Chapter 16
Winifred looked at Camilla but couldn’t bring herself to smile. She felt indignant on Camilla’s behalf. “Camilla, if seven years ago, you hadn’t stayed for Charles-”
“Winifred,” Camilla gently interrupted her. “There’s no point in regretting the past. But the control of my life is always in my hands. I can always correct and start over. I will divorce Charles, but now is not the time. To get custody of the children from the Hawthorne family, I still have a lot to prepare. I might need your help.”
The Hawthorne family was a prominent family in Alsewood, and Charles had always maintained a good public image. He was the youngest director in Uniteon Group’s history, with impeccable looks and the reputation of being the perfect man, husband, and father. He was almost idolized.
Ironically, many of these perfect titles were built by Camilla.
It wouldn’t be easy for Camilla to get custody of the children from the Hawthorne family.
Winifred ‘held Camilla’s hand. “Camilla, I will always stand by you and support you.”
Camilla had never doubted that.
When they were almost done with the meal, Winifred pushed her phone towards Camilla.
“Camilla, I found Ophelia’s secret Twitter account,” she said with a sigh of reluctance. “Take a look.”
Camilla picked up the phone. Ophelia’s Twitter profile picture was a
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blurry image of a man’s back, but Camilla recognized it instantly–it was Charles.
Camilla knew him too well. Since the age of twelve, she had followed Charles, and the sight she saw most often was his back.
The most recent tweet from Ophelia’s account was from five years ago, on the very day Camilla had given birth and become a vegetable.
In the photo Ophelia had posted, Ophelia was beaming with joy as she held two babies. They must have been Lucius and Cecilia.
Camilla felt a surge of anger rising to her head. She forced herself to stay calm and continued to scroll through the tweets. The more she saw, the colder her heart grew, and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.
In one of the college–era photos, Charles appeared alongside Ophelia. They had known each other since college.
But Camilla remembered clearly that Charles had hired Ophelia as a secretary to take care of her when she was pregnant. They had even pretended to greet each other as if they had just met.
Winifred was furious. “Ophelia was Charles’s junior at college by two years. They had a special relationship back then.”
Camilla looked at the latest photo she had scrolled to and let out a cold laugh. “Special doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
In the photo, Ophelia was taking a selfie leaning on Charles’s shoulder. Charles looked groggy as if he had just woken up, but his eyes were filled with affection as he looked at her.
The caption read: [He came to the hospital on his birthday to take care of me and even brought me a scarf. Thanks.]
Looking at the timestamp of the tweet, Camilla felt as if all the energy had
Chapter 16
been drained from her body. The past slapped her in the face like a harsh reminder, leaving her dizzy and disoriented.
In the photo, the scarf Ophelia was wearing was the one Camilla had stayed up all night knitting for Charles.
Camilla remembered that day very clearly. It was Charles’s birthday, and they had just started dating..
Charles had promised to have dinner with her, so she had spent three hours getting ready in advance, waiting for him at the restaurant with great anticipation.
But she waited until late at night, and the restaurant closed without Charles showing up. Camilla’s calls to him went unanswered–his phone was off.
Worried that something had happened to Charles, Camilla went to his school to look for him. She waited downstairs in the men’s dormitory until dawn but didn’t see Charles
