The Miracle of You

“Madam, dinner is ready,” one of the maids called out as she knocked politely on Camille’s bedroom door. “Mr. Callahan says that he wants to dine together with you.”

Camille felt an instant wave of irritation. “Tell him that I’m not hungry and that I’ll be going straight to sleep,” she snapped.

“Oh, but Madam!” the maid exclaimed, sounding startled. “You can’t just… I mean, forgive my rudeness, but you cannot skip meals-”

“Then please bring me a tray here, Harrietta,” Camille said, making her voice softer this time. After all, the maid did nothing wrong, and she wasn’t the one provoking her ire. “I’ll eat here in my bedroom instead of the dining room.”

“I… Understood, Madam. I will bring it up for you right away.”

Camille listened to the sound of footsteps fade away before letting out a heavy groan. That stuck-up creep was really getting on her nerves!

He even dared to ask her to have dinner with him when he hardly ever did that before. He only did something like that after ordering her to do something just so he could continue torturing her like the sadist he was.

‘In this case, Noah’s clearly the angel while that bastard is the most annoying of devils!’ she thought to herself, almost growling aloud.

There was no other way to fully express her loathing for Christian Callahan. He had been controlling her however he wanted for years now, taking advantage of the fact that she was indebted to his father and even joining in on the blackmail.

Men like him would never understand how she felt and the enormity of what she had been through.

Five minutes later, there was another knock on the door.

‘Harrietta’s back,’ Camille thought. ‘That was quick.’

“Come in,” she said as she sat up on the bed and leaned against the headboard, not even looking at the door. At least she wouldn’t be dining with that pompous jerk tonight.

The door opened to reveal a familiar figure.

And it wasn’t Harrietta.

“You’ve become quite forward today, haven’t you? I must say, I never expected that you would invite me to eat together with you in your bedroom…”

Camille instantly snapped her head towards the doorway, her eyes wide in incredulity. “You-?! What are you doing here?” she said in disbelief.

Christian raised an eyebrow as he folded his arms across his chest. “Didn’t you tell Harrietta that you want to eat dinner with me here?”

“No, I didn’t!” Camille’s mind was racing. Did Harrietta…?

Suddenly, Christian laughed. His loud voice seemed to echo through the walls, which only served to irritate her even more.

“I’m joking, I’m joking. No need to glare daggers at me like that,” he said in amusement. “Of course Harrietta told me that you want to eat dinner alone. But I’m hurt that you don’t want to spend time together with me. After all, we still need to discuss the details of your secret mission.”

He leaned forward, eyes sparkling with mischief.

“Doesn’t it sound like one of those spy missions in the movies that you like to watch together with Patricia? It’s exciting, isn’t it?”

Camille was filled with revulsion. ‘He’s really treating this like some little game!’

“Shove off, asshole,” she snapped. “I don’t want to see your face right now.”

Christian clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Language, my dear.” He took something out of his suit pocket and handed it to her. “Anyway, since you’re so adamant about avoiding me tonight, I have no choice but to discuss it here.”

Camille eyed the paper suspiciously. “What is this?”

It looked like some sort of invitation. A fancy kind, of course, with gold swirls and elegant lettering.

“It’s the social event that you’ll be attending with me. The one I mentioned to you earlier,” Christian said. “I will introduce you to some of our partners, so be prepared. My father will be there as well to keep a close eye on things.”

“You’re going to reveal my identity as your secretary, then?” Camille asked, narrowing her eyes.

Christian smirked. “Lucky for you, little lady, that this is a masquerade ball event.”

She was surprised. “Oh?”

“It’s a very important party for us businessmen. Most of the big names will be there to enjoy the event. Who knows? Maybe Michael McGregor will also be there if he favors parties like this.”

She stiffened.

He smiled. “A perfect way for you to do your mission, right?”

“How do you think this is going to work?” she gritted out. “If you’re going to introduce me as your-”

“I’m only going to introduce you by your first name,” he interrupted smoothly. “After all, people at work and some of my clients only know you by your last name, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Nobody at work knew her name. Her first name, to be exact. They just called her “Miss Parker” and nothing else. She didn’t have any friends there because they were intimidated by her status. She was a hardworking and responsible employee, so she liked to make sure things were organized and running according to the CEO’s wishes. She also liked to be professional in the workplace, so she rarely socialized with her co-workers.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

They knew that the CEO ‘favored’ her, perhaps as a good secretary or something else, but that didn’t matter to Camille anymore. Rumors would inevitably spread, but until they had solid proof, they couldn’t really do anything.

Some even tried to win her favor, thinking she was Christian’s woman – basically another one of his numerous affairs – but Camille was stone-cold cold and didn’t allow anything non-work-related to interfere with her duties.

So, she was usually alone.

“But-”

“You will also be wearing a mask the whole time, which is the point of a masquerade event. Still, it will be difficult to recognize anyone there, don’t you think?”

He had a point, but Camille didn’t want to acknowledge it, lest his head swell up thinking it was a compliment from her.

“Fine,” she finally said. It wasn’t like she had a choice.

Whatever Christian wanted, he usually got.

He turned and started to leave the room when he suddenly stopped.

“Oh, and one more thing, Miss Parker…”

She looked at him wearily. “What is it now?”

“I’ll tell you this since it might interest you…”

“What?”

“Your family will be there, too,” he said, turning to her with a smile. “The van Gowens. So you’d better get ready, okay?”

Then he finally left the room, leaving her with her turbulent thoughts.

Even though the words themselves were caring, Christian’s tone had been the exact opposite. It was as though he was looking forward to an anticipated scene in a famous soap opera drama, and she didn’t like it one bit.

‘What exactly is he planning?’ she wondered.