*The Same day*
*CAMILLA’S P.O.V.*
“What is Tom doing here now?” I growled, as my heartbeat thumped at my ribcage.
Obviously, one wouldn’t have the faintest idea what this uneasy conversation might be.
Tom just wouldn’t pop up like that for nothing, and that wasn’t good.
My father, John, stood from the table, leaving me with just a glance as he went out to greet his visitor.
Something just didn’t click in my mind.
I couldn’t let it be so until I knew what they had cooked up.
I had to know.
“I’ll be right back, Camilla,” my father said with a smile that never reached his eyes.
“Mr. Lockwood and I have business to discuss.”
“Oh, of course, Daddy,” I replied sweetly, forcing my lips upwards in a lie.
The moment he was out of sight, my mask finally cracked.
I leaned over Jasper’s crib and pressed my lips to the softness of his forehead.
“Stay here, my love,” I whispered, laying him back gently as he settled into a quiet sleep.
I crept away toward the hall, every step in a way heavier, closer to my father’s study.
The door was open enough to let me listen.
The sight of Mr.
Lockwood, Tom’s dad caught me by surprise; what was he doing here and why would he be speaking with my father?
“I have been thinking about the marriage arrangements,” my father’s voice echoed through the room as I almost got caught by surprise.
Marriage arrangements, as expected
I almost scoffed but saved myself in time.
My heart nose dived as the weight of his words slowly crept in.
They were talking about Tom and me?
“I know you’ve been patient,” my father said, his voice almost begging in desperation.
“But now that Camilla is back, I feel it’s time we seal the alliance between our families, once and for all. The marriage would greatly benefit both our businesses.”
My knees buckled.
So this was what this was all about.
This wasn’t about me; it never had been.
I’m back in his game again, just like before-a pawn he’s used to getting more power.
Mr.
Lockwood grunted; the calmness of a windless sea was reflected in his voice.
“You only found her seven months ago, John.
She’s been gone for years.
Do you think she is ready for such a thing?
My father grumbled, “She’s…different now, yes. But that doesn’t alter the fact this is the best opportunity for our families. The Lockwoods and the Walkers joining forces could be monumental for both our businesses. Camilla just needs time to come around.”
“You’ve always been ambitious,” Mr.
Lockwood said with a near-amused tone.
“But are you sure that she will say yes? Do you think she’ll agree to an arranged marriage less than a year after you found her?” The source of this chapter is g.com.
I had bitten my lip hard enough to make it bleed.
Needless to say, Tom being manipulative and using me only when the mood struck him wasn’t sitting well with me, either.
The very idea of being bound to him through all eternity made my skin crawl.
“She will,” Dad said, the confident twist of the words in his mouth curling my stomach.
“She just needs to see the bigger picture. Jasper complicates things, but I can work around that.”
Jasper?
My heart clenched, his use of my son’s name a bold stroke.
How dare they even bring him into this?
Jasper was mine.
They had no right to use him as leverage.
Now, Mr.
Lockwood’s voice went low and deadly.
“Your daughter may have a child now, but that shouldn’t affect the marriage. It won’t look good for my son to marry a single mother. You assured me that you would take care of it, and I expect you to comply with it.”
My father hesitated.
“I know, but things are so different now. Camilla has been through so much, and I don’t want to pressure her yet, I’ll gently explain it to her first.”
“Then make sure it doesn’t backfire,” Mr.
Lockwood growled.
“You do know what’s at stake here. Our families have the opportunity to control the market together. If she says no, well, there are other ways of making her comply, you understand what I mean.”
“Absolutely,” John replied without hesitation
A cold shiver ran down my back.
Other ways?
Like using Jasper to threaten me like he did before?
“But I do not want to force her yet, ” my father finally replied with less conviction.
“Camilla is still fragile. But, in time, I think that I am able to get her to listen to reason; she simply has to come to see that this is for the good of everyone.”
Fragile?
It boiled my blood.
He didn’t know me anymore.
That girl, who used to bend to his every whim, was gone.
I’d survived too much to let him have his way in my life again.
“Very well,” Mr.
Lockwood said curtly.
“But do not tarry, John. Tom will not wait forever and neither will I. If Camilla does not agree with it, then it’s over.”
Muffled, their footsteps walked down the hall from the study to the front door.
Sucking against the wall, not breathing, my heart pounding with them trampling along well in sight.
Instantly, I scurried backward into the dining room and spun around.
I swam in a sea of emotions: fear, anger, desperation.
I knew something had to be done and done now.
I swept Jasper back into my arms, cuddling him close.
He stirred, blinking up at me sleepily.
“It’s going to be okay, my love,” I whispered softly. New chapters come out on g.com first.
“We’re going to be okay.”
But even as the words were off my tongue, I knew how precarious our position had become.
My father was not a man to take ‘no’ for an answer.
Neither was Mr.
Lockwood.
Neither of them would turn back now that the thing was this far forward.
I couldn’t wait on Dante anymore.
If he was coming, fine.
If not… Well, either way, I really had to have a plan.
I would need to find a way out and fast.
If I didn’t… Well, I knew precisely how all this would turn out.
No.
Not this time.
I rocked Jasper as I walked around the room.
My head spun, my father’s over-the-top gift actually could work in my favor.
Unlimited access to his finances was just what I needed: stockpiling clothes and supplies, even enough cash to disappear.
But how was I to leave this place without suspicion?
Of course, if I were to leave too fast, John would definitely send one of his men after me.
Besides, I couldn’t risk Jasper’s safety.
That meant I needed to keep being calculated, and smart and wait for that perfect moment.
I looked out the window, running my mind over the options at my reach.
It was for sure that if Dante wasn’t going to show up in the next few days, I was going to have to come up with a plan for my own getaway.
But that would have to be just right because one misstep would put me right back at square one, in my father’s world and married off to Tom, a life that I despised.
That would never happen.
I pulled Jasper closer still, his sweet scent filling my nostrils as I pressed a kiss to the top of his head.
“I won’t let them separate us,” I whispered with a fervor inside me that surprised me.
“I won’t let them control me again.”
And with each decision, my resolve hardened a little more.
If I didn’t hear from Dante, if I did hear from him or not, I was ready this time.
I’d have a plan.
I wouldn’t get screwed like in my last life.
This time, I’d be free.
I had to.
Just then, I heard the heavy tread of my father as he came back into the dining room.
Immediately, my heart skipped to my throat as I turned toward him, a strained smile plastered on my face.
“Everything okay, Dad?” I asked, while inside my stomach was doing somersaults.
John smiled again, his eyes flicking from Jasper and then to me.
“Everything’s just great, darling.”
Yet, I knew better.
And in that second, our eyes met; and I knew one thing, and one thing only, that I had to get out before it was too late.