The Miracle of You

Camille felt the blood drain from her face, and her palms felt cold and clammy all of a sudden. For a brief moment, she felt lightheaded, as if the room was spinning and she was struggling to keep her balance.

With Christian still being this close and still cupping her face, she couldn’t even move much.

However, that wasn’t her problem right now.

Right now, her mind was racing, analyzing his words in the span of a few seconds in her head.

“…Excuse me?” she said in a hardened voice.

What did he just say?

‘He hasn’t yet died from his illness’?

The… The nerve…!

‘Calm down,’ she told herself. ‘Let’s think about this for a bit more.’

For starters, how did he know about this?

She had never mentioned her father’s condition to him before. No way in hell was she going to bring that up with him, of all people.

Plus, the only times when they talked about her adoptive family was whenever he wanted to threaten her and blackmail her over their safety.

Christian’s smile didn’t fade even as he slowly let go of her, though he did not move an inch from his position. “I asked you how your father is,” he said casually. “Is he doing well? How’s the treatment going? I’d like to get some updates from you personally, that’s all.”

She narrowed her eyes. Did he really think that he could avoid the real reason why she asked?

“How do you know about that? The van Gowens never announced anything to the public,” she pointed out icily. “As far as the people know, my parents are on an extended vacation. My brothers are the one temporarily in charge right now. There hasn’t even been a meeting with the Board of Directors for a replacement yet.”

There was a moment of silence before the grin on Christian’s face widened.

“Oh my dear, dear Camille,” he said, bursting into a laugh. “My ever so capable assistant… how can you be so gullible and careless sometimes? Have you never learned anything from my harsh training of you in the past when you were still a rookie?”

She stared at him, uncomprehending. “What?”

“So, that means you’ve been keeping track of your adoptive family, huh? Basically, you’ve been in constant contact with them, because otherwise, you would not know about sensitive information like this, especially the part about the Board of Directors,” Christian said cheerfully.

Camille’s heart skipped a beat.

Shit.

“And to think that you told me that you’ve never gotten in contact with them and that you never will, because that part of your life is in the past now,” he continued on, moving his face closer to hers once again. Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed to shift into something slightly sinister.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“So… did you tell them anything? Especially about us?” he asked with a gleam in his eyes. “Did you tell them about the contract that I so unfairly forced upon you? If so, I will be very disappointed, Miss Parker. You made an agreement not to tell anyone about our contract, didn’t you? If you betrayed me, then I will have no choice but to punish you, after all.”

Camille’s heart began to pound wildly in her chest, fear sprouting from the pit of her stomach and spreading to every part of her body.

Technically, she hadn’t told her parents, only her brothers, but that didn’t make much of a difference.

She had intended to keep it a secret until the end, if she ever managed to expose him. She had planned on not arousing his suspicions in any way, to make it seem as if she was almost completely submissive to him, to make him think that he had full control over her.

She knew that he had no solid proof that she was working with her brothers to bring him down, but she had let her words slip out of surprise and anger. Damn it!

If he decided to conduct an investigation – especially with the capable men he had under his command – her personal mission and all the other things she had done over the years might be revealed, and that would be the end of her possible freedom. She could also no longer predict what he might do next.

Christian was a thorough man with many connections. She, an ordinary woman, could not possibly stand a chance, especially if her plans were exposed prematurely.

Her mind raced, and then a decision quickly came to her.

At this point, there was no way that she could blatantly lie to him. If she denied being in contact with her family, he would see through her deception immediately, and that would destroy what little trust he had left in her.

Camille took a deep breath before looking him dead in the eyes. “You’re right,” she said calmly. “I’ve been indeed in contact with them.”

He raised an eyebrow, intrigue flashing in his eyes. He probably hadn’t expected her to admit it so easily.

“But just to be clear, I did not tell them about our agreement,” she said. “My brothers were the first to contact me, and I responded in kind. I told them that I was living well and working for a good company. The three of us have never met in person since the day I left my family when I was eighteen. We just talk through messages from time to time, asking each other how we’re doing and how the hotel is going. That’s all. My adoptive parents know nothing. I begged Paul and Ben not to tell them about me.”

It was a half-truth. Paul and Benjamin had indeed contacted her first, and obviously her parents knew nothing.

In fact, everything she had just said was true, except for the detail that she had not told her brothers about the arrangement with Christian. They had known about it for a long time and had supported her from the sidelines while keeping a low profile.

“I did not tell you about this because it might make you suspicious. My brothers are very protective of me, so I see no reason to worry them and possibly have them go against you,” Camille continued. “But they are the reason why I happened to find out about my adoptive father’s current condition. When Paul first told me about it, I was distraught and wanted to help.”

“Interesting,” Christian remarked. “Even though you swore that you’d never dwell on the past again? You still kept in touch with them?”

“That’s a different matter altogether,” Camille said quietly. “No matter what happened, he is still my adoptive father who raised me since I was a baby. He gave me a home and a family that I could count on. He was a good dad.”

“Except that you abandoned that same loving family years ago.”

Camille felt his words stab her right in the heart. “I know,” she admitted, pained. “But still, I would be lying if I said that I don’t care at all. This is a matter of life and death. I don’t want my father to die.”

Christian searched her eyes for a moment, as if trying to find an answer to his unspoken questions.

Then, as if satisfied with what he saw, he smiled.

“But your father is fine now, isn’t he?” he said.

Camille didn’t feel good about this all of a sudden. “Yes, that’s true… But…”

Christian laughed. “Although I’m disappointed that you think someone else did it, it’s all right. I’m more interested in hearing your thanks.”

He pulled his face away, enjoying the look that fell on her features as the realization slowly set in.

“I had to pull some strings to contact Dr. Colmen, busy as the man is. But it was worth it, wasn’t it? After all, your father was put as a high priority on his list. Now, where’s your gratitude?”