After everything that had happened, Bradford called Frederick into the office."Frederick, the way you handled the company along with grandfather, I am very impressed. You took this on as a way of showing us that you are ready for the next stage." Happy that he had been able to assist, he responded, "I am glad you have approved."Bradford gave it some thought, "next time I go on business to Tenerife, I want you and Tamara to accommodate us. You will only need to stay for two or three days, meet with the investors, show us what you have, and then we will get things moving." Encouraged by this turn of events, Frederick shook Bradford's hand and said, "it's now time for me to get back. We have exams soon, and I need to submit assignments." Understanding this, Bradford said, "If you need any assistance with anything, just call."After Frederick left, Bradford called Denzil, "Bring the car around, I want to go buy a gift for my wife." Within a few minutes, Denzil was out front waiting
A year had passed since the car accident had occurred. Everyone was picking up their lives and moving forward. Tamara and Frederick had just finished their studies, and Marshall was fully recovered from the accident. Nancy and Denzil were planning their wedding. Camilla was hesitant about getting someone to take Nancy's place, so they arranged for her to become the home secretary and train someone to assist with house management. "Nancy, when is your date for your wedding set for?" Camilla asked. "The end of October," she replied. "That's perfect." Back in Bolton, Tamara and Frederick were finished with their studies. They had been seeing a lot of each other, but due to hectic schedules, they couldn't get too serious."Tamara, I think we should go to your parents for the weekend," he suggested. I also need to speak to Bradford and your cousin about the business," he said. "I agree. I'll phone mom and let her know we are coming.'Whilst Tamara was on the phone with her parents, Br
As a young adult in her early twenties, Camilla led a quiet life. Growing up in Cheshire was something she loved. On the street where she lived, they all knew each other. Camilla fell in love with a man who was twenty-three, but after two years, they parted ways. At the age of twenty-five, she met her, to be, husband Steven Middleton. They started courting and what a whirlwind of a courtship it was. Six months after dating, Steven asked her, "Camilla?" "Hmmm," she replied while sitting in the living room by the fireplace, gazing at how the fire was blazing in front of her. It was so mesmerizing. "Camilla, will you marry me?" he asked. Camilla was elated and immediately jumped up and said, "Yes, yes, I will marry you." Camilla threw her arms around his lean, masculine, well-trained torso. He drew her in for a slow, long, lingering kiss. Camilla wasn't a very attractive young lady, but her qualities were something to behold. She was an ordinary country girl with a slightly bigger
Several months had passed, and things hadn't gotten easier for Camilla. Steven drank every day. He had even gone to work drunk and received various warnings for being drunk on duty. By now, Camilla was in the last month of her pregnancy. Money struggles were real for the couple due to Steven's drinking. Camilla hoped that once the baby came, he would stop drinking and step up to being a dad. At 4 one morning, Camilla awoke to the feeling of wanting to use the bathroom, but as she arose, everything on the bed was soaked through. She went to the bathroom, but she still couldn't stop. Eventually, she called for her husband, who was still hung over from the night before. "Steven, please get the car!" She yelled, knowing it was going to be difficult for him to wake up. "Steven, can you get up, I need to get to the hospital now!" she yelled again. In a groggy state, he said to her, "Just get some more sleep. It's okay, you'll be fine." Steven hadn't realized his wife's water had broken
It was 3:30 in the morning when Camilla received a phone call. "Morning, mam, sorry to wake you up, we just want to find out something!" The male voice said.Just then, Camilla's heart stopped, "What is it?" she asked through her tears. "Mam, do you have a Toyota Camry?" he asked. "Yes!" she nervously replied. Camilla's stomach was in knots. She didn't know what next to expect. "Mam, can you describe the driver of your car?" Camilla described her car, registration number, and the driver of her car, explaining that he was her husband and that she'd been waiting all night for him to come home. "Is he ok?" Camilla asked. "Yes, mam, we pulled him over for not having his lights on while driving and a broken taillight. He's on his way home now," the officer informed her. "Thank you, officer." she responded and hung up the phone. Looking at the time, she sighed. "What's the use of going to sleep now?" she thought to herself. Camilla went to take a shower, prepared her clothes for w
After Camilla had taken a stand and gone out with her friend, Steven had had a rude awakening and realized his wife wasn't someone to play with.Things seemed to settle down and get back on track. Just when Camilla started to feel more relaxed again in her marriage, she was again disappointed by her husband.One afternoon, Steven came home from work in a very bad mood. "Steven, what's wrong?" Camilla asked.Angrily, he shouted at her, "Shut up, just shut up." He walked to the bathroom, changed his clothes, picked up the keys to the car, and drove off."What is going on?" Camilla asked herself, bewildered at his sudden relapse in actions.Uneasy about the whole ordeal, Camilla called her friend, who worked with Steven. "Michelle, what happened today? Steven came home in such a bad mood."Michelle sighed. She had reservations about telling her friend what happened between her boss, Steven, and the "client." So she just settled for the last part, not wanting to hurt her friend, "Camilla
It was coming into summer, the weather was becoming a little warmer, and flowers were blooming. Camilla loved roses and carnations, and in her garden, she had a beautiful array of both. Things between her and Steven had seemingly gotten a lot better. Steven had gone back to working for the accounting firm, but he was on very thin ice. He couldn't afford to falter not one time. One afternoon in March, Camilla was buying a few groceries as she always did, and walking past the fisheries, she suddenly felt ill from the smell of the oil. As she finished getting the groceries and walking back to the bus stop, she felt dizzy. She regained her composure and decided to go and buy a pregnancy test. On arriving at home, Camilla decided to do the test. She wasn't sure if she wanted another child or not as things had been rocky between her and Steven and had only just now, seemingly, started to settle down. As she waited for the result to appear, Steven walked into the house. "Camilla, I'm ho
