Camellia stared out the window of the room with a flat look. Although a cup of warm chocolate was in her grasp, she still felt cold.The eighteen-year-old girl’s gaze focused on the raindrops hitting the window glass. Her eyes followed the movement of the raindrops that fell slowly down.She sighed heavily and took a sip of the hot chocolate. However, the ringing sound of her phone broke her focus instantly.Her head turned to the source of the sound, to the flat object lying on the table.At first she was reluctant to look, but considering her father was in the hospital, Camellia quickly walked over there.However, she felt disappointed when she found that Brandon’s number was the one who was contacting.“Yes?” Camellia replied as she sat on the bed.“There are clients who ask for cleaning services. Can you go there?”Recalling what she had discovered while doing the work previously, Camellia hugged her body.“Mm... I...” She was about to say that she didn’t want to do it when Brando
Instead of feeling impressed, she looked at Hagen as if he was a different man.“Bored my ass,” Camellia muttered as she left him.She kept walking without turning her head or looking to see how far away they were because she knew Hagen would keep following.Even when he called, Camellia deliberately ignored him.“Princess, I think we need something to shelter us from the heat of the sun.”Camellia’s head looked up to see how hot the weather was that day until Hagen whined about it.She snorted as soon as she saw the clouds gathering to cover the scorching sun. Even the weather felt very friendly.“If you’re afraid of burning to death, you’d better just go back to your car, Your Majesty,” Camellia sneered at a brisk pace, as if mocking the man following behind.There was a chuckle from him, making the corners of Camellia’s lips curl up slightly unconsciously, but soon she fixed her expression back and tried not to care.“Ah, I like the term ‘Your Majesty’,” Hagen retorted in a slightl
Camellia’s lips felt numb. She couldn’t even keep her fingers away from there and kept rubbing them gently. In the meantime, her eyes stared blankly at the mirror, reflecting her no longer bruised face like she had some time ago.From behind the beads of her clear eyes came a memory of the events of this afternoon at the door of her house. She seemed lost in thought to the point of not hearing the sound of the bell ringing, a sign that someone was there.A short time later, Camellia was startled when her phone kept going off near her bed.“Ugh!” she growled as soon as she realized where her mind was going at the moment.After taking a deep breath and masking her blushing face, only then did Camellia stand up and walk towards the flat object that was now ringing, loudly calling out.Looking at the name on the screen, she snorted irritably. She pressed the red button, rejecting the call. But, she received three follow-up calls that further added to her annoyance, and to the end she was
Hagen rubbed Camellia’s cheek with a tissue in a gentle gesture. Although she cried until her tears shed endlessly, Hagen still patiently wiped away the traces of tears on her cheeks.Her huffy voice filled the room, and Hagen let on as he continued to soothe her by touching her feminine wrist. The tip of his finger rubbed the back of Camellia’s hand lightly, while the other hand cleaned her cheek.“Daddy!” Camellia cried, without caring about the presence of a man in front of her.Hearing her keep calling out the one who ruined the girl’s life in one night, Hagen was riveted. He didn’t understand why Camellia cared about that man so much, but he could only keep the question to himself.“I want my dad,” Camellia sobbed.Hearing her miserable cry, something seemed to squeeze his heart, but he still quietly watched her while listening.“You should have come to me that time!” Camellia was screaming as she shook off his hand that was on her cheek.Instead of giving up, he again wiped away
As Camellia slept in his arms, Hagen chose to stay for some time before he finally tried to break free from the tightly hugging feminine arms.Slowly Hagen moved to get out of bed, trying not to wake up Camellia, who was fast asleep.From the corner of his eye, Hagen saw that the clock above the nightstand showed three in the morning.Without looking at her again, Hagen walked out of the room leading into the living room. He sat for a while on the sofa with his elbows resting on his knees.For a long time, he stayed there thoughtfully before he finally got someone’s number.For a moment Hagen waited for an answer, until in the end there was a slightly hoarse baritone voice from across the connection, a sign that the person had just been forcibly awakened.“What’s the matter you contacted me?”At first, Hagen was just silent, while one of his free hands on the side of his body seemed to be clenched tightly.It wasn’t long before he cleared his throat.“Someone is trying to take control
Their eyes met, but neither of them spoke; even Hagen no longer listened to Gavin, who kept talking on the other side of the call. It was as if his stare was glued to Camellia, who was standing very gracefully at the top of the stairs in her white pajamas.However, when he heard his name being called many times from the other line, it was only then that Hagen came to his senses. He cleared his throat and took his gaze away from her.“I hear you,” he said to Gavin, who now sounded annoyed.“I thought you were asleep and left me hanging here.”Hagen simply responded with a little cough, and then he looked up. It’s a pity that the girl is no longer standing where she was, making him feel a little disappointed.“We will continue later. I will contact you when the time is right.”He was about to disconnect their connection when Gavin asked.“When are you going to bring the girl to Denver?”After scratching the tip of his nose, Hagen replied, “I can’t be sure yet, and I want it as soon as p
