Chapter Thirty-One Camilla’s POV We got into his car and I gave him directions and we were on our way. The drive there wasn’t quiet as Rory and Raffael were chattering, Rory, doing most of the talking. After 10 minutes, we arrived at her school and we escorted her to her class. Raffael said his goodbyes and went to wait in the car while I went in to talk to her teacher. “Ms. Ruth, can I speak with you?” I said when I approached her. “Yes. Is there a problem?” She asked seeing as my demeanor wasn’t good. “There is.” I said. “My daughter came home the other day and complained that some of the girls in her class have been teasing her about not having a dad.” “I’m sorry about, Ms. Brown.” She said. “So I was thinking maybe you should talk to the girls and maybe their parents. They should also apologize to Rory.” “I most definitely will do that. I will talk to the girls and make sure they apologize. I’m sorry about it, it’ll never happen again. I’ll make sure of that.” “
Chapter Thirty-TwoRaphael’s POVWe got to the school and dropped Aurora off. I said goodbye and went to wait outside while Camilla talked to the teacher.I stood outside looking around the school building. From everything I’d seen, it was a really good school except for the fact that the student bullies.I got in the car after I saw Camilla coming out of the building.“What did the teacher say?” I asked as she got in the car.“She’s going to handle it. She'll talk to the girls and their parents and make them apologize.” She said putting on her seatbelt.“Ok. Do I need to drive you to the office?” I asked and started the car.“No, you can just drop me off at the house. I go to the office by myself.” She replied. I knew she would say that. I was just trying to be nice. I could tell she wasn’t comfortable with me being around but she was tolerating me for our daughter’s sake.I thought about a lot of things the previous day and realized how badly I’d done her. I broke her heart and lef
Chapter Thirty-ThreeCamilla’s POVI drove to the school and when we got there, I went in to get her while Raphael waited outside. When I got to her class, her teacher was having a conversation with two parents whom I recognized. They were the mothers of the girls who were talking about Rory.They all turned to look at me when I entered the class.“She’s here.” One of the women said when they saw me.“Ms. Brown. Good afternoon. Can you join us please?” The teacher said.I moved to where they were standing to join in on the conversation because it was obviously about my daughter and me.“I’ve talked to them about the incident that happened and they are refusing to apologize or make their kids apologize.” The teacher said again.“Listen young lady. My child is not wrong in this situation. It's not her fault you decided to whore around and not know the father of your child.” The other woman said.“Excuse me.” I was taken completely aback by what she said.“You heard me right. I have to
Chapter Thirty-FourRaphael’s POVCamilla dragged me out of the class and didn’t stop pulling me till we got to the car.I was tempted to say something but I could see that she was angry so I decided to let it slide. She took Rory from me and tucked her in her car seat.She was about to get in the driver's seat when I stopped her. “I’ll drive. Give me the keys.” I stretched my hand forward and she hesitated for a while before she handed them to me.She went and got in the passenger seat while I got in the driver's seat and started the car.We were driving quietly until Rory spoke up.“Mummy, are you angry?” She asked.“No baby. Why would I be?” Camilla responded calmly even though she was visibly angry.“I don’t know. You look angry.” She replied.“Your mummy’s just having a bad day.”“Don’t frown your face mummy. It doesn’t look good.” I almost laughed out loud.“Ok, baby.” She said with a smile on her face.The rest of the ride was quiet and we finally reached the house. We went ins
Chapter Thirty-FiveCamilla's POV“Aren’t you coming to eat?” O asked Raphael on my way to the dining room.“I am.” He said and stood up, following behind me.Skye served the food and we said grace and went on to eat.The table wasn’t this silent as either Rory or I had something to say. I didn’t want to say anything because I didn’t feel that comfortable talking with Raphael around. I didn’t know why Rory wasn’t saying anything.“Rory, how was school today?” Skye asked.“School was good. We learned a lot today and our teacher gave us more time for recess.” She said concentrating on her food.“That's great. Camilla, how was work?” She turned to me.“It was fine. Had a lot of work to do today. There are only a few people at the office right now and I’m in charge so it was a bit stressful.”“You’ve got this. It’s only for a few weeks too.” Skye said. “How was your day, Raphael?” I didn't expect her to ask him but it would have been weird if she asked everyone but him.“Uhm, my day was f
Chapter Thirty-SixRaphael’s POV“Mummy, look. Daddy got a necklace for me.” Aurora said as soon as Camilla came out of the kitchen.I scanned her face and from her expression, I could tell something was wrong.“Really? Let me see.” She said and took the necklace from her. She looked at it for a good minute.“It’s really pretty, mommy.” Aurora said.“Yes, it is baby.” She replied and handed it back to her. “Thank you.” She said to me.“It’s nothing. She’s my daughter after all.”“I want to put it on.” Aurora said.“Come here. Let me help you.” I said and she ran to me.“You guys are having fun without me.” The chairman said coming into the living room.“Pops. How are you?” Aurora said going to hug him. “You’ve been sleeping.”“I’m fine, Rory. I was tired. How are you? How was school?” “School was fine. Look at the necklace my daddy got me.” She said and showed him the pendant.“It’s really beautiful.” He said.“I know right.” She replied and ran off.“How are you doing?” The chairman
