Camilla's POVIt had become a prison of memories. Every day, the walls seemed to shut in tighter, heavier, bearing me down under the burden of my sorrow. Wherever I looked, there was Jasper: his toys scattered over the bedroom floor, his little shoes standing all in a line by the door as if he would burst through it at any moment, smiling; that bright smile that brightens the darkest of days.He never did, though.And this silence was unbearably loud.Dante hadn't said a word to me since that night in his study. Now he barely even acknowledged that I existed, bypassing me with an empty gaze, his features set into a permanent mask of stone-as if I wasn't there. Yet his pain was wrapped around him like a second skin; I knew mine did the same. But rather than pulling us together, the opposite seemed true, farther into our private hells.I had spent most of my time in Jasper's room; it was the only place I could still feel him, still pretend this nightmare hadn't swallowed us whole. I cou
Camilla's POVTwo months. Sixty days. That was how long it had been since Jasper disappeared. Since Dante and I became two shadows haunting the same house. Since the silence in our home became an unbearable weight that pressed down on my chest.Every breath was a struggle in itself, as if even the house was choking me. I kept thinking the walls had shrunk overnight. This thick silence seemed to compact and throttle me slowly.Dante and I seldomly speak in the house, day in and day out circling around the house like ghosts, the only communications were cold nods or a look from afar. Sometimes I actually wondered whether, with our silences, we said more than we ever had with our voices. But even that silent communication was poisoned, with pain and blame.I told myself he was hitting too, that this stare he shot my way, wasn't the one of cruelty but of survival, but that couldn't stop that wash through me every time he passed by without a word. Piece by piece, I felt I was fading away
*CAMILLA’S POV* I sat on the edge of the bed, my hand resting lightly on my stomach. The small swell of life beneath my palm and Jasper my seven year old son from another man, were the only things keeping me going these days. Three months pregnant. I could hardly believe it myself. I thought that maybe this could be my second chance. Maybe with the arrival of his baby, Tom would change. And just maybe he would look at me differently, treat me differently. But the hope I clung onto was fragile like a thread that could snap at any time.I’ve been locked up for three months now and Tom has refused to tell me how Jasper was doing since I tried escaping with him. I’ve tried to talk to him but he has paid me no mind. His actions were all too familiar. I knew if I wanted to see Jasper I would have to do as I was told. I had endured so much pain from Tom and being married to him for 7 years, I had finally reached my limits. I didn’t want to fight anymore.I was tired of the constant beatin
*CAMILLA’S POV*Everything was pitch black. I couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. It was as though I had been swallowed by the abyss. Was this the afterlife? Was this what death felt like? I floated in that darkness, wondering if this was how it all ended if this was my eternal punishment. Life had been nothing but misery and I had done nothing to deserve such ill fate.A sound. Faint at first, like a distant hum, but it grew louder. I strained to listen, focusing on the noise, hoping for something, anything, to pull me out of the void. It sounded familiar, like the rhythmic beeping of a machine. The more I focused, the more I realized… it sounded like beeps you’d hear in a hospital.I became more aware of my surroundings. My eyes fluttered open, my lids feeling impossibly heavy. The harsh, fluorescent lights blinded my vision, making me squint as I tried to adjust. The sterile smell of antiseptic filled my nostrils. It was a hospital, but something about it felt too familiar, like I had bee
*CAMILLA’S POV*Today was the day I was to be discharged from the hospital, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease. I lay there, staring at the white ceiling, Jasper peacefully sleeping in the crib beside me. I remembered this day all too well. In my past life, this was the day I met Dante again. Our encounter had been brief, barely memorable. The conversation we had was cut short by my father, who had come to help me back home. This time I needed to take advantage of our encounter. “ He should be out in the next two minutes,” I mumbled looking at the clock hanging on the wall.I disheveled my tied-up curly ginger hair. So I looked as sick as I could. He had asked about my health and looked slightly worried about me in my first life and I was going to take advantage of that now. “I will inflict times two of the pain I received on those who hurt us,” I whispered to sleeping Jasper. I had a second chance, and I would be damned if I didn’t use it. I took a deep breath and stepped out
*CAMILLA’S POV*“Not at all,” I responded quickly, as his eyes stared intensely at me.“I got pregnant,” I said expecting a reaction out of him but nothing.“We haven’t seen for seven months and now you come telling me you’re pregnant.”‘was he keeping track of the time we spent apart?’ I wondered to myself.“I said I GOT pregnant. I was discharged the day we met at the hospital.”He was now looking at me attentively. “We’ve got a kid together Dante,” I added.“We have a son. And his name is Jas—.” I said before he cut me off with a look of distrust on his face.“You expect me to just believe you?” He questioned.“You’re a smart and attentive man. I’m pretty sure you already made inquiries about why I was admitted to the hospital,” I responded putting on a brave face.I could see a smile curl up on his lips. “So you think you know me now?”“I don’t want to have to argue with you, Dante. And to answer your question… Yes I know you to some extent and that’s why I brought this,” I said p
