A Love She Wasn’t Allowed to Feel
13: CHAPTER 13.
A Love She Wasn’t Allowed to Feel ”What happened to your hand?”
I didn’t even need to turn around to know exactly whose deep voice that was.
Even the masculine scent lingering in the air was enough for me to recognize him instantly.
I stayed still, staring blankly out the bedroom window, unwilling to so much as glance in Javier’s direction.
My chest still ached terribly.
The suffocating weight of the baseless accusations from earlier still tormented my heart.
“Camila, I’m asking you something. Why are you just sitting there in silence? Have you lost your voice?” Javier demanded again, his tone rising when he got no response.
I finally turned to look at him and found Javier had already taken a seat in the chair beside me.
“If I told you, would you even believe me? Would anyone in this house believe a single word I say?” I asked back, my voice trembling as I fought back tears.
“Tell me the truth first. How can I believe you when you won’t even say anything, Camila?” Javier replied, his hawk-like eyes fixed straight on me.
I smiled bitterly, then turned my face away to stare straight ahead again.
“Do you know something?
I never made your future wife fall.
I never did anything that could have hurt her—”
”I asked about your hand.
Why are you steering the conversation toward Adriana?” Javier cut in quickly.
“Because it’s all connected! I’m the one who’s injured here, Javier, not her!” I said, gesturing to the scrape on the back of my hand. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
Javier furrowed his brow, his gaze sharpening.
“So you’re saying Adriana is lying?
That she’s only pretending to be in pain?”
”What if that’s exactly what happened?” I challenged boldly, staring straight into his eyes.
“Why would she do something so ridiculous, Camila? Why? There’s nothing for her to gain by pretending to fall!” Javier exclaimed, defending his fiancée without a shred of hesitation.
I immediately fell silent.
My tongue turned to lead.
I couldn’t possibly tell him the truth—that Adriana was doing all of this madness for one purpose alone: to drive me out of this house.
I couldn’t possibly confess that Adriana already knew my deepest secret—that I, the adopted daughter who was supposed to see Javier only as an older brother, had instead dared to fall deeply, hopelessly in love with him.
Seeing me shut myself off once again, Javier let out a harsh breath.
He rose from his seat.
“Why won’t you say anything? I don’t want any more trouble between you and Adriana, Camila. Mama is genuinely furious this time, and if you cause another scene, I won’t be able to protect you.”
I could only remain silent at that cold warning.
My eyes followed Javier’s broad back with a hollow, aching gaze as he walked away and disappeared behind the bedroom door.
That night, I sat alone on the bedroom balcony with a book resting on my lap.
I had deliberately shut myself away, no longer able to bear the thought of stepping out to sit with Mama after the string of hurtful words she had thrown at me earlier.
Splash!
I rose from my chair and walked toward the balcony railing to see what was happening.
Down below, Javier’s muscular silhouette could be seen cutting through the water with fluid, powerful strokes.
Without realizing it, a faint smile crept onto my lips as I watched him swim.
I gazed down at him from above with deep, unrestrained admiration—tracing the lines of that strong, sculpted body that had always haunted and ruled over my wildest dreams every single night.
“Ahem!”
A heavy clearing of the throat from behind me startled me instantly.
I spun around quickly, and my heart plummeted straight into despair when I saw Mama Isabella already standing at the threshold of my balcony door.
“At first, Mama didn’t want to believe it when Adriana told me you had feelings for Javier that weren’t… appropriate,” Mama said, staring at me with a gaze so cold and full of disgust.
“But seeing the way you were just looking at my own son from up here, Mama believes it now.”
My whole body froze instantly.
Every last bit of air around me seemed to vanish.
I shook my head frantically, trying to open my mouth to deny it.
“Ma, it’s not like that—”
”You will still be allowed to stay in this house, Camila,” Mama cut in immediately, leaving me no room whatsoever to defend myself.
“On the condition that you know your place and understand the boundaries of what you are—an adopted child. Do you understand?!”
After hurling that sentence so thoroughly designed to strip away what little dignity I had left, Mama turned on her heel and walked away, leaving me behind without waiting for any explanation at all.
I gripped the balcony railing, my entire body shaking violently.
The tears I had been holding back all this time finally spilled over, pouring out without restraint.
Adriana truly was cruel beyond measure.
I had no idea what kind of poisonous lies she had planted in Mama’s mind, enough to turn the very woman who had once raised me with such tender love into someone who now despised me as though I were nothing more than a disgusting parasite.