Chapter 004: Incompatible

“That must be an expensive joke.” Camille said, chuckling nervously. “Why is your ex wife’s daughter living with you? You are not by any chance related by blood, so why do you still have her over?” 

Vincent’s expression moved from one of discomfort to a stern look. “Sarah is my business, let me worry about her. You are my wife-to-be, if anything, you should be trying to make her warm up to you. Don’t even try to start…” Vincent stopped, not wanting to get his emotions riled up or intimidate her with his tone.

Camille could already depict that Sarah meant a lot to Vincent, maybe because he loved her mother while she was alive. Her thinking took a new turn.

“I’m sorry I…I got jealous of Sarah, your daughter. I know you’ve already taken her as your daughter and it’s so insensitive of me to try to taint a relationship I wasn’t here when you built. I’m sorry.” Vincent looked pleased at her resolution.

“I’m more sorry I almost lashed out at you. Come here.” Camille let him hold her, closing her eyes to savor the moment when he kissed her.

Meanwhile, Sarah, who was lurking around the stairs, eavesdropping on them couldn’t feel any better. Something about Camille didn’t feel right to her. During times when she used to travel, she had followed her friend to her aunt’s wedding which was more than a year ago. The aunt and Camille shared striking similar faces, only that her name was Theresa and she lived in Seattle. 

On getting inside her room, It crossed her mind to call her friend and ask about Theresa, but wouldn’t that mean she was crossing the line? She desisted from the thought and drifted off to sleep. But not without the escapade with Rafael lingering in her mind.

Days passed but Sarah didn’t spend them at home. During the past five days since Camille had moved in, she had been staying in her friend’s house. She had also been rejecting Rafael’s numerous calls. She had no intention of getting caught with him when it was Vincent she really wanted. That would spoil her chance of ever getting in bed with him.

“Rafael is younger and definitely capable of giving you thrills than the Infamous Stepdaddy. Why not just ride with Rafael?” Keisha, her friend that she had been staying with suggested with a shrug but Sarah wasn’t about to start discussing her reason for obsessing over Vincent in detail. 

She left the couch where she was lying and started strolling down the room. “I think I’ve overstayed my welcome here. I need to leave before you snuff the air out of me with your questions.” 

*

While driving, Sarah picked Rafael’s call. It didn’t look like he would stop calling. “Took you forever to pick my call. Didn’t like my d*ck size?” Sarah rolled her eyes at Rafael’s choice of words. Rafael was simply Rafael, but the things that came out of his mouth amazed her at times.

“You are surely bigger down there than I thought, so no, this isn’t about your d*ck. What do you want?” She could sense his naughty smirk from the other end of the phone.

“Got this race match I have today, wanna come watch?” 

Sarah hesitated with her response. She was aware of Rafael’s reckless and wild way of life but not that he was involved in illegal race matches. She should reduce the chances of being seen with him, but something tugged at her thoughts to agree. 

“You there?” 

“Where is the location at?” Sarah asked after him, keeping her tone quite nonchalant. “The old docks. This evening. VIP seats just for you, babe.”  

Sarah scoffed. “I’m not your babe.”  

“We’ll see.” His voice dripped with amusement before the line cut.  

She tossed her phone onto the passenger seat, her eyes looking outside through her glass mirror at the vast ten stories building that had “The Real Growth Centre” etched vividly to the top front.  She was about entering before Rafael’s call. This was the company where Camille, her stepfather’s new wife, worked. She wanted to surprise her with a visit, and apologise for being bitchy towards her when they were introduced.

She had realized she had no chance with Vincent, and it was better to accept his new family than to waste her time fighting it. “Let’s do this” She muttered to herself, readying to go in. But just before she could step out of her car, she spotted Camille heading out of the building, her eyes covered with sunglasses.

Camille looked around hideously as if she was trying to make sure no one was watching, then approached a black tinted SUV car that was waiting and entered into it. What caught Sarah’s attention was the fact that the car had no plate number. Her thoughts flared. She wished she could see who was in the car with no plate number that Camille had just entered into. She waited, and it felt like an hour before Camille stepped out of the car. She had thought the car would move so she could follow them secretly, but it didn’t. It seemed like the person had only come for a conversation.

Sarah’s eyes narrowed to the spot Camille was as she looked around again as if not wanting to get caught. What was Camille about, and what was she hiding? Sarah thought to herself. Sarah’s eyes almost popped when a realization suddenly hit her.

Camille had her lips painted before entering the car. Now that she had stepped out, the lipstick was barely there. Was Camille cheating on Vincent? She watched as the Car without plate number zoomed off and Camille returned to the company’s building while adjusting her dress subtly.

What she had just witnessed only confirmed a suspicion, Camille had either just made out in that car or had s*x, and it wasn’t with Vincent Laurent. She picked up her phone and dialed a number. “Hello, Sheila, I would love to confirm something. Your aunt’s wedding which we attended over a year ago in June, what is her name again? I thought I saw someone who looked like her in Mexico here.”

After Sarah got the very information she needed, her plan to settle things with Camille changed, she kick-started her car engine on and drove off to the Laurent’s mansion with a mission in mind.

Immediately she arrived at the building of the mansion she had come to accept as her home for over a year now, she rushed in, barely acknowledging the security’s greeting. As soon as she got in, she made her way up the stairs to Vincent’s room. She was aware that he wasn’t around and she had a spare key to his room. 

The conversation she had with her friend couldn’t leave her mind. “Yes, her name is Theresa. Her husband died a couple of months after their wedding due to a mysterious illness, and since then, she has traveled.” Her friend, Sheila had said via the phone call. It only confirmed one thing for Sarah, Camille could be Theresa, and she needed to tell Vincent all she knew.

But she needed solid evidence to do that.

Sarah quietly made her way inside his room to avoid alerting the cook or the security that were nearby. She had no idea about what she came to look for here but she was bent on finding some information about Camille’s identity or whatsoever. She still needed to be sure before she went ahead and cast her.

She ransacked Vincent’s wardrobe, scanning through documents that didn’t matter. It had almost been an hour and she hadn’t gotten her hand on something tangible. Just when she was about to give up, she grabbed a document. A document she didn’t know would shatter every hope she had, and make her life crumble before her.