“Just tell him, you’ll sleep with someone if he keeps bothering.”Camellia gave Brandon an annoyed look when she heard his words. The girl was about to huff when suddenly he raised a hand in the air, hinting that she should be quiet and listen.That made Camellia bites her lower lip to restrain herself. However, the look in her eyes clearly showed that she was not willing to.“You choose the number two; I want to see how he responds to you.”Camellia snorted at that. Of course Blake Hagen would get angry and force himself on her.If it were not in the usual way, the man could have done things beyond logic.“You know that he isn’t sane; what’s the point of waiting until he gives a response to that answer?” Camellia explained with her hands around her waist.But Brandon just gave her a knotty smile.“Oh, I’m not going to ask you to give an answer right away or wait until the appointed time arrives,” Brandon said, which puzzled Camellia even more. “If I may know, when should you give him
Camellia walked down the street blankly, as if only her body was there while her head was wandering nowhere.The shadow of the conversation seemed to weigh heavily on her. She took a few deep breaths, and her feet occasionally stopped while she was staring around.On the people who walked past her.“I think I’m the only one walking in place,” she whispered as she continued to pace back.Camellia’s head was also downcast, hiding the shock that was chasing in her face.She felt that she had no more solutions. And the only one who could help was Brandon.Of course, Hagen doesn’t count. She didn’t even want to fill her head with that man.She had just arrived at the bus stop, when a familiar car stopped on the shoulder of the road.Seeing that, Camellia snorted. She pretended to be busy with her bag, trying as hard as possible to ignore the figure of the man who got out of the car and now walked over.When the man’s shoe was within her sight range, not once did Camellia lift her head. She
Camellia’s head dropped as she stepped off the bus that was taking her to the bus stop on the way home. She didn’t look around because she had been thinking so much about the woman earlier.She didn’t even look up when she accidentally bumped into someone in front of her. She just said sorry without even turning her head. Then she walked past the burly body in front of her.However, her steps stopped as she heard a masculine voice call for her.“What’s in your beautiful head, Princess?” asked the man who instantly made Camellia freeze before she finally turned to the source of the voice, which was now standing right behind her.Camellia just stared sadly at that handsome face that seemed to be looking for an answer for a moment. But, of course, she surely wouldn’t say anything after everything happened.After all, it wasn’t his business if she felt dumped.The truth, Camellia felt saved by the incident with the woman earlier, because she could be more aware of the intentions of the ma
Camellia opened the door of her house, where Frank was already standing at the front with both hands full of gifts. The man’s straight face showed that he didn’t agree with being given such an unreasonable task, but his loyalty kept him from saying anything.With a passive gaze, he greeted Camellia with no enthusiasm.“Mr. Hagen asked me to deliver all of these.”Camellia, who was stunned by the man’s many belongings, could only freeze at the doorway. She just stood there for a moment, glancing at all the gifts.“He said... that party is in two days,” she whispers in a confused tone.It seemed that Hagen had predicted that she would ‘agree’, so he was so confident that he sent all of the gifts and deliver all the clothes and other items for the party even before Camellia answer his called.Camellia took a deep breath after realizing his intentions with all the things delivered to her house. She just exhaled slowly; don’t know what to do with the situations.“He’s too confident,” she m
Camellia looked reluctant when Hagen opened the car door for her. She looked around, looking for a way home other than the ride Hagen had offered, but knowing that the money in her purse would not get her home, Camellia sighed and looked witheringly at the man’s car.“Going home alone is not a good solution right now. It’s too late, Princess, and I can’t leave you alone,” said Hagen, who opened the car door wider again.With a head gesture, he told Camellia to come inside. She thought for a long time before finally letting her inner voice overcome her logic.“I’m not going in until you promise me something.”Seeing Camellia’s serious gaze, Hagen waits patiently with one hand in his trouser pocket. His eyebrows seemed to invite Camellia to continue.While swallowing and looking straight at his obsidian eyes, Camellia said, “Don’t follow me into the house. You just walk me to the front door.”Hagen paused to think about her request. He was going to say something but finally pursed his l
