, I began to think hard and long. I didn't want them to leave. Not just yet. They had only been around for a few days but I liked the fact that they were close to me.I sent a text to Emily instead of calling her and went to get ready for work. It was going to be a long day. I said bye to Jason and left the house. The driver was going to take him to school today.I went to the project site we were working on instead of the office. They were already working by the time I got there so I joined them. I didn’t usually go to sites unless it was an important client, which this was. After an hour or two, Mr Edison arrived.“Hey.” He said.“Hey.”“How’s it going?”“Fine.” I responded. That day he came by the house, he asked me so many questions but I didnr give him a reply. I told him the person he had to speak to was Camilla.“So I talked to Camilla.”“You did? She answer all your questions?”“Yeah. So you’re Rory’s father, huh? And Cami
Chapter Fifty-NineCamilla’s POV“Why didn’t you want them to tell me?” I asked my grandpa.“Because I knew I’d be fine. See, I'm still alive.”“Stop with the jokes, Grandpa. I would never have forgiven you or myself if things had gone wrong.”“I just didn’t want you to worry.”“You need to think about yourself first.”“Enough with all this talk. Fill me in. What’s going on?”“So the board made a vote today. Jeremy Steel is acting CEO.”“That little fucker.”“Pops. Watch your language. Who is he anyway? Why’d you curse at him?”“Oh, nothing. His father is Carson Steel. You remember him.”“Oh. I do. He’s the boy you tried to set me up with before.”“Yes, he is.”“Oh, wow. Maybe I have taken that offer then.”“Then, you wouldn’t have Rory.”“That’s true. Glad I passed on that.”“Where is Rory anyways?”“She’s at home. With Skye. I call her to bring her over even though I told her you were on a trip.” I said and he laughed.I stepped outside and called Skye. She was happy to hear the new