Chapter Thirty-Seven Camilla's POV After Raphael left, I wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody so I went and locked myself up in my room. Skye got Rory ready for bed and they all stayed up watching TV till 8:30 and went to bed. After they went to bed I came out for a glass of water. I spent a little time in the kitchen and when I was about to leave, I saw Skye coming out of the room. “I thought you were already asleep?” I asked. “I came for a glass of water. But I'm glad I ran into you.” “Why?” “I wanted to talk to you about Raphael.” She said and sat on a chair. “What about him?” “Look at the way you treat him, Camilla. You act like he's going to take Rory and sell her off. Give him some grace. I know you're hurt but for Rory’s sake please.” “But.” She interrupted me. “I know he hurt you. He's trying to make amends. If you would just let him.” “I’m trying to forgive him but I just can’t. Every time I think to be nice I just remember that morning he came hom
Chapter Thirty-EightRaphael’s POVIt was the day of the dance and Aurora and I had spent all of last night practicing our dance moves. The dance started at 2:00 pm and it was currently 11:02 am. I was on my way to their house.When I arrived, Camilla was doing Rory’s hair while Skye was steaming her dress. The chairman wasn’t at home.“Hey daddy.” Aurora said.“Hi, baby. Your hair is looking beautiful.”“Thank you.” She laughed. “I’m going to be the prettiest girl at the dance.”“You sure are.”“Hey.” Camilla said.“How are you?” I asked.“I’m good.” She replied. I went to drop my suit in the living room and came back to the dining.I sat on one of the chairs and after a few minutes, Skye was done with the dress and Camilla was done with Aurora's hair. “It looks really pretty.” I said.“Thank you, daddy.”We still had about two hours before the dance started. “What are we going to do for the next couple of hours before the dance starts?” I asked.“I guess we could watch a movie or
Chapter Sixty-FourRaphael's POV“Did you see the news about Camilla?” Sam asked as I came out of the meeting room.“What news?”“They leaked her address, her job back in California, and her phone number. Everything about the life she’s been living these last few years is on the internet.”“What the hell? Did they say anything about Aurora?”“No. They didn’t. But I’m sure they know about her too. They’re just kind enough not to put that out.”“She must be devastated.”“I know right? Have you talked to her? When was she thinking about going back?”“I don’t know. She hasn’t said anything. I’ll call her right now.” I said.“Ok, bro. I’ll get back to work. See you later.” He said and left. I went back to my office and picked up my phone to call her. It seemed her phone was switched off. Of course it would, it would be blowing up by now with messages and calls from random people.I went online to check for the news Sam talked about. It was kind of nasty. The comments said mean things abou
Chapter Sixty-ThreeCamilla’s POVAfter spending the whole night trying to figure out what my next decision would be, I finally made uo my mind to go back to California. I wanted to spend the rest of the week here before returning though.I got up and got ready for the day. I went to check up on my grandpa and took him out for a walk around the compound.“I’ll be leaving next week.” I announced.“That’s good. You’ve spent a long time here anyway. It’s time to return to your normal life.”“But this was my life though. Here in New York.”“And it’s not anymore. You started a new one that you can’t leave behind.”We continued the walk in silence. After circling the compound, we returned to the house. Rory was already up by this time. My grandpa was to return to work in a few weeks after the doctor cleared him. For now, he was taking a break and letting Jeremy handle the company.We had breakfast and then my grandpa headed to his study. He was invested in reading nowadays. Rory kept beggin
Chapter Sixty-TwoRaphael's POVI worked from home today so I could spend a little bit of time with Aurora. Camilla still hadn’t made up her mind about when to leave for California. To be honest, it was making me kind of nervous that I didn’t know when my daughter would be leaving me.Aurora was in the middle of the room playing with her toys while I worked away on my computer. “Daddy, when will Jason be back?” She asked.“He won’t be back for long, honey. He’s at school, remember.”“Why didn't I go to school? I miss my friends.” She said.“You’ll be back to school in a bit. When you guys return home.”“Are you going to come with us?”“Uhm. I don’t know yet.”“Well, I do want you to come. And Jason too.”“We’ll think about it.”“Okay.” She said going back to her toys.After an hour or two, I went to make her something to eat.“Daddy, can we go to the park and then go get ice cream? I don’t want to stay inside all day.” She complained.“I’ll have to ask your mummy first. We can’t go o
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