Camille Parker had once been Hailey van Gowen.
It had been a tough fourteen years. Back then, she had lived well, with wealthy parents, supportive brothers, and convenient resources available all around her. She studied hard and had goals of her own.
But all of that changed when she found out. The discovery that changed her life from then on.
She had already thrown away the name ‘Hailey’ years ago and made peace with her new identity. She was older now, no longer the teenager from back then.
A woman in her early thirties who had a career of her own, but was alone with no family. She had never really planned on dating or getting married, and she had no real goal of her own, either.
Because she felt trapped.
All because of one stupid favor.
After leaving the van Gowen family behind, she settled down in a faraway country with the help of her savings, in a small, peaceful city called Vesdale. It hadn’t been easy, but she had the help of a kind nurse who took her in afterwards, so she at least had a place there where she could call home.
She had been 21 years old when she first met Christian Callahan there.
Her first impression of Christian hadn’t been all that great. Even during that time, Christian was notorious for many things. He was a known playboy and a spoiled brat, and he was also being currently trained by his father to take over the company soon. He was the typical arrogant bastard that she never liked.
His father, Greg Callahan, was a business tycoon who ruled over his company with an iron fist. Greg was known for his ruthless nature, but he was almost always successful with his business ventures and investments. Due to his merciless way of dealing with things, he naturally had many enemies.
And naturally, his children also became a target for blackmail or threats as well as revenge.
Everything happened by pure coincidence. At that time, her name had still been Hailey van Gowen, but she was having a hard time keeping herself lowkey, so she did her best to live her life as inconspicuously as possible.
Greg Callahan was a single father of two children. His wife passed away a few years ago, so he was the only one taking care of them both. Christian Callahan was the eldest, and the other one was Patricia Callahan, a lovely young girl with soft blond hair and innocent blue eyes.
Patricia had been in middle school at that time. When she was exiting the gates in the middle of class, she was suddenly grabbed by a couple of big, burly, strange men.
The security guards nearby were knocked unconscious, so they couldn’t help her. There were also barely any people around since the school was located in a forest just near a small neighborhood.
Hailey, on the other hand, had been passing by at that time. She was right there when they were pushing poor, crying Patricia towards the direction of their van. One of the men aimed a gun at Hailey and told her to buzz off if she knew what was good for her.
Hailey did not even hesitate.
When she was a child, her parents had her go through self-defense lessons, only for the purpose of protecting herself and nothing more. She was taught not to harm anybody for pleasure or gratification, and she was not to use her fists just to start stirring conflict.
However, this wasn’t just any conflict right now. She might not be involved in it, but she would be damned if she didn’t try to help out an innocent, helpless little girl.
So she fought back.
“Agh!” the man holding the gun cried out as Hailey ducked and executed a roundhouse kick to his legs, causing him to fall to the ground and let go of his pistol. Hailey kicked the gun towards the road and then rushed towards the other three men.
The men were startled at her display of defense and started to run towards her with their raised weapons. Two of them were holding a bat while one was holding a knife. Apparently, they never expected that somebody would go against them.
One of the men swung the bat at her, but she dodged it swiftly and landed an uppercut to the man’s chin, causing him to stagger backwards and fall to the ground. The other man with the bat rushed at her, roaring as he aimed at her head. She sidestepped his attack and punched him hard on the nose, knocking him unconscious.
The last man who was holding Patricia was brandishing a knife. “Don’t you come any closer!”
Patricia was crying. The man immediately covered her mouth while still wielding the knife in his other hand. “Shut up!” he roared.
Suddenly, as if desperate, Patricia bit down on the man’s hand as hard as she could. The man groaned in pain, and Hailey took that as an opportunity to rush in.
She kicked the knife out of his hand, pulled Patricia behind her protectively, and stepped back into a defensive position. From the corner of her eye, she saw that the other two men, excluding the one that she had knocked unconscious earlier, were starting to get up from the ground, so she had to think fast.
“Sweetie, would you mind taking my phone out of my pocket?” she told the little girl in a gentle tone of voice. “Once you get it, call the police immediately, okay?”
