Chapter 5
Camelia’s POV
I knew Darell would again stand up for her, but before he could, I quickly cut him off.
“If you’re not a mistress, then what are you?” I asked coldly. “Anyone who cozies up to my husband while I’m pregnant is exactly that—a mistress.”
This time, I didn’t bother softening my
words.
The friends lounging with me on the beach burst into laughter, struggling to sit. upright. Sacha shot them a furious glare before clinging to Darell’s arm, pouting like a spoiled child.
“Darell,” she whined, “didn’t you say Camelia would calm down after having the baby? But she’s only gotten meaner!” She leaned into him, feigning distress.
“You have to stand up for me!”
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Her fake innocence made me nauseous,
but Darell’s heart seemed to ache for her.
He frowned at me, his voice laced with disapproval.
“Camelia, Sacha meant no harm. Did you really need to be so harsh?” He sighed dramatically, waving his hand like some self–righteous martyr. “If this continues, maybe we shouldn’t even think about getting remarried.”
It was laughable how he thought I still cared about the fantasy he’d been feeding
- me.
Anger bubbling to the surface, I let out a sharp laugh before slapping him hard across the face.
“Darell, are you still dreaming? Wake up! We’re already divorced! I’ve never once said I wanted to get back together. What exactly are you trying to prove here?”
The slap left a vivid mark on his face–five red streaks blooming against his skin. He
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looked utterly stunned, frozen in place. Before he could react, Sacha shoved me away, her voice shrill and accusatory.
“Camelia, how could you hit Darell? Just because he still cares for you doesn’t mean you can treat him like this! You‘ re completely out of line!”
Out of line? The audacity of her words made me laugh.
“You‘ re a shameless pair–a big cheat and a little cheat–parading in front of me like this. You both deserve everything coming to you!”
Spitting the words through clenched teeth, I turned to leave, brushing past Darell. But he grabbed my wrist, stopping me in my
tracks.
“Camelia, fine, no remarriage,” he said, his tone chillingly calm. “But you need to give me the baby.”
His insistence on the baby made my blood boil. It was as though he hadn’t been
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listening to a single word I’d said.
“What baby?” I snapped, yanking my arm free. My voice trembled with rage.
“You think you deserve a child? You don’t. You don’t deserve anything. You should be cursed to die without a child!”
Tears burned my eyes and spilled over, the weight of everything crashing down on me. My words stunned him, and his grip on me loosened.
For the first time, he looked genuinely shaken, his voice faltering as he asked,
“Camelia… you‘ re joking, right?”
“Joking? About this? You‘ re unbelievable!” One of my friends, fed up with the spectacle, stormed over and shoved Darell aside. She steadied me, muttering curses under her breath before glaring at him one last time.
And just like that, we left without looking back.
I rested at the hotel for a while, trying to
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pull myself together. When I stepped out of
my room after a nap, I nearly jumped out of my skin. Darell was standing right
outside.
In just a few short hours, he looked like he had aged a decade. His eyes were red, his hair disheveled, and his usually polished demeanor was completely gone.
The moment he saw me, he rushed forward, his voice thick with desperation.
“Camelia, I didn’t know… I swear, I didn’t know it would turn out like this. If I’d known what would happen to you,
I’d never have hung up that call. I mean it
-I really wanted to build a life with you and our child, just the three of us.”
His voice cracked as he repeated his
regrets, but the sincerity in his tone didn’t move me. Even if I gave him another
chance, I knew he would still choose Sacha
over me.
The thought lingered in my mind, and I
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finally voiced the question that had been
eating away at me. “Do you really love her that much?”
We both knew who I meant, and Darell didn’t deny it. He slumped to the ground like a deflated balloon, staring at me with hollow eyes. After a long silence, he finally lifted his gaze, but his answer was too heavy for words.