Early the next morning, Camilla sat up in bed reading through her social media posts when a call came through on Steven's phone. Looking at the number, Camilla didn't say anything at all to Steven. She woke him up and handed him the phone. "It's the same people that have been calling all night," she informed him icily."Huh!" he responded in a daze, still trying to wake up. Camilla explained to him about the phone calls from the night before, and these women not giving up on calling him, wanting him to fetch them at all unearthly hours of the night. Steven had no recollection of what had happened or how he had even gotten home.After explaining the phone call, Camilla confronted him for not fetching her from work the previous afternoon. "Why didn't you fetch me from work yesterday, and where were you? You got home so drunk," she questioned him. Camilla got straight to the point.Steven started to explain, "I finished work early yesterday and decided to go and have a few drinks at th
A year had passed since the car accident had occurred. Everyone was picking up their lives and moving forward. Tamara and Frederick had just finished their studies, and Marshall was fully recovered from the accident. Nancy and Denzil were planning their wedding. Camilla was hesitant about getting someone to take Nancy's place, so they arranged for her to become the home secretary and train someone to assist with house management. "Nancy, when is your date for your wedding set for?" Camilla asked. "The end of October," she replied. "That's perfect." Back in Bolton, Tamara and Frederick were finished with their studies. They had been seeing a lot of each other, but due to hectic schedules, they couldn't get too serious."Tamara, I think we should go to your parents for the weekend," he suggested. I also need to speak to Bradford and your cousin about the business," he said. "I agree. I'll phone mom and let her know we are coming.'Whilst Tamara was on the phone with her parents, Br
After everything that had happened, Bradford called Frederick into the office."Frederick, the way you handled the company along with grandfather, I am very impressed. You took this on as a way of showing us that you are ready for the next stage." Happy that he had been able to assist, he responded, "I am glad you have approved."Bradford gave it some thought, "next time I go on business to Tenerife, I want you and Tamara to accommodate us. You will only need to stay for two or three days, meet with the investors, show us what you have, and then we will get things moving." Encouraged by this turn of events, Frederick shook Bradford's hand and said, "it's now time for me to get back. We have exams soon, and I need to submit assignments." Understanding this, Bradford said, "If you need any assistance with anything, just call."After Frederick left, Bradford called Denzil, "Bring the car around, I want to go buy a gift for my wife." Within a few minutes, Denzil was out front waiting
Over the next few weeks, Bradford was spending more time with Camilla as Marshall was doing more physiotherapy. Eventually, there came a point where the doctor informed them that they could go home on the condition that Marshall kept up with his physio and Camilla made weekly visits to the hospital, but should anything change, they were to immediately return to the hospital.Bradford had hired a physiotherapist to come two times a day to the house to work with Marshall, and, well, Nancy was there as well. Bradford helped both of them settle back in. The surroundings seemed so familiar and warm for Camilla, and on seeing her daughter and her aunt, she knew she really was home. At the sight of seeing her aunt and her daughter, she slowly started getting small flashbacks, and then she saw her baby, who was no longer a baby but a toddler, and more pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.That evening, she saw Nancy all dressed up. "You look beautiful. Are you going on a date?" she a
It had been a month since the accident. Bradford spent every minute of every day at the hospital between his wife and his son. Steven had gone back to jail. Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was his sentence. Grandpa Hemmingway had also come back home after he heard about the accident and took hold of the reins at Hemmingway International. However, due to the long stay at the hospital, Bradford asked his grandfather to train Frederick to be assistant CEO to help ease the burden on grandpa.Frederick took up this opportunity to learn all he could during this time. "I will make you and Frank proud of me, I promise," he said to Bradford. Bradford knew that Frederick would put his heart into it because he would be heading the branch in Tenerife one day. Bradford was exhausted. While sitting there in the chair praying for them both to come around, James brought him something to eat. While drinking some of the homemade soup, Joyce had prepared for him to keep his str
As Tamara walked into the room with Frederick, she saw that Marshall's bed had been moved to his mother's room."Bradford, this is much better," she said to him, handing him a cup of coffee and a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria.Tamara then said, "I'm going to check in on Aunty."Frederick put an arm around her, "I'm going to speak with Bradford quickly, then I will meet you." After Tamara walked out, Frederick said, "Listen, there's something you need to know. Tamara and I were on our way back here, and we saw someone. Tamara was pretty sure, so we confirmed the suspicion at the nurse's station." Irritated, Bradford growled at him, "Just get to the point dammit!"Trying to think of a way to say it, he stammered as he spoke, "Bradford, Camilla's ex-husband was released from prison on good behaviour. That's not the point, though. The point is that he was admitted to hospital around the same time as Camilla and Marshall."Bradford's blood started boiling, "WHAT! That son of a ...
