Kamille
Four Years Later.The electric bell went off within the school building, just as I parked the car in the school driveway.Finishing up the last of my iced Americano, I pushed the door open and stepped out. Other parents were stepping out of their cars as well. Some housekeepers. Some nannies. Some chaffeurs. Assistants. It was a large variety of people in the school at this time.And that was normal, after all, this was a very excellent kindergarten where many of the parents who worked cooperate jobs were too busy to come pick up their children.I counted myself lucky, that I was able to give my kids all the time and attention they needed, and pay our bills as well. All thanks to working from home.Aross the driveway, kids were already milling out through the doors, all noisy and excited to be done with the day's work.My job as a weather content creator and article writer took off so suddenly, and so well that my bank account was overflowing in no time. I was heavily pregnant when the first thousand dollars came in, after my babies had already been confirmed to be quadruplets.It was a relief, because not even the huge amount of money gifted to me those years ago by that anonymous helper, wouldn’t have been enough to raise three sons and one daughter for four years. But it was a good start, till my income became steady.“Mommy!” A tiny, shrill voice exclaimed.A smile broke out of my face, as I spotted my baby girl, Tyris, in the crowd of kids, running out through the doors with her ponytail flying behind her. Close behind, were her brothers, hurrying towards me with big grins on their faces.My heart filled with a warm fuzzy feeling, crouching down with my arms open.“My babies! How are you??!” I laughed, as they all crashed into me.I peppered kisses on their heads as they blabbered to me about some random things their classmates did. Of course, except Reon, my first baby, who was busy grabbing all of their lunchboxes. Royer, that sweet little soul and my third, was trying to help out as well.I lead them to the car and strapped them in, while Tyris and Torin, my second and my last babies kept on chattering away.I got into the car and eased it out of the driveway, “So, what did else happened at school today? What did you learn?”“Oh, I'll tell you, I'll tell you!” Tyris bounced around in her seat, “Mom! Our teacher taught us about the family tree today! And all our friends have two parents, but we only have one!”She pouted, and in that moment, as I stared at her through the rearview mirror, I realized how much more she looked like my grandmother the older she grew.Obviously, I was adopted into the Manor family, so it was definitely not possible that my child would get any of their genes. But the resemblance was there. And it was so uncanny, that at first I thought it was just my grief playing pranks on me. But now, years later, I still saw Monica Manor in her.“Has our dad forgotten about us? Does he not love us, is that why he's not here?” Royer's timid voice filtered out from his window seat.The silent, sad emotion in that question squeezed my heart so hard I could barely blink the tears out of my eyes.I spared a glance back at him, “Your father loves you all very much, and he will never forget you. You all are angels. Beautiful angels, don't you know?”“So when are we going to see him, mom?” Torin, my last, asked in his usual assertive fashion. “You said he went someplace very very far, and he will come back soon, right mom?”“Yes, honey, you'll meet him soon.” My voice faded into a whisper, and a fake smile. “Don't you worry, my babies. It'll all be okay.”Reon was staring at me intently, and he suddenly straightened up and sent a firm look to his siblings. “That's alright now. Let mom focus, she's driving.”“It's okay, Reon. Momma's a great driver.” I smiled at him.He was a splitting image of his father, and sometimes if I looked too closely, I could feel my heart start to crack from all the painful memories. That was unfair to my boys, because looking like their father did not mean they have to be tainted my his actions.Especially my little Reon. At such a young age, he was already so stoic, melancholic and adamant to be responsible for everyone else. Including me. I always remind him that he is just a kid, and should spend his time relaxing and doing kid things.But he was adamant on bothering himself with adult concerns. It made me worried, scared to watch a tiny boy become parentified. I'd do anything to prevent that.We got home, and the kids immediately ran out of the car and into the elevator leading up to our apartment.“Wait, you can't use the elevator alone, I've told you so many times, Torin!” I exclaimed, catching up to them and grabbing their hands.“Sorry, mommy.”Once we got to our floor, I let the kids put the code in and run into our apartment. I strolled behind, taking out my phone from my jeans pockets to go through how my forecasts were doing for the day.But what greeted my eyes was headlines after headlines on various articles about the Manor Company.I froze in my steps, slowly reading the words.‘THE MANOR COMPANY SUED FOR FRAUDULENT TAX EVASION!’