The Miracle of You

That was how it all started. Christian Callahan had a trump card up his sleeve, and she had no choice but to go along with his whims. She hated it, but at least she knew that he wasn’t interested in her. She wasn’t his type at all, and she preferred to keep it that way.

He was only using her for his own gain.

Camille sighed as she went back to her desk, her mind muddled with all sorts of thoughts. She turned on the screen of her phone and scrolled down her contacts list, her gaze resting on the name ‘Noah’.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.

To think that he gave her his private number so freely.

They had arranged to meet up on Monday since she wasn’t free during the weekends. During the weekends, she needed to take the role of a good wife at home despite not even being married to Christian yet. He insisted on living together so that it wouldn’t be hard to keep up appearances later on.

He even decided that the date of their wedding would take place in October, which was about seven months away. He had it all planned while she never got to express her own opinions about it.

She knew that he wanted a grand wedding because Christian was arrogant like that. He liked to show off to people and pretend that he was untouchable, that he had all the good things in the world.

She hated that kind of personality.

But what could she do?

She had already signed the contract.

It was the kind of contract that could only be terminated if both parties agreed to it. Even if she demanded for it to be null and void, Christian would never let her go. After all, she was the only woman who didn’t chase after him desperately, especially for his money. She had been under the Callahan family’s watch for years, so she was the perfect pawn for his childish little scheme.

Although they weren’t really going to get married, she still felt like her entire life was turning upside down. The wedding was only for show; the marriage certificate would be forged, and Christian would take care of it all, including deceiving his own father.

After all, Christian Callahan was the kind of man who didn’t like being tied down or controlled. Everything had to go his own way.

It was a relief to Camille that they weren’t bound by anything except for the contract, but even just living together under one roof with the man gave her a heavy sense of suffocation. Even though she was alone most of the time since he was busy with company matters and pleasure, she felt like he was watching her all the time, waiting for her to mess up. It was maddening.

Camille sighed heavily. When she was young, she had a proud sense of righteousness that extended to the whole school. Being the student council president, she would monitor everyone in her surroundings, get along with the teachers, discipline the students whenever it was necessary, and make sure that the school upheld its reputation. It was a responsibility that she didn’t really need to keep, but she chose to, anyway.

But now, that part of her younger self was gone, replaced by an average, insecure woman who didn’t know what she wanted. She was now reduced to someone who didn’t have any other choice but to submit to those who were more powerful and had an advantage over her. It was pitiful, to be honest.

Camille sat down, her thoughts drifting towards Michael. She had seen the photos, the articles, and the accomplishments. He had grown up from a little roughneck to a fine young man. It had been a surprise to her to see him doing so well in the business industry, not because she had little faith in his abilities, but because she thought that he was uninterested in this kind of career path.

As far as she knew, Michael had always wanted to be a chef.

He used to give her his home-cooked lunchboxes before, back when they were in high school.

They had tasted divine. She had never enjoyed such food like that before, not even with her family’s long-time personal chef. Michael’s cooking had a bit of unique flavor to it, as though he had made the recipes his own.

She remembered that she had rooted for him to succeed in his dream someday. Michael, who had been a lost, repressed youth and thought that he had no goals, was suddenly enlightened by her encouragement and finally had a reason to keep going.

She didn’t know what happened that made him choose this kind of career path, but he must’ve had reasons of his own. The possibility of his family being against his dream wasn’t too far off, either. After all, the McGregors owned one of the biggest companies in the country. They would’ve wanted to pass on the family business to their children.

The thought of it saddened Camille.

But she was looking forward to it. To meet Michael again after all these years.

She had so much she wanted to ask him, and so much she wanted to know about what happened after she left. She didn’t even explain things to him back then before leaving. All she told him was that she planned on studying abroad and that she wouldn’t be able to see him again.

To her surprise, he told her that she shouldn’t worry, that he would find her no matter what it took. That even if they got separated, their friendship would never fade.

His words had touched her so much that she decided to leave him a memento to remember her by.

She had given him a necklace that her mother gave her for her birthday, a silver, heart-shaped pendant that she had always treasured.

Michael accepted it solemnly and promised her seriously that he would take good care of it and return it to her once they saw each other again, which was probably when they would become adults.

Unconsciously, Camille reached for her neck where she was currently wearing a different necklace. It was a fine, exquisite piece of jewelry that Christian had given her a year ago when they pretended to date to fool his father, one that implied that she belonged to him wholly and no one else.

And if she ever removed it, it would mean going against the contract.

For a year now, she longed for freedom. She longed to get away, to escape somewhere else again and find solace. She was tired of all the mind games, the debts, and the involvement in things that she never wanted to be involved in in the first place. Living like this was exhausting.

She admitted that the sudden, unexpected call from Michael gave her hope, something that she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

Maybe meeting him again after all these years would help her feel normal again.