Chapter Two_Facing the pasts

Isabella’s point of view.

Cameron was by my side as I opened the package, a tiny white box decorated with green twines for some reason.

The engagement ring had belonged to Zachary’s grandma, a woman of exquisite taste.

I had no idea how I was going to tell Cameron the truth after she saw this, and she knew my stance on marriage. My heart raced when I thought she would think I was just a two faced bitch and then, our friendship would end.

I told her so many lies about my family already., how could she ever trust me again.

I covered my mouth and closed my eyes, steadying my breath. My dad would say that the shock of seeing something from my past would stay for a while, and then eventually fade away. Like the shock I felt when I found out my father was dead.

Cameron was amazing though. She held unto me while I hyperventilated, keeping all questions she had to herself until I offered to give them myself. Would she be as compassionate as she was right now, when she handed me the glass of water, for my nerves, when I tell her the true reason why I was sent away from home.

Deep breaths.

"Breathe, just breathe," Cameron's voice was quite distant but it was my anchor while my heart rate skyrocketed and my palms became all sweaty.

“No one would be able to get you while you are here with me. Just breathe.”

We could have stayed in that position for hours, and I wouldn’t know. Eventually the palpitations calmed down and it felt like I could breathe again without the need of aided assistance from Cameron.

“I have an offer,” Cameron said, and I looked up at her questioningly. “We could forget that this came in the mail, and continue to move on with our lives. You wouldn’t need to go through another panic attack again at the thought of getting married.”

I stopped walking. “You would do that? For me?”

She nodded. “Just give me the word, and it all goes into the fire. I will change the mail box so we never receive anything like that again.” she gestured to the diamond ring at the side, which cost millions of dollars. “I would throw that out the windows.”

“Thank you,” I said, following her through the hallway until we got to the kitchen, my eyebrows knitted together. The words she wasn’t saying was that we would move t another apartment, far away from here. No way for Lilian Wells or anyone in the Newman family to contact me again for a while.

She takes a seat on the counter, her legs crossed, and beams up at me when she saw me considering the offer. “It is not going to be easy, but I am sure it can be done.”

I shook my head, “No. I need to face my responsibilities.” I said simply.

There had been a letter attached to the ring. Cameron had not been able to see it but knowing the Newmans had made me very keen and perceptive. It was thin ad attached to the underside of the box. I had just forty eight hours t go back home, have dinner with them, and start plans for the the wedding, where I would ultimately be sold to Zachary Newman so he could use me as he deemed fit.

The thought of being anywhere close to such a man sent shivers down my spine.

I cleared my throat, "Cameron," I started, "My family wants me to go back home."

I felt Cameron move to stand behind me, offering her silent support as I thought about the new journey. I had a freaking line coming out in a few days time and all this was supposed to be a big misunderstanding.

She smiled at me, her eyebrows raised upwards in confusion, “Is going home such a bad thing?” she asked. “Does your family abuse you or something?”

She stayed quiet while I explained half of the situation. I started with the beginning of the whole betrothal stuff -how my dad who was truly a good man sold me off to get a large amount of money from a dangerous man in our town. And how I started developing feelings for the boy I was supposed to marry.

“And then he did something horrible.”

“What?” she asks.

I took a deep breath and told her some more. The time I became close t his twin brother, the sneaking around we did, the countries we travelled to. The relationship I had with him wasn’t like what I had with any other. I was in love.

“And then my dad dissolved the arrangement and sent me to live with my aunt. He died few months after, in a car crash.”

"He was murdered...."

Cameron placed her hand over mine, “That is a fucked up thing,” she had tears running down her cheeks. “If you seriously need the break, tell me and I would get it done.”

Though I knew she suspected I wasn’t telling her everything, she was still ready to help me however she can.

“I have to start preparations for my departure. I need to go home in a few hours to see how bad things are and then….” I struggled to get the words out. The truth was I had no idea what I was going to do if I found out dad’s plans never made it through.

She got to her feet, “I am coming with you. Book a flight for two.”

The look in her eyes showed me that whatever argument I had against her coming with me should be kept under lock and key.

“Sure.”

I received a strange bouquet of flowers two hours before my departure.

******

It was almost like I could see my dad now, dressed in his favorite golf shorts and a white t-shirt reading the newspaper in the kitchen while drinking a cup of coffee. The smell of freshly brewed coffee hung in the air, a comforting aroma that did little to calm my nerves.

"Finish up Izzy and we can get started," He would tell me whenever he caught me watching him instead of eating the snack my mom had made.

They had no other child after me. The neighbors whispered that I sucked my mom dry.

"Are you okay Isabella?" Cameron asked me the moment we sat on our seats on the flight.

She unplugged the ear buds from my ears, stopping the melodious flow of music from reaching my eardrums.

I turned to her and plastered the largest smile on my face, "I'm okay, I just need to see them," I placed an hand over hers, more for my benefit than hers. The words in the magazine opened on my thighs seemed to float around until I could no longer see them.

Some kind of memory tugged at the corner of my mind, something I had forgotten in my haste to make it back home in record time.

"I got you something Bella, close your eyes." I kept on hearing his voice in my mind.

"We're here Bella, I think," Cameron's voice broke through my memory of my dad which made me a bit mad but I knew it wasn't her fault.

We climbed down from the car at the same time and while Cameron stared at our house with awe, I dreaded even looking at it. I took my sweet time bringing out our suitcases from the car before bidding the Uber farewell.

"It's pretty."

The house was like almost every building in this neighborhood but my dad added a touch to everything. He didn't want our house to look like our neighbors. While everyone had paved driveways, he added flowers to the paved driveway and little hedge stones I used to climb on whenever I was bored.

Cameron held unto my shoulders and turned me around, she moved her hands upwards. To my cheek. "We're here to find out what happened and what made them send something like that. To dissolve the betrothal and then go back to our happy little life.”

It physically hurt to put on a fake smile, but that was all I needed to get Cameron off my back. She took one of the bags from me, and we carefully rolled them to the door. My eyes darting around to find anything that was a bit unusual, while I told Cameron wonderful stories of my time in the house.

Until I saw the flash of brown hair at the windowpane, the hands that held unto me when I was in pain to comfort me or just hug me close to herself because I was a baby. She was out of the door before I could fully register that this was the first time I saw my mom in five years time.

And for some reason, my brain finally decided to start working well when my mom was on top of me, crushing me down with a bone crushing hug. I remembered what I had forgotten.

Cameron's engagement.