LOGIN~ Camelia POV ~One year later.I stood near the tall window of the dressing room, adjusting the soft lace around my wrists. Outside in the garden, white chairs lined the grass, filled with guests chatting under the bright afternoon sun. Soft music floated up through the open glass, making my heart flutter with pure excitement.The door opened behind me, and Nora stepped into the room holding a small bunch of white flowers. When she saw me in my wedding dress, her eyes went wide, and she put her hand over her mouth."Oh, Camelia," Nora whispered, walking over to stand beside me. "You look so beautiful."I turned around, letting out a breath as a smile spread across my face. "Thank you, Nora. For everything.""Are you nervous?" she asked, fixing one of the loose curls near my shoulder."A little," I admitted, looking down at my reflection in the mirror. "But it's a good kind of nervous. I just want to walk down that aisle and marry Joe."Nora smiled warmly, resting her hands on my arms
~ Camelia POV ~I sliced through the meat on the cutting board, keeping my eyes fixed on my hands. I spent the whole morning trying not to think about the terrible mess at the wedding, but my mind kept drifting back to Luke's family and how they must be handling everything.I wondered how Luke was feeling right now. Joe and I had not spoken since the incident because his phone line would not go through. If I could just talk to him, I might finally know what was happening behind closed doors.I brushed a layer of fresh sauce over the beef, stacking it neatly alongside the rest. I pulled another piece of meat onto the board and raised my knife, but the kitchen door swung open and Andrew walked over to the counter."Chef, there is a man out in the dining room demanding to see you," Andrew said, putting on a pair of rubber gloves."A man?" I mumbled, turning my head toward him. "Did he give a name?""No," Andrew replied, picking up a chef knife to take over the board. "He didn't say who h
~ Camelia POV ~I swallowed hard, forcing down the lump in my throat as I stared back at Luke. He still had that same soft look in his eyes that I remembered from years ago, but beneath it, I could see so much pain. Looking at him, I knew he had never really gotten over what I did to him."Enjoy your meal, everyone," I said, forcing a quiet laugh as I looked away from him. "Thank you."I turned around to step down from the small stage, but Luke moved quickly, cutting off my path."You're a chef?" he asked, his voice low as if he could not believe what he was seeing. "So you have been living in Paris this whole time?" His eyes dropped down to my stomach for a fast second before he looked back up at my face.I lowered my eyes, then forced a polite smile so the surrounding guests would not notice anything wrong. "Yes, Mr. Stone. I am a chef," I said, keeping my tone as neutral as possible.He took another step closer to me, making my whole body go tense. But before he could say another w
~ Camelia POV ~The rest of the week went by with me being busy getting everything ready for Mr. Donna's wedding and trying not to think about Luke or Asher. I kept pushing down the fear that I might run into them at the party, using work to keep my mind off everything else.Standing before the full-length mirror, I brushed my hand against the red dinner dress I had on. My hair was styled into neat curls that fell to my shoulders in soft, bouncy waves.I stared at my reflection for a long moment, telling myself that I would not let anything ruin this day. But the more I tried to reassure myself, the more that tight, sinking feeling in my chest kept growing."Camelia, are you ready for the party?" Nora called out, her voice muffled through before she pushed open the door to my room and walked in. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening as she took me in. "Oh my God, you look like an angel!""Thank you, Nora," I said with a small smile, walking over to grab my clutch from the vanit
~ Camelia POV ~"Hm, this is good, Lina," I mumbled as I took another sip of the soup Lina had made. The creamy texture slid down my throat with a flavor that was much better than I had expected from her. "Good job.""Thank you, Chef," she said with a bright smile.I moved down the line to taste the dishes prepared by the rest of the kitchen team. Even as I focused on the food, I could not push what Mr. Donna had said out of my mind. It sat in my chest like a heavy weight, bringing up a wave of worry I could not shake off. It felt like the universe was pushing me toward a truth I had been trying to ignore for years. Whether I liked it or not, I was going to see Luke or Asher again sooner or later.I pulled off my disposable gloves and tossed them into the trash bin. "You all did a great job today. I really appreciate your hard work. Andrew should have already passed along the menu list for Mr. Donna's event, so let's keep this same energy going."They all smiled and nodded. I gave the
~ Asher POV ~I leaned against my car as I pulled out a cigarette and lit it, bringing it to my lips to take a long drag. The cool late afternoon air blew against my face, blowing the grey smoke right back at me.My eyes drifted to the doors of the school, expecting to see Gwen coming out with Cami. But it had been almost an hour since she went inside. I hated waiting like this. She should have just taken Cami home and come over to my apartment like she usually did.I puffed another trail of smoke into the air and looked away from the school gate. Pushing myself off the side of the car, I reached for the door handle to head inside.Just then, I felt a small tug at the bottom of my pants. I let out a light laugh, thinking it was Cami. She did this all the time, and the way she looked at me, especially when Luke was around, always gave me the feeling that she liked me more than him.I couldn't blame her. Luke was useless for years before Cami was born, crying over Camelia like she was d
~Camelia POV~The rest of the drive to Becca’s house was in silence. I rested my head against the window, trying not to think about everything.But I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Every second felt like I was caught in a bad nightmare as my mind replayed all the moments. The fact Peter had stood
~Camelia POV~I didn't know how long I had spent crying and hating myself for not seeing my sister's true color until today.My body felt so weak that I could barely hold myself up from the floor, and the sting in my eyes clearly told me that I had cried out all the tears left in me. But I couldn't
~Camelia POV~“Enough with the pretense,” Peter said, his eyes filled with so much hate toward me that I never thought he was capable of it. “What do you think? That I’m a fool you can lie to and I’ll just believe you and act like nothing happened?”“No, please, Peter, that’s not what this is about
~Camelia POV~A sharp pain ran through my head as I groaned softly, shoving my hand through my hair as if to will away the ache.The scent of lavender mixed with a manly cologne coming from the room made it even worse, especially with my sensitive sense of smell, which had turned out not to be my f