*CAMILLA'S POV*I finally reached home after my meeting with Dante, my mind buzzing with everything that had transpired. The moment I stepped out of the car, I heard a rustling sound from the bushes nearby. My pulse quickened, and I scanned the area, wondering if someone was watching me. My mind immediately went to John. Keeping tabs on me wouldn’t pass him. Had he figured out my plan? Was this his way of trying to keep me in check? The feeling of being watched gnawed at me, but I tried to brush it off as paranoia. With Dante’s actions still lingering in my thoughts, I walked up the path to the front door and headed inside, locking it behind me. I made my way quietly to Jasper’s room, wanting to check on him. My sweet boy was sound asleep, his tiny chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.I stood at the door for a moment, taking in his features. He looked so much like Dante—the sharp, defined jawline and dark black hair that framed his angelic face. But his eyes, when they were o
*CAMILLA’S POV*“You can’t imagine how long I waited to have you back and to be your father again,” John said, holding my hand gently. “To have you in my arms, referring to me as your Dad. This makes this old man happy.”“Dad you’ve told me this countless times, it’s been months already,” I replied, giggling.“Now I can die easy,” he added with a light laugh.“Don’t say such things, you still have many more years to live.”I smiled at him, playing along with his charade. But as I looked into his eyes, I noticed something—he was watching me carefully, as if trying to gauge my actions. Had he caught wind of my meeting with Dante? Was this all part of his attempt to reel me back under his control and delusion?No. He couldn’t know. There was no way he had figured out the truth about me coming back in time. I was sure of that.“I’ve prepared a little gift for you,” he continued, his tone overly sweet. "But first, let’s have breakfast. I’m sure you’re starving."“Yes I am, let me go get Ja
Camilla's POVTwo months. Sixty days. That was how long it had been since Jasper disappeared. Since Dante and I became two shadows haunting the same house. Since the silence in our home became an unbearable weight that pressed down on my chest.Every breath was a struggle in itself, as if even the house was choking me. I kept thinking the walls had shrunk overnight. This thick silence seemed to compact and throttle me slowly.Dante and I seldomly speak in the house, day in and day out circling around the house like ghosts, the only communications were cold nods or a look from afar. Sometimes I actually wondered whether, with our silences, we said more than we ever had with our voices. But even that silent communication was poisoned, with pain and blame.I told myself he was hitting too, that this stare he shot my way, wasn't the one of cruelty but of survival, but that couldn't stop that wash through me every time he passed by without a word. Piece by piece, I felt I was fading away
Camilla's POVIt had become a prison of memories. Every day, the walls seemed to shut in tighter, heavier, bearing me down under the burden of my sorrow. Wherever I looked, there was Jasper: his toys scattered over the bedroom floor, his little shoes standing all in a line by the door as if he would burst through it at any moment, smiling; that bright smile that brightens the darkest of days.He never did, though.And this silence was unbearably loud.Dante hadn't said a word to me since that night in his study. Now he barely even acknowledged that I existed, bypassing me with an empty gaze, his features set into a permanent mask of stone-as if I wasn't there. Yet his pain was wrapped around him like a second skin; I knew mine did the same. But rather than pulling us together, the opposite seemed true, farther into our private hells.I had spent most of my time in Jasper's room; it was the only place I could still feel him, still pretend this nightmare hadn't swallowed us whole. I cou
Camilla's POVI did not want to go into that study again. Not after the way he had left me in tatters last night. And yet my feet moved of their own accord, as if fueled by something deep inside of me I couldn't suppress. Desperation, maybe. Perhaps I just wanted him to say anything, anything, which would not cut me to the core.I didn't knock; I merely opened the door and stepped inside the darkened room. He stood by the window, his back to me, one hand clutched on the frame, the other wrapped around a glass of whiskey. His shoulders were tight, his posture unyielding. He didn't turn around."I told you to leave me alone," he said, his voice flat but threaded with exhaustion."I won't," I whispered, shaking. "We need to talk.""There's nothing to say." His voice went sharp though he didn't turn to me. "You've said enough."I swallowed hard and made myself keep going. "Dante, you can't shut me out like this all the time. We need each other, we are both suffering.”He whirled on his he
