The Miracle of You

When Christian offered Camille to become his wife, he decided to go and manage the branch company here at the city of Penburg. He claimed that the preparations were finished and they had no reason to delay the move.

Knowing him, he already knew that Penburg was Camille’s hometown, that bastard.

Camille couldn’t refuse him. So she packed her bags and came back here to be his personal secretary once more. She never contacted anyone and settled down in Christian’s luxurious mansion with several servants catering to his every whim.

Honestly, she could never understand why he even asked her to stay and be a good wife during the weekends. There was barely anything for her to do at home, and he was rarely there even after work as well. She figured that he must either be having lots of fun at nightclubs or having late-night business negotiations at private bars or something. She didn’t care, and it was none of her business, anyway.

The two of them didn’t even sleep in the same room. Christian, of course, took the master bedroom while she took the guest room. It was as though they were strangers living under the same roof.

Christian never even bothered to get to know her or anything like that. Whenever he was home, he would simply ignore her like always and go hard at work in the study. Meanwhile, Camille would do her own business and try to convince herself that she was living alone.

It was hard. She didn’t like the suffocation that it brought. She also knew that Christian could order her around and she wouldn’t have the right to refuse him. It was a definite power imbalance at play, which only served to make her feel even more helpless.

She had been back at the city for a few months now. Christian also wanted to hold the wedding here. Since Gregory and Patricia Callahan were left at the main company location in Bridgeview, Camille was completely alone with the arrogant jerk Christian.

At least Patricia was good company, and Greg was tolerable. He still intimidated Camille, but Greg was still pleasant towards her.

Christian, on the other hand, was incorrigible.

‘Forget about that jerk,’ Camille grumbled to herself. ‘How did Noah find out about me returning to the city just recently because of my job transfer?’

Much to her curiosity, she sent him a furtive glance. ‘Don’t tell me… that he’s been searching for me all this time?’

At that moment, she recalled his heartfelt words towards her more than a decade ago, back when they were both younger and innocent.

–

Michael’s honest eyes bore into hers, and he spoke softly, slowly, as though emphasizing each word.

“Wherever you go, and whenever you need me, I will do my best to find you.”

And then Hailey, restraining her tears, gave him the silver heart-shaped pendant that she wore around her neck, telling him that this would be a memento to remember her by.

Michael promised that he would take good care of it and return it to her when they ever met again someday.

He said it with absolute certainty, as though he knew that they would definitely reunite once more despite all odds, like the world was small enough for the both of them.

–

She didn’t know why she could still remember his words so clearly, so vividly, like a precious memory etched into her heart. It was probably because she felt so touched by his sincerity at that moment, a testament to their unusual friendship back then.

Younger Hailey would never have imagined that she would become friends with the rebellious Michael McGregor. She even thought that he would loathe her for constantly scolding and disciplining him during their high school days.

But he didn’t. Instead, he seemed to warm up to her through time, and he was never subtly hostile or annoyed at her like some of their schoolmates were.

She was so lost in thought that she didn’t realize Michael was talking to her.

“What?” Camille said, only just hearing the last part of his statement after coming out of her trance.

Michael’s expression was unreadable, but his voice remained firm and gentle at the same time. “I said, I’ve been looking for you all this time.”

Camille suddenly felt her heart skip a beat.

‘All this time?’ she repeated his words in her head. ‘He can’t possibly mean…’

Just for a little promise that they made back in their teen days?

“Remember our promise fourteen years ago?” Michael said softly. “I told you that I’d find you no matter where you are as long as you need me. When you left that day…” He paused for a moment. “When I heard the news, I knew I had to find you. You were all alone. You left everything behind. You couldn’t have been okay. You must’ve needed someone by your side at that time, someone you could count on, someone who could help you out every step of the way.”

Camille didn’t know what to say to that.

‘How can he always know the right words to say?’ she thought to herself, feeling a few unnamed emotions rise inside of her.

Indeed, she felt so lonely and helpless during those days. She even wished that she could go back…

But that was impossible.

‘Not after everything that happened,’ she thought bitterly.

But Michael wasn’t done yet. “Also, as part of the promise, I…” He lifted his hand towards his collar, but then he suddenly paused when he caught sight of something on Camille’s neck.

Camille noticed the curious expression on his face and followed his gaze.

‘Ah,’ she thought in realization. ‘I forgot…’

She was still wearing Christian’s necklace.

At that moment, Camille restrained the urge to take it off.

“My… necklace, right?” she said, forcing herself to sound calm. “Are you going to return it to me?”

Michael nodded. He didn’t seem to realize that the necklace she was wearing right now had been given to her by another man. Then again, he didn’t have any reason to suspect such a thing. After all, it wasn’t that strange for a woman to wear necklaces.

But Camille still felt guilty all the same.

And repulsed as well.

This wretched necklace that made her seem like an object to be owned…

She wished that she could just yank it off and throw it into the ocean. Oh, if only that would make her break away from Christian Callahan forever…

“Wait,” Camille said just before Michael could remove the necklace around his neck.

Michael paused. “Yes?”

Camille took a deep breath. “Just… keep it with you for a while. Okay?”

‘At least, until I can finally set myself free from Christian…’ she thought to herself bitterly. ‘But will that day ever come? Until when will he play around and take advantage of me before he’s satisfied?’

Michael studied her for a moment. “Are you okay, Hailey? You don’t look so good…” He then paused, seeming like he just remembered something. “Oh, right. You’re Camille now, aren’t you?”

Camille blinked.

This was the first time she heard Michael call her by her new name…

Wait. Come to think of it, she couldn’t recall specifying to Michael what her current name was. Had she mentioned it to him earlier?

‘I don’t think so…’

Yet he already knew even though she hadn’t said it out loud.

Then again, with his wealth and influence, it was completely possible for him to find out everything about her.

Including the secret that she swore she would take with her to the grave…

‘No. He couldn’t possibly know about it, could he?’ she thought, feeling the stirrings of panic in her gut. ‘It’s impossible…’

“Camille?” Michael’s voice was filled with concern. “Are you okay?”

He was repeating his worried question. Camille knew that she needed to assure him, or else he might get suspicious.

At that moment, Camille recalled Christian’s ominous words that day, after Michael called her on her private number for the first time and arranged this meeting.

–Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

“Hope you have fun on Monday with your… friend, Miss Parker.”

–

‘Things might get messy if he ever finds out that I’m meeting Michael McGregor,’ Camille thought as dread started to pool in her stomach. ‘He might even use it to his advantage. I can’t let him use this situation as he pleases.’

‘Damn it. How am I going to handle this afterwards? I still don’t know if Noah is aware of my marriage contract…’

She restrained the urge to tear her hair out.

‘Christian Callahan is truly the bane of my existence!’ she thought venomously.

No. She couldn’t let Michael know about Christian Callahan and what she agreed to.

It was already a huge blow to her pride. She didn’t want Michael to know about how low she had already sunk. Not him, of all people…