Patricia, still sobbing, nodded obediently and started to slip her hand inside Hailey’s pocket for the phone. She took it and started dialing in no time.
While Patricia was struggling, Hailey kept her close while battling off the three men who were coming right at her. One of them rushed towards her quickly, so she kicked him on the leg until he collapsed to the ground on one knee. With that, she kneed him on the face right at the nose, knocking him out immediately.
The other two growled as they ran towards her, one with his fists and the other with his bat. When the man swung, Hailey ducked and aimed a punch right at the solar plexus. The man stopped in his tracks and doubled over from the pain. Hailey grabbed that opportunity to punch him on the side of his head, rendering him immobile.
The other man pounced at her, intent on catching her off-guard. Hailey didn’t even turn around and simply elbowed him right on the chest, causing him to stagger backwards. While he was currently vulnerable, she jabbed him in the middle of his throat, causing his windpipe to close for a few seconds.
While the man gasped for air, she side-kicked him until he fell to the ground.
Hailey panted as her eyes darted around the surroundings, wary if there were any more opponents. Thankfully, there seemed to be none.
She turned towards Patricia, who had apparently escaped from the fight and was now huddled against the corner of the fence, crying. Hailey quickly approached her.
“Little girl, are you all right?” she asked gently.
Patricia nodded, sniffing.
“Don’t worry. The bad guys are gone now. They won’t hurt you anymore,” Hailey assured her, reaching out to caress the girl’s hair comfortingly. “Did you call the police like I asked you to?”
The girl shook her head.
Hailey blinked. “You didn’t call them?”
“I called my dad,” the girl replied.
“Your dad?”
“Yes.” The girl looked up at Hailey with her round, innocent eyes. “My dad is Gregory Callahan of the Callahan Group.”
Hailey had definitely heard of the name Gregory Callahan.Who wouldn’t?Gregory Callahan, or better known as Greg and Mr. Callahan by his friends and the public respectively, was one of the most hardened CEOs in the country. He built his own empire from scratch and worked hard ever since he was young, so he was mostly known for his hard work and intelligence.He was also ruthless whenever it came to decision-making and negotiations. He would not back down from anything and jumped at every opportunity that was meant for the benefit of his company.He was cold and merciless to anyone who dared go against him. Also, he was quite meticulous with every process and detail, which included his staff. If anybody was even the slightest bit incompetent or had a weakness or even messed up just one time, he would fire them immediately and search for someone who was much more efficient.Which wasn’t exactly difficult since everybody — rather, the professionals and the confident ones — wanted a job
“On contract only, of course,” Christian assured in a smooth tone of voice, sounding as though he were simply negotiating with a client. “You can stop working here in the company and come live with me in my mansion. I will make sure that you are well-treated and given everything that you desire.”Camille’s head was spinning. This was all going too fast for her liking. “Wait a second,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “I’m not going to be your wife, Mr. Callahan.”“Of course you are,” Christian said with an arch of his eyebrow. “Do I not have all of the qualities of a fine husband? Besides, you should be grateful. I will give you all that you need. My only condition is for you to not meddle in my business and behave like a good little wife.”“Mr. Callahan,” Camille said stonily. “I am not going to marry you.”She then turned around and attempted to leave the room.“Stop right there, Miss van Gowen.”Camille instantly froze in place.Christian watched her stiff shoulders from behind, smirk
“Leave him out of this,” Camille managed to say.However, she forgot to even out her tone, so the anger in her voice was quite clear.“Oh? Quite sensitive now, are we?” Christian said, having picked up on the change of note.“…”“Is he going to be a nuisance to our cooperation?” he asked.“We have no such cooperation between us, Mr. Callahan,” Camille growled. “And I would appreciate it if you cease meddling in my life and attempting to control it the way you want.”“I have many ways to threaten you, Miss van Gowen. I’m sure you know that quite well.” Christian’s smile widened. “Your mother, your father, your brothers… even Michael McGregor’s notoriety in the past, seeing how much you seem to care about him.”“You—”“But as much as it’s entertaining to keep teasing you, I’m afraid you have no other choice.” He shrugged casually. “I’ve already told my father about how madly in love I am with you.”“What?” Camille was dumbfounded.“I’m quite a good actor, you know. I managed to convince