Camilla's POVThat night was unbearably hot, and the silence seemed to cleave on, choking. I wasn't able to stay put in my room and started pacing. It seemed like the walls in my room were closing in on me, and the seconds dragged like an eternity.I just could not bear it. I had to talk with Dante.I slipped out into the dark hall, my fingers of one hand tightening on the edge of my robe, quietly and silently. I stood outside Dante's study, my heart pounding in my chest. The door was open, and the thin light spilled into the hall, so I took another big breath and went in.Slumped over his desk were papers everywhere: wrinkled shirt, sleeves rolled up the elbows, mussed long hair from running his hands through it. Anger tautened the leanness in his face; tension spoke silently of an emotion managed but little below the surface."Dante," I whispered as I entered.His head came up; eyes slitted. "What is it that you are doing here?”My throat was dry as I swallowed. "I can't stand the
DANTE'S POV.Standing right at the edge of the river, where my boots sank into damp earth, my fists had a whitened knuckle.Alex's voice cut through the steady rush of the water. "Dante, we have scoured the area. “Are you sure we are in the right place?"I nodded stiffly, gaze affixed on the water. "Yes, I'm sure. I am not leaving until we find something."Anthony wearily came up to me, worn out but set. "We've been here for hours. Maybe we should fall back, re-plan, and…”"No." My voice was colder than ice, and it cut the tension. "We keep searching."Anthony exchanged a glance with Alex, but neither of them dared do more. They knew better. This wasn't a democracy; this was an order.The necklace.It's a tracking device that, while planted inside Jasper's necklace months in advance for any incidents like this, which I'm so grateful for now, I would never have believed this could ever be a necessity if the tracker hadn't led me here. It is the only thread that I knew, and still now us
Camilla’s POVMy hand pressed against the cool wood of Dante's office door, my heart slamming hard against my chest like it would burst free any second. It had been a week since the incident, a week since Dante had walked out of this very room, leaving me on the floor sobbing my heart out. He hadn't looked at me, hadn't said a word to me since."Dante…" I whispered, barely loud enough for even me to hear it. I dropped my hand, stepped back, and swallowed against the lump in my throat. He wouldn't open it. He never did.I listened every night to the heavy footsteps pacing in the study, the low of his voice speaking with Alex and Anthony over plans. Working tirelessly to find Jasper but never including me. This wasn't my mission.I'd tried to help with anything I could get my hands on, yet every time Dante would dismiss me with no more than a curt shake of his head or a cold glance.I'd become invisible in his eyes.And still, I refused to let go. Not with my son, not with him.I breath
Camilla’s POVThis was a battlefield of a room, where every second was elongated by oppressive silence that seemed to extend interminably. Dante stood tall and rigid, his eyes ablaze with that controlled anger so much more terrifying than when he yelled. His fists were knotted at his sides, every single one of his muscles straining against the explosion.I shook right there where I was standing; my heart went hard as a football in my chest, to the point it would explode any moment. I could hardly look into his eyes, but turning away felt worse because I'd be admitting defeat, which wasn't any better. Still, I attempted to say something."Dante, please-" No more than a whisper, my voice even cracked.He raised one hand, and I subsided wordlessly. His eyes narrowed to ice-cold, unforgiving slivers that cut without restraint. "Don't. Just… don't. Start explaining." His voice was dead-cold, flat, yet somehow more terrifying than a shout.I swallowed audibly, trying to stabilize myself. "I
. CAMILLA’S POVAnger brewed in Dante's storm, it was beyond darkening skies. Of course, it was in his eyes, all afire, and also in his stance-broad shoulders tense, fists clenched at his sides, as though physically holding himself from an explosion. Every single nerve in my body seemed to burn with anticipation of the inevitable impact of his anger against the truth so about to be laid bare."Where were you when all this was happening?" Dante's voice was low and modulated, but the menace behind wasn't to be mistaken. His words rumbled into the room as he took a step closer to Anthony, who seemed stuck in place, a bead of sweat rolling down his temple.Mumbling, Anthony's voice broke beneath the dead weight of Dante's glare. "I-I was-"Don't stutter!" Dante snapped, the edge of his voice slicing through the air. My body jerked at the sharpness of it. "Answer me!""I'm sorry, Boss. I didn't think-" Anthony cut himself off, face white as he realized how incriminating his words sounded.
CAMILLA POVAnthony's voice still echoed in my head as I sprang from my office chair, my heart pounding hard enough to drown out anything else around me.“You need to come to the mansion now," he'd said, an urgency keening his voice that made me not wait for an explanation.I snatched up my keys and ran for my car, my mind racing with scenarios, each one worse than the last. Time crawled, though I was doing a hundred. The outside world blurred and I didn't focus on anything other than that growing knot of dread clutching my chest.I skidded into the mansion driveway, my hands shaking. This was the stuff of my worst nightmares.The front doors were open, their edges splintered. Blood smeared the white tiles of the entryway and the metallic scent of violence hung heavy in the air.“God, no,” I whimpered, My legs were jelly as I flung myself inside.In an instant, Anthony was by my side, all paled and anxious. His shirt was stained with blood. "Ma'am-What's going on?" I screamed, shaki