Chapter FortyRaphael's POVAfter six hours, we finally landed in New York and I went to pick up my luggage and waited for the driver to arrive.After a few minutes, he arrived and I got in the car. My assistant was there too.“How are you doing?” I asked.“I'm good, sir.” He replied. “There's a problem.”“What is it?”“Tori is in police custody.”“What? Why?”“She was caught stealing from a mall. She called me and asked me to relay the message to you.”I sighed. “Take me to where she is.”He instructed the driver to take us to the station. I couldn't believe that she was arrested. What a disappointment. I turned on my phone and of course, it was all over the news.Everybody was making mention of Jason, our son, and how they felt sorry for him. After I left her, she became more of a mess than she already was. She started using and got addicted. I've tried to get her help but she doesn't want it.We reached the station and we were led inside. We talked to the policemen and then bailed
Chapter Forty-One Camilla's POV The night Raphael left was pretty rough. After he was gone, Rory resumed crying. We managed to calm her down, get her ready for bed, and put her to sleep. She woke up in the middle of the night crying for him. I couldn’t understand how she had gotten attached in such a short time. I put her back to sleep and stayed with her the rest of the night. The next morning we woke up and prepared for Skye and my Grandpa to leave. I had to tell her that they were going to leave and she started crying again. She went for a walk with my Grandpa while Skye and I were making some last-minute arrangements. “Rory’s pretty devastated.” Skye said while we were packing her suitcase. “I know. And I can’t understand it. I understand her crying cause you guys are leaving but I didn’t expect her to cry for Raphael. She got so attached to him in a short amount of time.” “She’s never felt how it was to have a dad and she finally got it. She’s a little girl but she’s als
Chapter Forty-TwoRaphael's POVThe next morning, Jason and I got ready for the day and I dropped him off at my mom's house before going to work. I didn’t have much to do at work so I finished up pretty early. I then told Anthony to take me to the hotel Tori was staying at.We got there and went up to the room. I knocked on the door several times but I didn’t get an answer. I had a key but I wanted her to open the door herself.After about three minutes, I was still waiting for her to open it so I decided to use the key I had. I walked in and closed the door behind me. “Tori.” I called out. “Are you in here?” I didn’t get a reply back.It was a suite so I checked the room and the kitchen but I couldn’t find her. The receptionist said that she hadn’t checked out.I remembered that I hadn’t checked the bathroom so I went there and I saw her passed out on the floor.I bent down beside her. “Tori.” I said shaking her.I looked around and saw a bottle of pills lying on the floor. I tried
Chapter Forty-ThreeCamilla’s POVMartha had arrived the day before and we were all excited. We didn’t talk much about what had happened while she was gone. It was a Monday and she got Rory ready for school and then I dropped her off and returned to the house.I didn’t have to go to work until 10am so I had a lot of time to get ready. I finished getting ready and I had a lot of time left so I decided to chat with Martha.“So he wants to be a part of her life?” She asked.“Yes.” I answered.“How would that work? You live in different cities.”“I really don’t know but we’ll figure that out.”We chatted for a while tge I looked at tge time and realized it was time for me to leave for work. “I’ll be on my way now. See you later.” I said and left the house.For the first few hours, I was at work, and for the remains part of the day, I went to visit the site we were working on.I was about to turn into the kitchen when I got hit by someone and got coffee spilled on my shirt.“What the hel
Chapter Forty-FourRaphael’s POVI dropped Jason off at school and left for work. I had a meeting with a new client before I went to the project site.I spent the whole day at the site, I had some serious work to do. It was getting late and I had to call it a day and go home. I had to go to my mom's place because that was where Jason was. He was asleep when I got there so I decided to let him be.“So when can I meet my granddaughter?” My mum asked.“Slow down ma.”“Slow down for what? I was only asking a question.”“We’re still trying to navigate how we’re going to parent from different cities.”“Let her move back. That’s not a problem.”“You’re reaching. I can’t ask her to pack up her life and move to New York because of me. I was the reason she left in the first place.”She sighed and then went to the kitchen leaving me with my sister.“How is Camilla?” My sister asked.“She’s doing good. She runs a company with her partner. The company we’re currently working with.”“That’s nice.
