CHAPTER 70
Celine’s POV
Camilla’s mouth drops open in shock. She must be wondering what has gotten into me for me to be this expressive and furious.
She doesn’t understand that it is the pain. The extreme pain has turned into anger. And now I can no longer control it.
I don’t plan to defy Bryan but I plan to say my mind to him. I don’t care whether he throws me out but I will always look for a way to come see my son. If he doesn’t allow me, then I will ask Paxton for help.
I can pretend to be a wealthy woman so I can take Jason with me but if that plan doesn’t work, then I will be allowed to come and see Jason once in a while, probably twice a month. It isn’t enough but I will endure till my child is grown up enough to understand the drift between Bryan and I.
I am done exercising patience with him. I am done feeling sympathy for his situation. He has pushed me to the wall and I have turned to face him with the intention of a fight.
He doesn’t show me any sympathy so why should I show him any? He no longer deserves it.
I have been treated like bullshit for too long.
“Celine”, Camilla calls me, blinking several times to be sure that it is indeed me and not someone else. “Where is this coming from?”
“From the depth of my heart.” I reply indifferently. Jason struggles out of my hold and I drop him on the floor.
The only thing that saddens me now is the fact that Jason is already getting used to Bryan’s presence and I am sure he already recognizes him fully as his father.
What if Jason is asked to choose between his father and I? Who will he choose? He is less dependent on me now and the idea of pretending to be a rich woman is absurd because the investigators might find out.
I sigh and rub my hands over my face in frustration.
“He means well”, she sounds like someone who wants to cry so I stare up at her. “Bryan means well. This is so hard for him too. You are just at his receiving end.”
“Why are you defending him?” I ask in a raised voice. I am tempted to ask her if he is paying her to defend him.
“Because I know him. I know him more than you do. I have spent half of my life with his family and I know the kind of person he is. I know how broken he is and how hard it is for him to be a better person.”
“Cut the crap!” I am not interested in listening to her defense of him anymore.
Silence creeps in and guilt begins to set in. I feel guilty for using harsh words on her.
“I am not trying to defend Bryan. God knows how much I love you like a child and how I take Jason to be my grandchild. I just want you two to see the reality…”
“Reality? Have you forgotten how he treated you the other time?”
I can vividly remember how Camilla cried so hard. She was hurt. He hurt her too. I guess they both hurt each other. I was there for Bryan. I was ready to help him through but what did he do?
He pushed me away. He didn’t appreciate all my efforts. It’s just so annoying.
“I remember but I caused it. Bryan loves me, if doesn’t, I will be long gone from here”, she insists, her face serious now.
“Really? Is that your own definition of love?” She nods and I scoff again.
My decision still stands.
Silence falls again, the only noise breaking the silence is the sound of Jason’s murmurs. He is oblivious to the tension in the room.
“As far as I am concerned, Bryan isn’t the bad person here, Paxton is.”
“Thank God you are specific. As far as you are concerned? That is not the reality.” I argue.
“It is.”
“It isn’t”, I object. “You only know Bryan but you don’t know Paxton. I know Paxton and I know he is not a bad person.”
“How do you know he is not a bad person?”
“How do you also know Bryan isn’t the bad one here?”
She lets out a deep sigh and answers. “Because I have watched him change from good to…” she trails off.
“From good to bad?” I help her to complete the statement. I am sure this is what she wants to say.
“No!” She counters sharply.
“Then what?”
She is silent and her head is lowered. I don’t want to feel guilty again. This is an inevitable conversation. I need to tell her my mind.
“How do you know that Paxton isn’t a bad person?” She demands from me instead, avoiding my question about Bryan. I really don’t want to feel any sympathy for Bryan anymore so I don’t want to be convinced by her about Bryan’s so-called goodness.
“How long have you known him? Do you know any of his family members? Do you know who he dates? Do you know what he does for a living? Do you know where he came from? Do you know his father’s name? Do you know anything else apart from his name?”
She bombards me with the questions and it dawns me on that I know nothing of Paxton. I have known him for a few years and I have never met any of his family members except the guys he brought to my house when Bryan first came to get Jason. He said one of them was his brother while the others were his friends. I don’t even know if the men who came here with him three nights ago were the same people or not.
I never saw those men again since that day and I thought it was because I rejected their hand of help.
Come to think of it, I never saw them before the day Jason was taken by Bryan which made Paxton invite them over to my apartment. Paxton never had a guest or a visitor. He was always alone in his room working on his laptop or in my apartment, cooking in the kitchen while I tended to Jason or playing with Jason while I cook.
I don’t know where Paxton came from. I wasn’t around when he got the apartment and I never bothered to ask. I have always been curious about what he does for a living. He has more than enough money but he doesn’t go to work. I never saw him with a woman either.
My head is spinning from too much thinking and I can’t imagine having lived with a criminal.
This is the only thing that will explain his disguise. He must be a criminal. If he isn’t, why will he pretend to be someone else?
I don’t know what else to think so I lay on my back, facing the ceiling.
“You don’t know anything apart from his name which is Paxton, right?” Camilla interrogates me further but I am quiet. I have nothing to say to her.
“I know everything about Bryan and I can write a full book about him. This is how much I know him. I know his full name, his source of living, the names of all his companies, the names of the girls he had dated, the name of his fiancee and his child and also the name he planned to name the unborn child. I know his family names and traditions. I know about their businesses and so many other things that you have no idea about.”
“You want me to go on and on? I can do that but I won’t. I am not justifying Bryan’s actions, I am only telling you this so you will realize how bad and good he can be.”
“Is Paxton also in the Mafia business?” I ask her sharply before she can go on with her rants about how good Bryan is.
I need to figure things out on my own and for me to do that, she needs to answer some of my questions. The questions that keep bugging me.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
She does not answer so I sit up in bed and gaze at her squarely. She looks like she knows it all and she ought to know who Paxton is too.
“Camilla, do you know anything about Paxton? Do you know if he is also into the Mafia or was in the Mafia business like Bryan?”
She avoids eye contact with me. She is just looking past me, her gaze shifting to the wall.
Suddenly, she rises up. “Do you still have your phone with you?” I nod eagerly.
“Good”, she walks to the door and I watch her, wondering what she is doing. “Check google on who Derick Dominguez is. I’m sure you will find all your answers there.”
With that said, she opens the door, smiles down at Jason who has suddenly gone quiet and looks from me to her, before going out and closing the door quietly behind.