That was how it all started. Christian Callahan had a trump card up his sleeve, and she had no choice but to go along with his whims. She hated it, but at least she knew that he wasn’t interested in her. She wasn’t his type at all, and she preferred to keep it that way.He was only using her for his own gain.Camille sighed as she went back to her desk, her mind muddled with all sorts of thoughts. She turned on the screen of her phone and scrolled down her contacts list, her gaze resting on the name ‘Noah’.To think that he gave her his private number so freely.They had arranged to meet up on Monday since she wasn’t free during the weekends. During the weekends, she needed to take the role of a good wife at home despite not even being married to Christian yet. He insisted on living together so that it wouldn’t be hard to keep up appearances later on.He even decided that the date of their wedding would take place in October, which was about seven months away. He had it all planned wh
Michael was uncharacteristically while he nervously waited for Monday to come.He was a seasoned businessman who was trained to handle any kind of situation or crisis that might arise, especially during critical moments. So, he learned to put aside his emotions and focus on the current situation while thinking of a proper strategy.His father had taught him back then that he needed to be at least two steps ahead of his opponents. That way, he would be able to achieve his goals with much more certainty.With that, he also learned to keep calm even during tough times and not succumb to pressure. It took him a while to get used to it, but in the end, he succeeded. It was all so he could achieve this one goal.His goal of reaching the top, just so he could find Hailey again.A year later after Hailey graduated high school, Michael attended his own graduation. It had been bittersweet, especially after knowing that he could never see her again.A year ago, his parents asked him if he prefer
Time flew by, and before Michael knew it, Monday finally came.It had been a while since he last paid serious attention to his appearance. Of course, being the head of the company, he was expected to dress appropriately and carry himself with a dignified aura. He needed to be consistent and professional at all times, something that he learned through years of training and experience.However, this was the first time that he really looked at himself in the mirror, wondering if he looked good enough to impress. He had light-brown hair with a few strands that fell across his eyes, and his skin seemed smoother than average. The lighting in the room cast shadows on his features and highlighted the contours of his face, making him think for a moment that he was staring at a stranger in the mirror.How curious. So this was what he looked like up close…‘It’s not like I look at my face in the mirror each day,’ he surmised. ‘Usually, I would only pay attention to my outfit and then go about my
The sound of her voice calling out his name, his old nickname that she often called out of affection, made Michael’s heart skip a beat.A long time, indeed. He had waited for this moment for so, so long.Fourteen years of waiting to meet her again.She could never imagine how much he had missed her.“Lange nicht mehr gesehen,” Michael said with a smile, skillfully concealing his true emotions from his expression. “Long time no see, Hailey.”Camille’s mouth opened in surprise. “You… You know German?” she said, clearly caught off-guard.“Yeah. I studied in Germany for a while,” Michael said. “Do I sound awkward?”Since Hailey’s father was of German descent, she mentioned that he would talk to her in German sometimes at home, that he had been doing it occasionally ever since she was a child. She picked up on the language soon after, and she sometimes used it to speak to Michael jokingly, knowing that he had no clue about what she was saying.At times, she would even scold him in German,
‘This isn’t good for my heart. Imagine a handsome and successful man saying that…’ Camille swallowed. ‘Even though I know he’s just being polite… Because look at me, I don’t even look that great.’“…Who are you and what have you done with Michael Noah McGregor?” Camille finally said, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. “Have the aliens finally abducted you? Is the man sitting before me right now an impostor?”Michael looked amused, as though he had already expected this. “I am simply telling the truth,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I wasn’t obligated to do so. I just said it from the heart.”‘That’s… surprisingly sweet,’ Camille thought.“I remember I had to force you to give me a compliment back at our high school prom,” she couldn’t help but tease. “You looked like you hated to say it, but in the end, you admitted that I looked nice.”The corners of Michael’s lips curved upwards. “Hmm. That I did. Your face was better looking. But that dress you wore was indeed atrocious,” he