Chapter 2 Two
Idalia
Camilla stepped out of the bathroom. She was wearing a silk robe, my silk robe, and drying her hair with a towel. She looked radiant, beautiful, and completely at home.
The bag slipped from my numb fingers and hit the floor with a heavy thud.
What was she doing here? Why is she smiling so lovingly towards my husband?
The sound shattered the intimacy of the room. Thane’s head snapped toward me. For the first time, my husband looked at me. He looked me up and down, his gaze traveling over my cheap dress, my messy hair and my pale face.
There was no recognition or spark. Just cold, hard annoyance and shock.
“Who is this?” he asked, his voice deep and unfamiliar in its harshness.
Camilla raised her eyes to meet mine, and for a split second, I saw panic. But then, a smirk curled the corner of her lips, cruel and intimidating.
“Oh,” Thane said, his lip curling in a distant smile as he looked at my worn-out shoes. “Camilla, did you call for a cleaner already? I told you we didn't need one until we left.”
A cleaner.
The air left my lungs. He thought I was the hospital help?
“Thane…” I choked out.
Camilla moved instantly. The smirk vanished, replaced by a mask of sheer terror. She dropped the towel and fell to her knees, her hands trembling as she clasped them together.
“Please!” she cried out, her voice pitching high with fake fear. “Please, sister, I didn’t do anything! I did everything you asked! I washed him, I fed him, I did everything you ordered me to do! Please don’t hit me again!”
My jaw dropped as I furrowed my brow. “What? No. Camilla, what are you talking about?”
“I’m leaving!” Camilla sobbed, crawling backward as if I were a monster. As if I would hit her. “Now that he can see, I’ll go! You can have the money! You can have the title! Just please, don’t hurt me anymore!”
I could barely say a word as I stood there, stunned to the bone at my sister's acting.
What is she trying to do? Why is she doing this?
Thane moved faster than I thought possible. He rushed to Camilla’s side, scooping her up from the floor with a tenderness that shattered my heart. He glared at me, his eyes burning with a rage I had never directed at me.
“Don’t you dare come near her,” he growled.
“Thane, no!” I stepped forward, desperate. “She’s lying! I don’t know what game this is, but it’s me! It’s Idalia!”
“Idalia?” He spat the name like it was poison and scoffed. “The same woman who took my money and forced her sister to be my slave? The woman who couldn’t be bothered to visit her crippled husband because she was too busy shopping?”
My lips parted in disbelief. I had only been away for an hour and thirty minutes, yet, Camilla found her way here and already poisoned my husband's mind?
“No!” I screamed, tears finding their way to my face. Fuck the hormones. “That’s not true! I’ve been here every day! I’m the one who held your hand! I’m the one who sang to you!”
I took a breath, trying to steady myself. “Thane, listen to my voice. You know my voice. You call me your ‘North Star.’ Remember? You said I was the only thing guiding you in the dark.”
Thane paused. Confusion flickered in his eyes. He looked at me, then down at Camilla. At least they had to be something we shared my sister doesn't know about.
I stepped forward, desperate to bridge the gap.
“Thane, please, listen to me. I’m your wi—”
Camilla buried her face in his chest and let out a broken sob, cutting me off instantly.
“North Star and Moon.”
My breath hitched in my throat. The world seemed to stop.
How?
My mind raced, panic clawing at my chest. How did she know that?
Thane stiffened. He turned sharply to face her, his body tense. “What did you say?”
Camilla raised her head, her eyes wide and fearful. She gasped sharply, covering her mouth with a trembling hand as if she had let slip a dangerous secret.
“Oh my God, I’m sorry,” she stammered, shaking her head frantically. “I said absolutely nothing. Forget I said anything. I’ll go now… I’m so sorry…”
She tried to disentangle herself from his grip, hastily grabbing her bag as if to flee. I could only watch, flabbergasted, my voice trapped in my throat.
