The Miracle of You

Camille shook her head. This man was unbelievable.

“You’re a fool if you think that I’ll be brought in by that kind of stupid offer.” Her voice was filled with bitterness. “You never change, do you?”

“Great men should never change,” Christian said arrogantly. “Now that’s too bad. Looks like I’ll have to resort to something else.”

“What?”

“Miss Parker.” Christian’s voice turned ice-cold. “Do you not remember the reason why you signed this contract in the first place?”

Camille stiffened.

“You agreed to be tied to me in exchange for keeping quiet about your family’s interesting piece of history, right?” His smile was pleasant, but at this moment, it looked demonic in Camille’s eyes. “As well as what I know about the McGregors and the so-called ‘Alexander Sterling’…”

Camille felt panic bubbling in her chest. “No!” she cried out. “You wouldn’t!”

“Oh, but I would, my dear. I am more than capable of such a thing.”

“But you promised that you would leave them alone! What would be the difference if I helped you ruin Michael? He would still be-”

“At least your family will be spared, right?” He chuckled. “Considering how far the van Gowen family’s influence has reached today, I think exposing the truth about the past would definitely bring a scandal, don’t you think? Especially considering the one who drove the car that day.”

Camille was at a loss for words. She couldn’t believe that this was happening.

She had hoped fervently to herself that Christian wouldn’t use this kind of method on her again. It was so low, exposing her and her former family’s history, and even including other people in it…

The revelation, when she first learned of it, had been shocking. It turned out that everything – all the little pieces of the past – were connected. Even the ones that seemed trivial at first were actually relevant to the present.

“You’re not leaving me any choice, are you?” she said quietly.

Christian clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “Of course. This is my way of doing things. You should know that by now.”

“Right. I never should’ve expected anything less from someone like you.”

Camille left there quickly, not watching to hear Christian’s response to that or even see that infuriating grin on his face anymore.

‘Is it so fun for him to play people like puppets on strings?’ she thought to herself furiously. ‘I can’t believe it. I’m so angry!’

‘How dare he ask me to do something so awful to Michael?!’

She slammed the door to her room and dropped to the ground. She sat on the floor, seething.

‘And to think that I had just been reunited with Michael after so many years…’

‘Damn that man… Christian Callahan!’

She pulled out her phone and stared at the list of contacts on the screen. She and Michael had exchanged numbers, which meant that she could now contact him whenever she wanted. Before, even though she knew his name and his success, she had never made the first move or reached out to him for obvious reasons.

If Michael wanted to, he could do a background check on her and easily find out about her relationship with the Callahans. But she knew – and so did Christian, apparently – that Michael did not do things that way. Unlike Christian, Michael was ethical and never resorted to dirty tactics in his business dealings.

Gregory Callahan was best known for being very strict but fair with the public. However, the truth was that he had dabbled in unethical practices like bribery and extortion a few times. It was all a front.

But Greg was a much better man than his son. Greg didn’t rely on using others for his own gain and playing dirty tricks. Christian, on the other hand, loved to manipulate people and twist things to his advantage.

None of the Callahan men were innocent.

Yet Camille, of all people, was involved with them.

‘I can’t involve him in this,’ Camille thought to herself guiltily. ‘He worked so hard to get to where he is now. He did everything with his own skills and hard work. I can’t just let someone like Christian Callahan sabotage everything that Michael had worked hard for.’

She gripped her phone tightly and started calling someone’s number.

“Hello?” she said when the call connected. “Yeah, it’s me. Can I ask you for a favor?”

* * *

Camille had a plan. Rather, she thought that it was a good plan. For now, perhaps.

If she couldn’t get out of this stupid secret mission that Christian wanted her to do, then she would have to twist things to her advantage.

She hadn’t said anything or rebelled so much in the past because she thought she was protecting her loved ones well. But now that he had involved Michael and revealed his true intentions of destroying the competition, she had to make her own move.

‘I will not be a puppet forever,’ she swore to herself.

But if she was going to do this, she had to make sure that Christian didn’t suspect anything. She had to somehow convince him that she was unwilling but had no other choice.

She had to make him feel like he had won her over. That he had triumphed in his stupid plans.

Camille’s plan wasn’t extraordinary. It was practically bare bones at the moment. But if she wanted to win this chess game with Christian Callahan, she had to think at least two steps ahead.

One: Use her reluctance to her advantage.

There was nothing stopping her from keeping a record of any incriminating evidence or interactions with Christian. If she could do this right, she could build a case against him when the time was right.

She had thought about doing this back then, but it was very difficult. Mostly because evidence of his misdeeds was hard to come by. The victims were paid to keep their mouths shut, while the rebels happened to disappear sometime later.

Evidence of unethical corporate practices and mismanagement was also difficult to obtain. Even though she was his personal secretary, he kept confidential information tightly under wraps. She was also aware that he was constantly watching her.

‘And he likes to control everything,’ she thought to herself bitterly. ‘He thinks of us as his little ‘lackeys’ and has fun with everyone as if he’s just playing a funny, twisted simulation game.’

And last but not least…

Two: Push Michael away.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

Even though it was painful, Camille had no choice but to do it for his sake.

If she kept up the pretense of trying to be close to him to please Christian, but at the same time pushing him away by being mean and cold, then things would change. That way, she could give Christian the excuse that she could not possibly complete his orders because of Michael’s lack of trust.

‘I can do this,’ Camille swore to herself, trying to ignore the guilt that was eating her up on the inside.

‘I’m sorry, Michael… for having to push you away again.’