Chapter 2: Our marriage is over

"What?" Camilla whispered unbelievably.

It had to be a dream. How did Nick have a child? Did he have an affair outside their marriage? And who was the woman? Why had she never heard about her before.

"Camilla, go inside. Now." Nick ordered, turning away from her. "We will have a talk later."

"No." Camilla refused, standing her ground. Gone were the days when she would meekly obey his every command. Nick had gone too far this time, and she wouldn't remain silent.

Her defiance shocked both Nick and his mother.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"I said no." Camilla repeated. "I'm not listening to you this time. I demand an explanation. Who is this woman?"

"How dare you?" Mrs Sinclair snapped. She walked up to Camilla and slapped her hard across her face. "The effrontery you have, standing there questioning my son."

Camilla's cheek burned from the sting of the slap, and so did her eyes. However, she stubbornly held back her tears.

"All these years, I have done all I could to be a good wife to your son." She said, staring straight into the older woman's eyes. "I was pushed into this marriage without my consent, yet I have never brought you shame. This woman claims to have a child for my husband and you expect me to remain silent?"

"You dare talk to my mother that way?" Cecilia raged. "You fucking whore!" She delivered another slap on Camilla's face and shoved her backwards, until Nick stopped her.

"Cecilia that's enough." He released Barbara, whispering something in her ear. Barbara smiled and nodded, then quietly took her daughter from the enraged Cecilia.

Camilla watched them, her heart shattering into a thousand pieces. The way he held Barbara, the way he gazed at her like he was lovestruck, she had wished for the same thing all the years they were together. She had longed for the day he would return her love, and watching him give another woman that love she had craved all her life hurt like hell.

Nick's smile faded the moment he looked at her, a deep scowl marring his face. He grabbed her hand and started to tug her out of the hallway, but she snatched her arm away.

"Camilla I don't have time for this." He said coldly.

"Neither do I." Camilla snapped back. "Whatever you want to say, say it here. I'm done cowering away, Nick. I am your wife and I have every right to know what the hell is going on."

"Fine! You want to know what is going on? I'll tell you what Camilla. Our marriage is nothing but a sham. A facade. Your father sold you to me, to pay off a huge debt."

Camilla couldn't believe her ears. "You're lying."

"Am I?" Nick challenged her. "Think about it. Why else was our marriage done in secret, with no one else in attendant? Why did your father marry you off to me suddenly, without a reason?"

Camilla was at a loss for words. It couldn't be. She had been married to Nick for three years and it was all a sham?

"You wanted to know the truth, so I'll give you that." Nick continued heartlessly. "Your father was a bloody gambler, and he took quite a sum of money from me, with false promises to pay back. But his bad luck stuck to him, and he lost it all. Every single dime. In order to repay his debt, he sold you, his precious daughter, as a collateral."

Camilla felt her breath turn faint, and her chest began to heave. She wanted to remain in denial, to scream at Nick and call him a liar. But he was right. Her father had a bad streak of gambling, and mafia thugs had always been on the hunt for him.

What she never expected was the fact that he would sell her to repay his debt. But Nick's next words shattered what was left of her heart.

"A year after we were married, a few of my men caught him trying to flee the city. He had no plans to repay his debt and take back his daughter. He was a bloody bastard who thought only of himself. So I ended him."

Camilla whipped her head up, her eyes bulging out from their sockets. Did she hear him right?

"You killed my father?" She whispered.

"I would have tortured him instead of giving him an easy death." Nick snarled. "He made me lose the woman I loved. When Barbara found out I was married to you, she was heartbroken and she left, with my child. But now she's back, and she's the one I'm going to marry. This sham of a marriage is over."

The rest of his words turned blurry and all Camilla could focus on were the words he hurled at her– so I ended him.

All these years, she thought her father died a natural death. She had no idea that Nick, the man she was married to, was the cause of his death.

All the pain and rage bottled up within her and threatened to explode.

"Why then did you marry me?" She asked, her voice trembling. "Since I was only a commodity to you, why didn't you just let me go? Why did you have to put me through this?"

"Because you deserve to be punished." Barbara spoke out from behind.

Camilla turned and watched the emerald eyed beauty walk towards her.

"You took Nick away from me." Barbara continued. "Took him away from my daughter. You deserve everything you've gone through these three years, for ruining my life."

"I didn't ask for this marriage." Camilla suddenly burst out. "I am the victim here. You and your family treated me like a nobody all these years, for something I am innocent of. You killed my father! You are all monsters! You and the bloody whore that calls herself the mother of your child..."

The harsh sound of a slap echoed in the hallway as Nick backhanded her. Then he gripped her jaw painfully and growled into her face.

"The day you speak about my family or Barbara that way again, your fate will be worse than your useless father."

He shoved her away from him and hurled a document at her.

"It's over Camilla. I'm done with this marriage." He said. "Sign the divorce papers and get out. You're lucky I'm letting you go alive."

Camilla looked up at the family she had stayed with for three years. Mrs Sinclair, her mother-in-law who used every opportunity to mistreat her. Nick's sister, Cecilia, who treated her like she was invisible.

And then Nick, the man she had been stupid enough to fall in love with. The same man who murdered her father.

It was too much for her. She couldn't breath, and she felt the atmosphere choking her. Blindly, she grabbed the documents and placed her signature. She would rather die than beg Nick to take her back.

After signing the papers, everything else happened in a blur. She vaguely remembered gathering the few things she owned, and Cecilia and her mother pushing her out of the mansion, while Nick and Barbara watched silently.

As she walked past the gate with her box, her vision turned blurry. There was a mad banging in her head and her heart felt like it was being squeezed brutally.

She made an attempt to cross the road and find a taxi, but her legs failed her.

Her vision suddenly dimmed out and she collapsed right in the middle of the road. The last thing she heard was the screech of tires as a car swerved towards her.