His Lethal Love by Monika Singh (short story to read txt) 📗

Chapter - 33

Present

Camille

“Where were you last night?” Kat asked knowingly. 

 

“I’m glad she had a good time with Conan Arthur.” Archie winked at me, which caused me a smile.

 

Maura and Scott would be there any minute now, so I stepped into the kitchen to bring the food trolley. Yesterday I spent my entire day with Conan Arthur, forgetting that Scott was waiting for me in my bedroom. When I woke up in the morning, his place was empty. I felt a twinge in my heart when I found he didn’t leave a message and left me like that. I wondered why. 

 

In the past few hours, I spent my time making lunch for Maura and Scott. I made buffalo wings, apple pie, lobster rolls,‌ ‌and‌ ‌cobb salad. Maura had ordered a couple of more things, but I chose to ignore them since I did not know how to cook them. I heard Archie telling Kat that Maura would take me shopping.  

 

Her wedding shopping?

 

After pushing the food trolley into the dining room, I started placing‌ ‌dishes‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌table one‌ ‌by‌ ‌one. Archie and Kat were talking about something important as they forgot my presence in the same room. Seeing them together only gave me more heart aches because I remembered the time when Rika was always there for me and we talked like crazy, nonstop. I wished she could be back from the hurricane she was in. I did not know when she would get well, but the doctor said she would never recover. She would never leave her hospital bed and would breathe from the oxygen pipe while keeping her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

 

I was to blame for leaving her‌ ‌alone‌ ‌with‌ ‌Samuel.  If I had not done that, she would have been right in front of my eyes with a smile on her face. She was a gem I never valued. The man I valued never gave a toss about me. All he wanted was another woman. Now, he will be married and have a family. I would stay alone and sad and would live a miserable life.

 

“Camille!” I turned my gaze to Kat when he called me out. “In which world were you, girl? We have been calling for you for the last five minutes.” 

 

“Um… I’m sorry.” I tucked my hair behind my ear, lowering my gaze in embarrassment and resuming working. 

 

“We’re talking about today’s headline,” Archie said with amusement. 

 

“What is the headline today?” I asked curiously. “Is it about Maura and Scott’s wedding cake?” I made a joke which caused them to laugh. 

 

“Oh no, love.” Kat laughed. “Well, you and Conan dined out on a fancy date at one of the world’s most famous Italian restaurants. Then you two ended up in his luxury penthouse. What happened next...” he grinned widely, making me roll my eyes. 

 

“We‌ ‌just‌ ‌watched‌ ‌a‌ ‌movie.”‌ ‌I‌ ‌lowered‌ ‌myself‌ ‌to‌ ‌grab‌ ‌a‌ ‌bowl‌ ‌before‌ ‌setting it on‌ ‌the‌ ‌table. Before I returned to the kitchen, I scanned the table one last time to make sure everything was there. 

 

Moments after the doorbell rang, I felt my heart skitter. Scott was there, and I knew he must have read the headline. I wondered what he was thinking about me and Conan. He didn’t like the idea of us together. I would be feeling a tiny bit satisfied if he was feeling jealous. I wanted him to be jealous. 

 

Adjusting my glasses and smoothing my apron, I walked over to the door to answer it. I took a long inhale before opening the door. My heart raced when I saw him. He wore a navy blue crisp suit, his hair perfectly styled and his jaw clean-shaven. Maura was next to him, looking almost naked in her skin-tight dress. Scott had his arm wrapped around her possessively, his expression indifferent and his gaze fixed on his fiancee. 

 

He is not feeling jealous at all. 

 

“If you are done with your stare. Can you please excuse us?” Maura sneered. 

 

“Yeah, come on in.” I stepped back with a forced smile and let them inside. Scott didn’t even look at me once. 

 

“Hey, buddies,” Maura chirped and hugged her brother and Kat. I peered at Scott as he remained still at his spot. He didn’t even move to greet his friends. “What’s up?” 

 

Archie and Kat exchanged looks before speaking out, “We were talking about the headline.” 

 

Shit!

 

Archie glanced at me before continuing. “Have you seen Camille and Conan together? How beautiful they look together.” 

 

“It is such bullshit!” Maura hissed, giving me a dirty look. “How awful she looks in photographs. She didn’t even know what to wear while she was on a date.” I squeezed my apron in my fist. My jaw clenched and my eyes narrowed. She sighed and turned to Scott. “What do you think about them, baby?” 

 

Scott said nothing. He pulled the chair out and sat down. “I’m hungry.” His voice was as cold as ice. 

 

“What are you looking at? Start serving us,” Maura snapped.

 

I began to serve them. First, I walked over to Scott, who seemed strangely quiet. 

 

“Oh my God! Look at this one…” Kat chirped while pointing his finger at his phone screen. “How possessively Conan held Camille.”

 

I couldn’t miss the way Scott squeezed the glass as if he was about to shatter it in his hand. He did not move his eyes from his plate, but I could feel his tensed body. 

 

I approached Kat and leaned forward. “Can you shut up?” 

 

He grinned widely. “No, babe.” 

 

“Please keep quiet for god’s sake!” 

 

“Sadly, we can’t.” Archie shrugged.

 

My jaw flexed as I disappeared into the kitchen. I took a long breath and exhaled sharply, squeezing my eyes and thinking about Scott. I hated his expression. I hated his ignorance. I hated myself, begging for his attention. I hated that he hated me. I hated that I loved him. I hated that I couldn’t stop thinking about him even after eight years. I hated he loved her. Jesus Christ, I loved him. 

 

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