But before she could take a step, Thane reached out. He grabbed her wrist—forceful enough to stop her, yet gentle enough not to bruise. He pulled her back to him, his gaze burning into hers with an intensity that shattered my heart.
Moon. It was the secret name he gave me. It was the promise we made—that if we ever had a daughter, her name would be Moon.
“And please don’t lie,” Thane whispered, cupping her cheek. “I’ll protect you. Your sister…” He looked up at me then, and the hatred in his eyes was visceral. “She will never harm you again.”
Camilla looked up at him, tears clinging to her long lashes, playing the victim perfectly.
“She threatened to kill me if I told you the truth, Thane,” she whimpered, her voice trembling. “I couldn't do anything. She said she’d poison you if I didn't take her place and care for you in secret. She wanted the title, but she didn't want the burden.”
She sniffled, leaning into his touch. “If you don’t trust me, then tell me… don’t you also call me Moon? You loved the name so much you said we’d name our first child that.”
I stumbled backward, the room spinning. I knew my sister was capable of cruelty, but I hadn’t expected this.
Thane pulled Camilla tighter. “You are a vile creature,” he hissed at me. “You poisoned her mind, and you tried to poison mine.”
“I didn’t!” I stepped closer, reaching for him. “Ask the doctors! Ask the nurses! They know who was here! This is the first time Camilla has stepped foot in this hospital! It was me you called those names. How could you lie so effortlessly Camilla?”
Before she could answer, the door to the suite banged open.
“My son!”
Mrs. Devereux burst in, followed closely by my mother. Thane’s mother rushed to him, wrapping him in a hug, weeping theatrically. But her eyes, her cold, shark-like eyes, were fixed on me over his shoulder.
“Oh, thank god you can see!” she wailed. Then she pulled back and pointed a manicured finger at me. “Get that harlot out of here! How dare she show her face now?”
“Mother,” Thane said, his voice tight. “She claims she was the one caring for me.”
Mrs. Devereux scoffed, a harsh, ugly sound. “Her? That gold digger? She hasn’t visited you since you got admitted! She’s been out at clubs, spending your fortune on parties while poor Camilla here slept in a chair by your bedside every night!”
“It’s true,” my own mother chimed in. She walked over to Camilla, patting her hair. “I’m sorry, Thane. I failed raising Idalia. She became so spoiled, so greedy. I tried to stop her, but she… she threatened us.”
I stumbled back again, it was a setup. A perfectly orchestrated execution of my life.
“The doctors,” I whispered, my voice barely audible. “Call the doctors.”
“We already did,” Thane said coldly. He pressed a button on the wall.
Two doctors and a nurse, the same nurse I had spoken to this morning, walked in. They wouldn’t look at me.
“Tell him,” I pleaded, grabbing the nurse's arm. “Tell him I was here. Tell him I had been the one coming here. You know the truth, the CCTV too.”
The nurse pulled her arm away, looking at the floor. “I’m sorry, Miss. I’ve never seen you before. Miss Camilla has been the only one here.”
The silence that followed was deafening. Even the doctors said the same, adding that there's no use for CCTV footage.
Thane looked at me with pure loathing. “Security,” he barked. “Get this woman out of my sight. And call the police. I want her arrested for fraud and extortion.”
“Thane?” I let out, my throat dried. “You can't…”
“No please.” Camilla cried out, clutching his shirt. “Thane, please! She’s still my sister. Don’t arrest her. Just… just send her away. Send her to the countryside. Let her be in that old house where she can’t hurt anyone.”
“She deserves prison,” Thane growled. “Why are you so kind-hearted?”
“Please,” Mrs. Vance added, wiping a fake tear. “For the family’s reputation. Just let her leave.”
Two burly security guards stepped forward, grabbing my arms.
“Get her out,” he commanded, his voice devoid of any lingering warmth. He paused, casting one final, disdainful glance in my direction. “And have the police take her. Let her rot in a cell for a week before she's released.”