Everyone except Tamara, Frederick, and Bradford were left in the hospital. The doctor came out and spoke with Bradford, "Mr Hemmingway, you need to brace yourself for anything at this point. It is touch and go with both your wife and your son."Looking at the doctor, his mind was blank and dismal. It was as if he didn't understand what the doctor was saying."Mr Hemmingway, did you hear me?" The doctor touched his shoulder gently. Tamara intervened, "Doctor, I'm Mrs Hemingway's cousin, and Marshall is my second cousin. This is a lot for her husband to take in right now. Can you explain to me what is going on?"The doctor explained, "The young man has intracranial bleeding to the brain that could leave him paralyzed or dead. We have managed to stop the bleeding for now, but we are not sure what the damage is. All we can do is pray now that he pulls through. On the other hand, your wife," he said, looking at Bradford, "she has contusions to the brain, now they are not that severe, but
August was here. The weather started to cool down. Bradford and Camilla had planned for their week away. Joyce and the kids were going to Chris and Ruby for the week as there was no one home to keep an eye on them. Frank was away with his family. It had been a while since they travelled. Michelle and James were busy being new parents, and Tamara was in Bolton studying. Bradford, Meghan, and baby headed out after Camilla Marshall and Joyce. As he had to lock up and ensure everything was secure. What the family didn't know was that Steven was back in town, and he had been struggling to get work due to his criminal record. They hadn't even been informed that he had been released from prison and completed rehab. However, Steven relapsed after a week of being released from the rehab centre. Steven had borrowed his cousin's car in London and drove to Cheshire. He was living in a room at an old friend's place. "Steven," Matthew said, "Brother, you need to try and get another job."Unders
It had been months since their trip to London. Morgan was just over a year old, Meghan was aged eleven, and, well, Marshall, a teenager. The children were growing really fast. Almost too fast for Camilla. Both Meghan and Marshall were attending a private school, The Kings School, in Alderley Edge, which accommodates children from three years of age to eighteen years of age. They were dropped off each day and collected by Denzil. Camilla had been thinking long and hard about Nancy. She wished Nancy could have a fulfilling life like hers. She often wondered if Denzil was married. She'd never thought of asking her husband about their employees' private affairs, but there was just something about these two she thought would be perfectly matched.While driving to work one morning, she asked her husband, "Babe, is Denzil married?"Bradford let out a laugh, "Goodness no. I've been trying to set him up for years now," he responded."Babe, what do you think about Nancy and Denzil?"Thinking h
It had been two months since the masquerade ball and the incident that had occurred at the ball. Marshall celebrated becoming a teenager.Camilla had remembered the conversation that she had had with Nancy as well as the conversation she had had with her daughter. Turning to her husband, she said, "Babe, I want to do something for Nancy. She has been so amazing with our children." The look on his face was quizzical. "Honey, if you want to do something for Nancy, just say it, and we'll make it happen."Nancy was orphaned at the age of seven. Her father died when she was only a year old, and mom passed away from cancer when she was seven years old. She never knew her other family as her mother was ousted from the community when she was eighteen due to falling pregnant and disgracing the family name. Nancy didn't know the full story of her father or mother's family. When she was seven, she was sent to an orphanage where she was raised. At the age of eighteen, she left and got a job wo