Chapter Forty-FiveCamilla’s POVAfter a week of working on Alexander’s house, we were finally done. I was going over every day and me and Alex were having some conversations.I told him about what happened with me and Raphael because he asked. I found myself telling him about what happened recently too. We were back to being friends like before.“We’re finally done. That’s good.” He said.“It looks great doesn’t it?”“It sure does. Exactly what I asked for. You guys did a great job.”“Thank you.”“Want to go out for coffee? You haven’t repaid me for taking you home that day.”“Fine.” I said.There was a coffee shop five minutes away from the house so we decided to walk there instead of driving.“So do you have any new projects planned?” He asked while we were waiting for our coffee to be ready.“I have quite a few.” I replied.“I wanted to invite you to a party next week. If you’re free that’s it.”“What day?”“Friday.” “Sure I’ll be there.”“Great.”We got our coffee and sat back d
Chapter Forty-SixRaphael's POVI and Emily had been texting for the past week. She was a pretty interesting girl who made it clear that she was into me. I also found out that she is a model. One of the top models. Her father was also a successful businessman.We had made plans to go out tonight because it was a Friday night. I arranged for my son to stay at my mum’s house. I went to drop him off at school that morning and then went to work.After working for seven hours, I called it a day. I went to see Jason first before heading over to my house to get ready for my date with Emily.By six, I was ready and I texted her to inform her that I would be arriving to pick her up. I went to the car and drove to her house.“Hi, handsome.” She said when she opened the door.“You look stunning.” I said.“Thank you. You’re not looking too bad yourself.”“Ready to go?” I asked.“Yes.”We walked back to my car and I opened the door for her and walked to the other side to get in.I buckled up and d
Chapter Forty-SevenWe all woke up pretty excited for the day, especially Rory because she was happy to be going to an aquarium.We got ready for the day, had our breakfast, and headed out. Our first stop was at work because I needed to pick up some files.Martha stayed in the car with Rory while I went to collect the files. I got the files and we were on our way to the aquarium. We got there, bought our tickets, and went inside. We started by seeing the smaller fish. Rory was so amazed by everything that was happening.The place was kind of dark with light illuminating the waters. Rory kept staring in awe at the fish. “Can we take one home, Mommy? I want that one.” She said and pointed to one of the bigger fishes.“No, baby. We can’t. This is their home.” I laughed.“Awwnnn.” She pouted. “I really wanted one.”“When we get home, we’ll talk about getting a fish.”“Okay.” She said bouncing to see the other fishes.After almost thirty minutes inside, we decided to go to the poolside t
Chapter Sixty-OmeCamilla’s POV“I really don’t need the wheelchair. I can walk fine on my own.”“Not according to the doctor. You don’t need to strain yourself.”“I’ll use the cane. I don't want them to see me as weak, going in there with a wheelchair.” He protested.“Fine.” I gave up. “You can use the cane, only for this meeting.”“Thank you.” They put the wheelchair back in the car and handed the cane to him to support himself while he walked. He has been out of the hospital for two days and today he had a meeting with the board of directors.I insisted on accompanying him even though he didn’t want me to. We finally agreed on me escorting him to the office and going back to the house.“Bye.” I said waving at him.“Goodbye. See you later.” He said.I got back in the car and was on my way back to the house.When I got home, I went to lie down for a bit. It was only me in the house apart from the staff. Rory was at Rapheal’s house. She has been spending a lot of time there as we did
Chapter SixtyRaphael’s POVAfter my call with Camilla, I began to think hard and long. I didn't want them to leave. Not just yet. They had only been around for a few days but I liked the fact that they were close to me.I sent a text to Emily instead of calling her and went to get ready for work. It was going to be a long day. I said bye to Jason and left the house. The driver was going to take him to school today.I went to the project site we were working on instead of the office. They were already working by the time I got there so I joined them. I didn’t usually go to sites unless it was an important client, which this was. After an hour or two, Mr Edison arrived.“Hey.” He said.“Hey.”“How’s it going?”“Fine.” I responded. That day he came by the house, he asked me so many questions but I didnr give him a reply. I told him the person he had to speak to was Camilla.“So I talked to Camilla.”“You did? She answer all your questions?”“Yeah. So you’re Rory’s father, huh? And Cami
Chapter Fifty-NineCamilla’s POV“Why didn’t you want them to tell me?” I asked my grandpa.“Because I knew I’d be fine. See, I'm still alive.”“Stop with the jokes, Grandpa. I would never have forgiven you or myself if things had gone wrong.”“I just didn’t want you to worry.”“You need to think about yourself first.”“Enough with all this talk. Fill me in. What’s going on?”“So the board made a vote today. Jeremy Steel is acting CEO.”“That little fucker.”“Pops. Watch your language. Who is he anyway? Why’d you curse at him?”“Oh, nothing. His father is Carson Steel. You remember him.”“Oh. I do. He’s the boy you tried to set me up with before.”“Yes, he is.”“Oh, wow. Maybe I have taken that offer then.”“Then, you wouldn’t have Rory.”“That’s true. Glad I passed on that.”“Where is Rory anyways?”“She’s at home. With Skye. I call her to bring her over even though I told her you were on a trip.” I said and he laughed.I stepped outside and called Skye. She was happy to hear the new
