Chapter 19
Charles’s fingers, which had been playing with his phone, paused for a moment. After a brief silence, he replied, “She woke up yesterday.”
Cassius was taken aback and glanced at the door again. The woman I saw outside who looked so much like Camilla might actually be-‘ he
wondered.
“Is she-” Cassius began to ask, but Charles cut him off with a calm voice.
Charles said, “She’s blind. We don’t know when she’ll recover her sight. She’s always been so strong–willed. I don’t want to announce that she’s awake until she’s fully recovered.”
‘Blind? A blind woman couldn’t possibly be standing outside their private. room spying. I must have mistaken her for someone else,‘ Cassius thought to himself and swallowed the rest of his question.
Charles looked at a message Mia had sent him two hours ago on his phone.
Mia: [Mr. Hawthorne, Mrs. Hawthorne was picked up by a car.]
The message included a photo of the license plate.
Charles immediately recognized it as Winifred’s car. He wasn’t surprised
at all.
Camilla’s world was pitifully small. Apart from revolving around him, the only friend she ever interacted with was Winifred.
Winifred was loud and temperamental, and the Templeton family had long since fallen from grace. Charles had always looked down on her.
10.30
Chapter 19
Camilla was considerate. Over the years, although she remained close friends with Winifred and occasionally kept in touch, she never mentioned Winifred to him. This time, she had met Winifred without telling him in advance, probably to avoid making him unhappy.
Charles curled his lips into a faint, self–satisfied smile. He always got Camilla’s thoughts immediately.
Leaning back on the sofa, under the warm light, Charles’s face was as always handsome and gentle, with only a hint of coldness in his eyes.
Camilla was perfect, both as a wife and as a work partner. But a woman who was too easy to understand was like a glass of plain water–bland and forgettable.
*****
On the other side, Camilla sneezed violently.
She looked at the forked corridor in front of her, and her lips twitched in exasperation.
It had been five years. Wambalow House had undergone a major renovation and expansion in the middle.
Camilla had intended to return the way she came, but she was so preoccupied that she ended up getting lost on this floor.
As she was looking for signs on the walls and floor, she didn’t notice the man who suddenly appeared around the corner and almost bumped into her.
“Are you fucking blind?” the man shouted, cursing. He had a big belly and a thick gold chain around his almost non–existent neck. Clearly, he was some nouveau riche looking for a good time.
Camilla caught a whiff of the alcohol on his breath. She decided it was
Chapter 19
better to avoid trouble and lowered her head, waving her white cane to find her way. “Sorry, I can’t see,” she said.
The man, however, seemed to take this as an invitation. “Oh, so you really are blind,” he said, his tone turning lecherous.
Through her sunglasses, Camilla saw the man’s fleshy, repulsive face. looming closer, the stench of alcohol making her stomach churn.
“I’m a doctor. Let me take a look at your eyes,” he insisted, his intentions. far from innocent.
Camilla responded coldly, “Get out of the way.”
The man, underestimating Camilla’s resolve and mistaking her for an easy target, continued to taunt her, “Beg me, and I’ll let you pass. How about that?”
Camilla had been holding in her frustration, and this man’s behavior was the last straw. She glanced at the security camera on the wall and put on an act of being weak and helpless.
“I don’t believe you’re a doctor. Don’t come any closer, I’m scared,” she said, backing away and leading the man into a blind spot where the camera couldn’t see.