‘Raymond Manor, CEO of The Manor Company, EXPOSED by designated auditor for embezzlement’‘... following the skirmishes within the multimillion company, Manor's shares have plummeted by 42%..’“This cannot be true.” I gasped, looking away from my phone in horror.This was a company grandma put so much effort in to build, to grow wealth, and maintain it. She protected the company until her last breath, and this was what had become of it. A mere ridicule, compared to the giant it once was.This was terrible.I took a few steps forward, shaking my head sadly. I knew that it would be run to the ground by that greedy family. I was the only one who thought the same as grandma, so they were more than happy to announce me dead to get rid of me forever.“Mommy!” Tyris shrieked from one of the bedrooms, breaking me out of my thoughts.I sucked in a deep breath, tossing my phone away, “Yes, baby, I'm coming.”Later that night, I had read my kids their bedtime stories and put their overactive little selfs to sleep. I tied my soft, cotton robe around my waist and padded out of the apartment to check my mail.I had gotten a few mails, so I settled in the living room to go through them with the TV playing in the background.A few of them were complimentary mails from stores I frequented, a few work-related ones, but there was an envelope sitting ominously in their midst, with no indication of where it was from.Furrowing my eyebrows curiously, I fished a folded paper from the envelope. It was a letter, and on unfolding it… it dropped from my hands instantly.Oh god. What— This could not be real—It's was grandma's handwriting. I grabbed my chest, my breaths rushing in and out so hard that I thought I was going into heart palpitations. I had not seen that handwriting in years, but it was one ingrained in my deepest, dearest memories.Grandma always wrote all her important letters by hand. She got teased about it being old-fashioned, but she made it into a proud style of hers.And here in my lap, was a letter…written by her.Gathering my strength, I picked it up with shaking fingers and straightened it. The full onslaught of that beautiful cursive sent tears filling my eyes, but I held it back to read what was written boldly at the top.‘OFFICIAL WILL OF MONICA MANOR’My lips trembled, tears rolling down my face. Still, I wasn't prepared for when I looked further down the page, and saw my name written first, in full, in bold, and with love.I broke down in sobs of realization.KamilleThe dark, gloomy clouds were the hallmark feature of London's weather.If anything else, that sent a cold chill down my spine, solidifying my split second decision to return to London, after seeing grandma's will in my mail. I was so shocked that I had suffered all of this isolation and mistreatment for years, when I was never supposed to.So, I made the life-changing decision to return to London with my kids, to deal with everyone who hurt me, and also find the stranger that had literally saved my life, and that of my kids. It was easy to make a few calls with my American friends, and next thing I knew, I was on a one-way flight with my kids.I had made living and transport reservations to get us settled in smoothly, but the pit of my stomach still churned with uneasiness.“Mommy, my coat!” Torin whined as we got off the plane after touch-down.“Let me help you.” Reon was at his side in a second, fixing up the buttons.“Thank you, Reon.” I patted his hair and pulled Tyris and
Kamille’s POVAfter securing a ride for my kids and I, I took hurried steps to fetch them but on approaching where they sat, I stopped dead in track as my light brown eyes fell on that same unapologetically handsome man with well defined abs and captivating deep blue eyes who served me hurt and shame, smiling with my children. It was the most unbelievable sight of my days.Of all days, why the hell should Zeke choose today to be here?As the wave of mixed emotions surged through me, I let my eyes wander back to his face again, drinking in the sight of him. Then I looked at his fingers deliberately out of curiosity and there it was. A different wedding ring from the one we shared. Snap! I should have known better than be fooled by good looks.A smile was gradually embracing my facial muscles when his betrayal crossed my mind and canceled it. I remembered how he left me on my own and how I went through hurt alone. He made me see the cruel part of life when he left me and married Ellen
Ezekiel’s POVThe ride back was graveyard quiet, save for the steady humming from the car's engine as my driver drove us back to wherever home was for Kamille. Confusion overwhelmed me as I stared at her and the children. Could they be hers? Is there a world where she is the mother of these children? If she is, then just how much did I drink from Ellen's bowl of enticing lies.The more I thought about it, the more curious I became. Kamille must have moved on. She and the kids belong to another! I cringed in annoyance at such upsured thoughts. But what if it was true? A different kind of anger shot through my heart. Jealousy. I managed to stay quiet and continued staring until my eyes locked with the children. They too began staring at me and their mum. Curiosity engulfed their stares. Then I heard the boy who held their backpacks at the airport, whisper to the girl. “Does this gentleman not look familiar to you? I see him stealing glances at mummy.” Yeah I remember, Roen and Tyri
