Three weeks had passed since that day.Camille Parker sat dazed on her bed. She had not even bothered to turn on the light. The surroundings were dim, but the moonlight filtering through the curtains gave the room a soft, ethereal ambience. It was so quiet that she could almost hear her own thoughts, a chaotic mess that they were.She hadn’t told him the truth that day at the villa. How could she? It was impossible, especially with Christian using her family as blackmail.She knew how hard her brothers had worked to manage the hotel business and keep the ratings and reviews at the top. They were so hardworking that she could barely communicate with them as their schedules were almost always full.Of course, there were times when they had a long break from work, and that was when they’d make an effort to meet with her.She trusted her brothers with her life. She had no doubt that they felt the same way and that they would not want this kind of life for her.It was why, when she decided
Camille thought about it for a moment. First of all, it couldn’t be work-related. After all, they worked at the same company, and she was even his personal assistant. She would know if something went wrong.On the contrary, everything was running smoothly, which made this current situation even more confusing.‘Probably has to do with his father? I can’t think of anything else,’ Camille grumbled to herself as she forced herself to leave her bedroom.As much as it annoyed her to take care of Christian, she couldn’t let the servants do it for her. Not when he called for her himself. If she didn’t come, he would most likely punish the servants in response, and she didn’t want that to happen.When she finally reached the living room, she stopped in her tracks, stunned by the sight before her.The scene in front of her was so strange. The lights weren’t on, just a single chandelier hanging from the ceiling, casting a soft glow over the room.Christian, usually calm and collected, was spraw
“Stay here, Camille.”He repeated it over and over like a chant. Camille felt slight goosebumps on her skin and resisted the urge to punch her boss in the stomach.This was such an invasion of privacy that if it had been anyone else, she would have already thrown him over her shoulder and let his back slam painfully to the floor.But this was Christian, so she couldn’t do anything rash right now.“Sir, please,” she said as calmly as she could. “Let go of me, and I’ll help you get up. Please don’t be difficult.”“Be quiet,” he said in a low voice. “Don’t leave just yet.”Camille felt annoyance spike inside of her. “What is it that you want with me?” she snapped. “I’m not one of your women. You’re not allowed to touch me however you want. If I say no, that means no—”“Yes you are.” Suddenly his voice was frighteningly sober. The tone lost most of the slur, and he sounded like he was on the verge of irritation. “You’re mine, Camille. You belong to me. Only me.”“I don’t belong to you. I
“Not even a cent?” Christian looked bemused. “That’s unusual.”“That girl was unusual from the start.” Greg shook his head. “Do you know what favor she asked of me?”“What was it?”“A new identity.”“A new… identity? Why?”“That was the only thing she asked of me.”“Is she a criminal?”“Perhaps. I won’t know unless I conduct an investigation on her.”“What kind of crimes could a young girl commit?” Christian sounded like he had a hard time processing this information.“There are a lot of things. Maybe theft.” Greg shrugged. “I have no idea at the moment. Once the results are out, we will know.”“How old is she?”“Eighteen.” Greg raised an eyebrow. “Are you interested in her?”“In her background, yes,” Christian said calmly. “She might just be pretending in order to catch your interest. I do not trust her.”Greg chuckled. “Neither do I. But she does deserve a favor, so I will do it without hesitation. I just want to know the reason behind it, for contingency purposes.”“I see.”***The
Patricia was absolutely taken with Hailey. The sight alone puzzled Christian, but he wisely decided not to say anything.‘If this gets into dangerous territory, I’m going to have to put a stop to it,’ he thought to himself as he watched the girl playing with his younger sister in the living room.Patricia wanted to play tag, which was really childish and he wanted nothing to do with it, so only she and Hailey were the participants.But in spite of himself, he couldn’t help but give Hailey a lingering look. He couldn’t seem to read her. It was as if she had two different personalities.One moment she was cool and polite, and the next she was happy and smiling so brightly that the corners of her lips almost reached her ears.The effect was almost like whiplash.‘She seems genuine,’ he thought absently as he watched her scour the area for Patricia’s hiding spot. She even seemed to enjoy the game.Why an eighteen-year-old would be interested in such a childish game was beyond him. Persona
‘The audacity of this girl.’This was what Christian thought immediately as a response to her blatant insult.No one had ever dared to say that to his face before. This was certainly a first.The silence between them became tense, like the formation of a dense cloud. He was seething inside, but he didn’t want to explode like an irrational person on this woman, no matter how foolish she was.He would handle this situation calmly. He would be the better person instead of her. He had been taught by his father to remain calm in any situation. Rationality over emotions, as Greg often liked to call it.“…You’re a pretty brave girl for saying that,” he finally said in an impassive tone.Hailey only scoffed. There seemed to be no hint of fear in her eyes.A brave girl, indeed.“I am always brave enough to stand up for injustice whenever it’s needed,” she pointed out. “You’re the one in the wrong and yet you refuse to acknowledge it.”“I was merely being honest,” he said as calmly as he could.
Hailey’s expression betrayed no emotion as she met his gaze directly.“I’m sorry,” she repeated in an impassive tone. “I was out of line. I shouldn’t have interfered.”Christian blinked. Well, this was certainly a first.Normally, whenever women apologized, it was to gain something out of him. Maybe she had something concocted there in that pretty little head of hers?“I thought you said that you have a sense of justice,” he pointed out. “That you did not do anything wrong and that you refuse to apologize to someone like me.”“I still think that way,” she said simply.Well, that was a surprise.“Oh really?” he said sarcastically.She sighed. “But even so, I should’ve approached the matter in a more mature way. Calling you an asshole went too far. I should’ve explained calmly and let the matter go, because like you said, it’s really none of my business.”He listened to her words, feeling the surprise in his heart increase.“You people are not my family or my friends, so…” Her voice tra
When he got downstairs for breakfast fully dressed, the food was already served on the table. However, Camille was nowhere to be seen.“Where is she?” he asked one of the maids nearby.The maid, Marie, approached him and said politely, “Miss Parker went ahead to the company, Mr. Callahan. She said to inform you that she will go to work early to finalize preparations for the Solar Project.”“I see,” Christian said. Marie quickly excused herself to the kitchen.He watched her leave with a slightly raised eyebrow. He had noticed that she never met his eyes the whole time. In fact, there seemed to be a hint of fear in her demeanor.Had he been unruly last night? He still couldn’t remember much, but if so, that would be humiliating. He had always prided himself on being calm and decisive at all times. If he had behaved like a foolish drunk last night…Christian decided that he would have to confront Camille about this later at the company. He had an inkling as to why she left before him, a