The men in the room all grunted at the same time, which made Camellia jump in surprise and make her shoulders tense. Meanwhile, Hagen, who kept his eyes on her, seemed deaf to the subtle insinuations of his friends.“Yes, he can throw us out, Miss Duncan.” A blonde-haired man named Gavin threw his joke, causing laughter from all the men there. “Isn’t that so, Jax? Mr. Hagen can expel me, you, Rey, and every Red Cage in this room!”The man who had greeted them, Rey Fredrick, only glanced briefly at his friend, Gavin.Meanwhile, Jax, also known as Jaxon Bradwood, the owner of the white chair that Camellia almost sat in earlier, didn’t respond at all. And the man with a friendly smile who was sipping his drink in the corner of the room, Connor Black, seemed to laugh softly.“He’s a man with a great sense of humor,” replied a man who had been sitting quietly on the opposite sofa, Nicko Anderson.Hagen just glanced lazily at the man who had spoken. Meanwhile, Camellia, who didn’t know the
When their kiss broke, Camellia’s body shook slightly until she almost lost her balance, but Hagen quickly held her waist, which felt right in his grip to support her body. She tried her best to hold onto Hagen’s arm as he hugged her from the front.The red hue on her cheeks now seemed to spread to her ears, making Hagen bite inside of his lip and hold her between his palms.For some reason, he wanted to brush her long hair back, then play with it a little and admire the slight change in color on her sensitive skin.When Camellia saw that Hagen was looking at her, she quickly turned away to hide the shame that was starting to take over her.“I-I want to go to the toilet,” she muttered while lowering her head and trying to look away.Camellia was about to turn around and walk the other way to avoid touching him. However, Hagen, who knew that Camellia would not find a nearby toilet without someone helping to point the way, finally followed her from behind.“The toilet isn’t over there,
Camellia held Hagen’s arm tightly as her head spun around, especially at the crowd of people around them who were about to enter Magnolia building.When a big man was about to bump into her from behind, Hagen reflexively hugged her feminine body. He directed a burning gaze at the half-drunk man, who began to realize his mistake.“I-I’m sorry,” the stranger muttered as he walked backward and away in a hurry.Meanwhile, Camellia, who was still in Hagen’s arms, seemed to be squeezing his shirt to keep her balance, which made her almost fallen.“Stay by my side,” Hagen said in a low voice, right in her ear. The noises around them made it difficult for them to communicate. Then Hagen pulled Camellia to his side, one arm around her waist.“I don’t want you to get lost, Princess,” Hagen said lightly, but Camellia didn’t respond at all. She resigned herself to being led by Hagen past the two doormen in front of Magnolia.“Boss,” said one of the bouncers on the left side, so that his friend a
Both Camellia and Hagen ate in silence. However, not long after, Hagen grabbed Camellia’s hand as soon as they finished eating their burgers about ten minutes ago.Hagen was eager to take Camellia somewhere, but Camellia looked confused at him.“Let go of my hand first, then I’ll follow you,” she said, but Hagen didn’t even listen, making Camellia throw a glare, which he didn’t respond to.“What about watching a show?” asked him suddenly, which made Camellia silent immediately.She glanced at the deserted street of Magnolia. It seemed that everyone was already there, making her curious.Knowing Camellia’s gaze, Hagen gently tugged her hand in his grasp, cueing her to follow him.With a doubtful gaze and a bit of confusion to decide, Camellia looked as if she were at war with her own mind, but Hagen immediately encouraged her.“As long as you’re with me, you’ll be safe. No one will dare bothering you.”Camellia was only eighteen, so she was forbidden from entering places like Magnolia,
Camellia’s eyes rounded when she saw Hagen walking towards the café where she was. With her head turned around, the girl was also looking for a way to get out of there.However, she still didn’t find a way, so Camellia felt trapped as soon as she heard the sound of the bells on the door starting to ring, and Hagen’s figure was already in the doorway with his attention focused on the table she was occupying.With an uneasy gaze, Camellia watched Hagen, who was walking slowly towards her.Now, she felt deja vu because she remembered her mother, who had also passed through the same door and path when approaching the table.And when the man arrived, the first thing Blake Hagen said was, “The woman you saw with me earlier is nothing.”Instantly, Camellia’s lips thinned. She didn’t think the man in front of her was so confident.Without being told, Camellia was also not interested in asking about or snooping into his personal life.“There’s no need to tell me anything about your private lif
Camellia sipped her milk shake very lazily. The girl even looked pensive, with blank eyes looking towards the wall.Every now and then she took a breath, and then exhaled slowly, like a tired person.She leaned back in her chair after a long time, her gaze shifting to the visitors around her.It seems that Lancester is very crowded with visitors from different cities. That’s because of an underground boxing match that will be held later tonight by the Red Cage organization at one of their clubs, Magnolia.Unfortunately, Camellia didn’t have access to it, though she also wanted to see the most-awaited event by half the Lancester residents.“What a pity,” she grumbled.She changed the position of her legs before finally returning to exhale heavily.“Hhhh...” the girl said with a slightly sullen face.Camellia glanced at her phone a few times, just to make sure Brandon was replaying her message.“Why should he send me to this place?” She whined, annoyed with her boss’s attitude of asking