Kamille’s POVSettling down in a new place had to be the worst job I had tried in my entire life. It wasn't as fun as it sounded afterall.Looking at the beautifully arranged and decorated house, I smiled in satisfaction. Now I just had one more thing to do to make settling in complete.I moved to the living room, sat on a sofa close to the window where I can admire the beautiful orchids growing wild up the terrace.After a few rings, a voice came on the other end of the line, “Hello, Miss Smith on the line. How may I help you?” The voice was warm and welcoming.I smiled. “I would like to hire a nanny for my kids.” She asked a couple of other questions before our call came to an end. My children deserved the best nanny since I was going to be busy here in London. I had no plans of exposing them to dirt I had to clean up.Darkness clouded the skies in no time. I went up to the children's room. The boys stayed together in separate beds, while Tyris had a room of her own pretty close to
Kamille’s POVI got to the club at a little over 8:00 pm. Darkness had covered the surroundings save for the dim lights coming from the club. I walked briskly into the club. I scanned the crowd till my eyes landed on Amanda with Belle sitted to her right. I approached the bar where they were seated. “Hello Ladies.” I greeted them, catching their attention. They both stiffened, hearing my voice.They both turned slowly till they faced me.“Oh Kamille, it is really you!” Amanda sobbed and threw herself in for a hug. “We missed you so much Kamille.” Belle added as her doe eyes glistened with unshed tears.“I missed you both too.” I replied as I released myself from Belle's embrace.“Alright ladies. Let's grab some drinks and celebrate Kamille's return to the land of the living!” Amanda squealed.“I second that motion.” Belle said with a hearty laugh. “Belle?” I called out, surprised she concurred to drinking.“What? This is a worthy feat and I need a drink to better assimilate all t
Zeke's POV As I descended the stairs, my eyes fell on the venomous snake sitted in my living room, eating snacks from my pantry.“What the hell do you think you are doing?” I asked coldly. I hated being disrespected and being lied to. This woman had done worse.“Oh Zeke, I was a bit hungry so I had to eat something.” Ellen replied. Staring at her all I could think of was a thousand ways to make her life miserable. “You know how it works right? Mother and..” “Shut the fuck up and take your crappy story elsewhere.” I interrupted her from speaking more gibberish.She laughed. “You do not believe me, don't you?”I squeezed my eyes shut in frustration. Why was this damn woman pushing her luck? “Ellen I have a lot on my mind right now and would thank the universe if they can just make you go away.” I replied. Ellen's presence was disturbing. I couldn't think about Kamille the way I wanted to. Ellen just keeps reminding me of why I may never get Kamille's forgiveness and now she comes
Zeke's POV I had felt pain before but that which gripped my heart at the moment was excruciating. I could not bear the sight before me. Why was she drinking all alone at the bar? I moved a little closer. Her eyes were red and puffy. Was she crying? What have I done? Looking at her beautiful face stained with tears, I reminisce on how we used to be when were married. She was always there, always loving, very kind, very thoughtful and very patient. She was almost flawless. I caused her all the pain she is in right now. If only I had not allow Ellen poison my mind. If only I learned to love her better. If only I had known a bit earlier what she went through in the hands of her family. If only I had been there. I have failed you Kamille. Lost in thoughts, my mind wandered back to how I unraveled the malicious lies and scheming of the Manors against Kamille. I had visited their ancestral home few weeks after I got married to Ellen. She said she had missed the view of where she g
Zeke's POV I was about to lift myself from the bed when she pulled me back into an embrace. Her embrace, though filled with warmth, also hinted at something deeper, something I knew I needed to handle with care.What's wrong with the fucking AC? “Are you okay?” I asked her trying to suppress the fast growing desire churning at the pit of my stomach.“Hmmm.” She nodded in the affirmative. “Now let's get you freshened up.” I murmured gently and guided her towards the bathroom. I ran warm water over her face as she leaned over the sink, just as I was about to grab her a towel her body began reeling from the effects of the alcohol. "I'm sorry," Kamille whispered between heaves, her voice laced with embarrassment."It's alright. I'm here," I reassured, holding her hair back and rubbing her back soothingly. At that moment, I realized the depth of how much gap her absence left in my heart. I missed listening to her talk about her day and the weather even when I act disinterested. I miss