Chapter Fifty-EightRaphael's POV“Daddy for my birthday, I want a Spider-Man cake.” Jason said while we were playing.“Ok. You’ll get a Spiderman cake. Do you want anything else?”“I want a bouncy house and I want to see Spider-Man.”“Ok. That’s not a problem. I’ll get you all those things.”“I also want to see my mummy. I miss her.” He said and I paused.I didn’t realize till now how much of an impact her absence would have on him. Even though she was hooked up on drugs before, I made sure she showed up for him whether or not she was high out of her mind.“Mummy still hasn’t gotten back from her trip you know.”“So she’s not going to come back for my birthday?”“You know what, I’ll tell her to come back.”“Yay.” He said.“Do you have any homework?” I asked.“No. Tamara helped me with it.”“Okay.”We continued playing with his toys and im an hour he got tired and was sleepy. I went to put him to bed and went down to the living room to watch TV.I got a call. It was from an unknown nu
Chapter Fifty-SevenCamilla’s POVAfter I left Rapheal’s house, I went back to the hospital. I knew he wasn’t awake yet but I wanted to be there for him. I just sat next to him holding his hand praying he would wake up.The board of directors some how found out I was around and were asking to see much. We scheduled for a meeting for tomorrow. I hadn’t had this much pressure out on me in years. Running my own company back in California was very different from handling this one.This was an empire built from the ground many years ago that still stood in the business world. I never thought about the fact that one day I would have to come back to all of this. When I packed up years ago, I thought I would leave it all behind forever.My thoughts were pushed to the back of my head when I got a call. It was from James. I stepped outside the room to take it.“Hey, how are you doing?” I asked.“I’m fine. I just saw Rory at your friend’s place. Are you in New York? This is all so confusing. I h
Chapter Fifty-SixRaphael’s POV“They’re on their way.” I announced.“Oh, okay.” My mum said.“Please be nice.” I said.“Did I say I wasn’t going to be? I was the one who asked to meet with her.”“I know but you weren’t a fan of her before so..”“Come on. I’m over all that. The last time we saw each other things were good between us.”“If you say so. Audrey, how do you feel?”“What’s that supposed to mean?”“I don’t know. Just try to be nice to her. She’s going through a lot right now.”“Okay.”I went to the kitchen to get water to drink. I was a bit nervous about her meeting them. I went back to the living room. I hadn’t told Jason yet, he was playing with his toys on the floor. I wasn’t sure he would understand the concept of a sibling. I got a call from Camilla telling me they had arrived. Then I heard a knock on the door and went to open it.“Hi.” She said.“Hey.”“Daddy.” She hugged me.“Hi, baby.” I said picking her up. “Come on.” I opened the door a little wider for her to pas
Chapter Fifty-FiveCamilla’s POV“Mummy I want to talk to Daddy.” Rory said rubbing her eyes. She was a second away from falling asleep. “I want to see Daddy. I want to go to his house. I want to talk to him.” She whined. If I didn’t give in to her request she would start crying and I didn’t want to deal with that. “Okay, okay. I’ll call him.” I said and picked up my phone.I called him and the phone rang but he didn’t pick up. “Baby, he didn’t answer my call.” I turned to tell Rory but she had already fallen asleep. I covered her with her blanket and turned off the lights. She would not be waking up any time soon.She fell asleep realky early because she had a realky long day. I left the room and went back to mine. I wasn’t ready to sleep so I brought out my computer to do some work.After about five minutes, I got a call from Raphael.“Hi.” I said when I answered the phone.“Hey.”“Uhm. I called because Rory wanted to speak to you and she was asking to come to your house.”“Put he
Chapter Forty-FourRaphael’s POVThe next morning after Camilla, Rory and Martha left I decided to go pick Jason up. I think it was finally time to introduce my mum, sister, and son to Aurora. I would wait until the chairman woke up though because I didn’t want to spring it on Camilla just like that while she was already worried.I got ready for the day, had a light breakfast, and went to my mum's house.“Daddy.” He said running to me.“How are you?” I asked.“I’m fine. I missed you.”“I missed you too.” I said putting him down. “Hey, mum.”I walked to the dining room and there were different kinds of breakfast.“Have a seat.” She said.“I already had breakfast but how can I say no?” I sat down and fixed up a plate for myself. My sister also came in the dining room and sat down. We had all breakfast and Jason went to the living room to play.“Camilla is back in town.” I announced.“Really?” My sister asked. “What brought her back?”“Her grandfather’s sick. He’s in the hospital.”“The
Chapter Fifty-ThreeCamilla’s POVAfter seven hours we landed and the driver was waiting for me along with my grandfather’s assistant.“Good day, Miss Camilla. It’s good to have you back. It’s said it’s under such circumstances.” He said.“I know. Let’s go.”After some minutes of driving, we arrived at the hospital and went to the private suite where my grandfather was. I walked into the room. There were tubes everywhere and an oxygen mask on his face. I was scared. I sat down beside him and talked to him for a few minutes. I couldn’t believe he asked them not to call me. He’s stubborn after all.I went outside to speak to the doctor. “How is he?” I asked.“He just got out of surgery, we won’t know it was successful until he wakes up.”“What if he doesn’t wake up?”“He will. Don’t worry. Let’s go to my office so we can talk about things better there.”We walked to his office and he gave me a thorough detail of his condition. He told me to go back home and stop worrying and that they