Chapter 6

"The Sampsons… from Cardington?" Sabrina echoed. She thought she'd misheard Cameron.

Her hand that had still been teasing the puppy trembled lightly at once.

"They're my family on my mom's side," Cameron said, explaining gently. "Back then, Mom followed her mother, Abigail Miller, to join the Sampson family when she remarried. It was my grandpa, Philip Sampson, who raised Mom. They have a very close-knit relationship."

Sabrina suddenly looked at Cameron in disbelief. "What… did you just say?"

Years ago, when she married Cameron, they didn't throw a grand wedding ceremony because of Cameron's mobility issues.

They simply registered their marriage, got their license, and then shared a meal with the Sterlings.

Not a single Sampson turned up. They only sent someone to deliver the wedding gifts and best wishes.

If Mindy came from the Sampson household, then "that man" had to be Cameron's…

The nightmare from five years ago suddenly crashed into her mind like a tidal wave. Sabrina felt as though she had been completely plunged into ice water as the blood in her body began to freeze.

She was unbearably stiff all over.

Cameron finally realized that something was wrong with her. He asked her concernedly, subtly probing, "What's wrong, Rina?"

"N-Nothing…"

Sabrina then forced a smile on her face, too afraid to think any further.

Although she tried her best to keep her calm, she still couldn't stop trembling lightly, betraying her anxiety.

Seeing her reaction, Cameron assumed she felt that the Sampsons were too grand and prestigious, and that she was afraid that the Sterlings might embarrass her at dinner.

He leaned over and held her icy-cold hands in his palms.

Then he spoke, his voice warm and soothing like flowing water. "Don't worry. No matter what happens, I'll always be here to defend you."

The car stopped at the villa's entrance.

Katherine was there, looking like she'd been waiting forever. The car had barely even come to a complete stop when she approached the car a split second later.

"Cam! You're back."

Katherine helped Timothy escort Cameron into his wheelchair, as if afraid that Sabrina would fight her to do it instead.

"I heard that Sabrina got hurt today and was worried all day. What on earth happened?"

Sabrina could hear the hint of smugness in her voice. She paused halfway through closing the car door and asked, "How did you know that I got hurt?"

Her gaze pierced into Katherine, looking like she could see right through her.

Sabrina hadn't even told Cameron about getting attacked by the deranged woman this morning, let alone Katherine, whom she hadn't even met before now.

How could she have known? Unless…

Seeing that Katherine kept stammering and was unable to answer, Sabrina approached her with the cage in her arms, saying, "Tell me. How did you know I got hurt?"

"Cam…"

Katherine suddenly looked guilty and instinctively glanced at Cameron. However, she got even more hurt when she saw him looking at Sabrina with an anxious look on his face.

She clenched her fists and continued to stammer through her lie, all while Sabrina stared at her intently.

"I… I heard it from a friend who works at the hospital… He knows about my relationship with the Sterlings, so he naturally told me about it…"

"That's such a coincidence, then."

"Y-Yes… Yes, it is…"

Katherine couldn't keep up with the lie anymore and was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Sweat also beaded her forehead.

Just as she was thinking of a way to escape the situation, Dante ran out from the villa while eagerly calling Cameron "Daddy".

He was holding a soccer ball. However, when he saw Sabrina holding the cage, he threw the ball hard at it.

"Help me, Daddy! The evil witch brought another stupid dog to scare me again!"

Sabrina managed to dodge the ball, but the small puppy in the cage had a huge fright and wouldn't stop barking at Dante.

Cameron embraced Dante, who had flown into his arms, and comforted him gently, "No, she won't. I bought this puppy for her, and it's a very good dog. Just like you being a good boy, Danny.

"So, you don't have to be afraid of it, alright?"

Dante pouted. "Then… Daddy, you must join Mommy and me for dinner tonight at my favorite restaurant. That way, I won't be scared anymore…"

Cameron's frown softened as he nodded and said, "Alright. You can have anything you want."

His voice was so sweet and gentle that it nearly gave the others a toothache.

Just as he was about to order Timothy to prepare the car again, he suddenly recalled something. He raised his hand to stop Katherine from pushing his wheelchair forward and instinctively looked at Sabrina.

He had promised her that they would have dinner that night.

But Sabrina caught the apologetic look hidden in his eyes as he met her gaze. His meaning was obvious—he didn't want to let Dante down.

Sabrina suddenly felt as though she had already grown used to it.

She quickly realized that she never, ever had any expectations that Cameron would turn Dante down for her.

While Cameron was still feeling guilty toward her, Sabrina grabbed the opportunity and retrieved the drafted-up agreement from her bag.

"Cameron, you promised me that you would discuss the collaboration with our law firm tonight…"

He was just about to take it from her to have a closer look when Dante began yelling that he was starving.

Sabrina's hand that held the documents froze mid-air at that moment. She didn't hand it to him. Instead, she clutched it in her hand rather awkwardly, crumpling the paper.

She looked at him, clearly aggrieved.

Cameron felt sorry for her, and now, facing her like this, a hint of guilt tugged at him as well.

He was just about to take the documents from her and flip through them when he suddenly heard Katherine's sarcastic voice next to his ear.

"Cam? What kind of contract are you signing with Sabrina?"

Katherine prayed hard that it was a divorce agreement. Her dark side was beginning to show. She continued feigning composure, but she couldn't stop herself from being curious about it.

"It's nothing. It's just a trivial matter," Cameron said, flipping through the document.

Katherine hated seeing Cameron take Sabrina's matters seriously, so she gave Dante a subtle look.

Dante got the message at once and immediately hugged Cameron's arm, yelling aggrievedly that he was dying from starvation.

For some reason, although Cameron usually had an abundance of patience for kids, he actually felt annoyed this time.

He couldn't focus on a single line of the documents. After confirming the main files and the letter of authorization were included, he pulled a pen from his pocket and signed wherever required.

"Uriah can handle the follow-up for this matter. Just give the papers to him when you leave for work," he said.

Uriah Jackman was Cameron's assistant, and Sabrina knew him. She didn't say much and nodded as she took the signed documents back from Cameron.

By then, Timothy had already prepared the car, and Dante quickly hopped into it.

Meanwhile, Katherine—who had barely spoken a word the entire time—sashayed up to Sabrina, her eyes gleaming with subtle smugness.

She said, "Just text me if there's anything you want us to bring home for you as takeout, Sabrina."

Sabrina fiddled with the signed documents in her hand. She didn't feel displeased at all. Instead, she felt like laughing out loud.

"There's no need. Have fun."

To her, having someone there in body but not in heart was far more painful than distance itself.

Cameron could leave if he wanted to.

After all, there wasn't much time left anyway.