Chapter 122: Redeeming her image

Camille’s POV

“I-I wasn’t eavesdropping,” Chad stuttered, holding his hands up in defense. “I didn’t mean to. I hadn’t… I didn’t know you came to the U-U until I heard your voice on the call.”

“Then why didn’t you say something then?!” I yelled accusingly, glaring at him.

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because I was afraid you’d be like this?”

I almost gave myself a whiplash from rearing my head up in shock. My eyes rounded and for a minute I was speechless.

“Camille?” Gav called through the phone.

”Hi, I’ll call you later,” I told him and ended the call before facing Chad. “Did you just get all sassy with me?”

He blushed, all bright red under the light.

“Sure not all of us are as eloquent as you are. But I can stand up for myself too, Camille.”

“Well, it’s about time. With all the years you spent in med school, you should have grown a pair of two,” I walked towards him, slapping his arm lightly.

“So you were only teasing me so I could stand up for myself?” He asked.

“Well not exactly. You’re just fun to push around.” I shrugged. “Exactly why your parents want to push you into a marriage with me.”

“They didn’t exactly push me. I told them I wanted you.”

Well, that was new. I folded my arms, arching a brow at him. “You wanted me?”

His ears turned red and he looked away, eyes fixed on his beloved books. “There’s no need to sound annoyed?”

“I’m not annoyed, I’m amused,” I chuckled. “All the books in your world and you didn’t figure that out.”

“I’m not an English major,” He grumbled.

“Whatever, I’m sorry about this then. Must have hurt you pretty bad,” I tossed him a winning grin and cocked my head to the side. “I am not in the least bit attracted to you.”

His brown eyes turned a bit dark with pain before he shrugged.

“Yeah, you made that very clear when you were clearly about to do the forbidden on my mother’s favorite chair,”

See? Such a nerd. Both him and his parents.

“Do the forbidden?” I teased. I was embarrassed that he had caught me almost touching myself. But hey, his face was as red as a tomato and for a minute, it felt good to screw with him. “You mean touched me?”

He stepped away from me as if I held fire too close to him and turned to slink back behind the bookshelf he had stepped out from.

“Wow, I didn’t realize I had that effect on you,” I said, unable to resist taunting him further. Chad’s cheeks were now a deeper shade of crimson, and he busied himself with rearranging the books on the shelf with more fervor than necessary.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that,” he stammered, avoiding my gaze.

“Are you sure?” I drawled.

“Okay, okay, stop!” Chad exclaimed, holding up his hands in surrender. “I get it. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at his flustered reaction. Chad was always so serious and focused, that seeing him squirm like this was a rare treat.

“It’s fine, Chad,” I said, trying to stifle my laughter. “Don’t take it too seriously. I was just messing with you.”

He shot me a skeptical look before relaxing slightly.

“Congratulations, you certainly got me there,” he admitted sheepishly. “I guess I deserved that one.”

I nudged his shoulder playfully, well tried to. He may not be as tall as Gavriel but he was taller than I was.

“Hey, at least now you know not to eavesdrop on my phone calls.”

He chuckled softly, the tension from before melting away.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he replied. “So boyfriend?”

I shrugged. “More like Lover. A very talented lover.”

“Damn, you’re trying to make me regret talking about this aren’t you?”

“No, boyfriend just doesn’t describe him,”

It sounded like an insult. Boyfriend did not capture the entire essence of Gavriel himself. He was manly, domineering, like some sturdy mountain man. Calling him boyfriend was pretty insulting.

“Wow, I guess that explains you calling him Daddy,” Chad shot me a pointed look. “I’m guessing your father doesn’t know?”

“Yes thank you Captain Obvious. Of course, he doesn’t know.”

He would find a way to force it all to end the same way he had tried to force this betrothal despite my objections.

Chad’s eyes widened in realization, and he quickly held up his hands. “I didn’t mean to pry, Camille. I just...I don’t want you to get hurt.”

I couldn’t help but soften at his concern, despite his awkward fumbling.

“My father can never find out, okay?” I glared at him, holding his eyes and he nodded.

“Your secret’s safe with me, then.”

“No buddy, that’s not how this works,” I said walking back to the settee and plopping my ass on it. “You’re going to tell me a secret you’ve been hiding from your parents in exchange. That way, I can be sure you would never betray me.”

Chad stared at me like I had sprouted two heads. “Has anyone ever told you you’re devious?”

I gave him a smug smile “Several times, start talking,”

He sighed, walked behind one of the giant shelves, and came out with a painting.

It was a painting of a woman’s hands playing the piano. Just her hands. The rest of her body was not shown. And yet somehow, you could tell those hands belonged to a woman.

Chad dropped the painting on one of the settees and simply stared at me.

“What?” I asked. “You stole the painting?”

“No,” he looked disgusted that I would. Suggest something like that.

“You won it in a gamble?”

Chad let out an exasperated sigh. “Seriously Camille? You didn’t think that I could have painted this?”

My brows shot up. “You paint?”

Chad nodded a hint of pride in his eyes. “Yeah, I do. It’s my way of unwinding after dealing with the stress of being a doctor. But I’ve been considering doing so professionally, you know.”

I reached out to touch the painting, tracing the delicate lines of the piano keys with my fingertips. “This is gold. The genius scientist of the Martin family, dabbling in sleuthing as frivolous as painting? If I marched downstairs to tell your parents-”

“Don’t you dare,” He snapped. “My dad would have a heart attack in his chair. “

I patted his painting. “As long as mine remains hidden. So will this.”

“Camille!” My father’s voice echoed from the hallway. “Camille we’re leaving!”

“Welp, that’s my cue,” I grumbled, launching on my feet. “Oh yeah, Megan mentioned needing an illustrator for one of her books one time.”

“Who?” Chad asked.

“A friend. She writes. We could set a date and meet up so you two can talk or something. It would mean a lot to her.”

He nodded. “Okay. Just let me know, whenever,”

I walked out of the library. Well, at least things with Chad were smoother. I had to repair things with Martin, Barbara, and my Dad.

“There you are,” Dad seethed. “Where did you go?”

Behind him was Barbara pushing her husband on his wheelchair and well they still weren’t happy to see me.

“I was talking with Chad,” I replied.

“That’s enough, we’re leaving,” Dad announced.

“I’m sorry,” I blurted, bowing my head in shame. “I had only done that because I wanted Chad to hate me and refuse to get married to me. I don’t want this marriage. I’ve told Dad a gazillion times, but he thinks I’m a kid who doesn’t know what’s good for me.”

I looked up at my Dad, who looked resigned at this point. “And he’s right.”

That got their attention. “Chad is sweet and can be funny when he wants to be. Any other woman would be lucky to have him. I only went on an insult spree because I thought it was the only way. I’m sorry Mr and Mrs Martin.”

A smile cracked on the old couple’s face and I felt a bit more at peace when they sent us off. Dad was quiet all the way home until the car swerved into the garage.

“After all that you pulled today,” He said, looking drained. “I should be furious with you. But you did redeem yourself at the end.”

I chuckled and hugged him. “I’m sorry I distress you a lot. It’d be a bit better if you just listened a little more, Dad. I’m young but I’m not always stupid.”

“I’m counting on that,” He replied with a chuckle.

My phone vibrated with a call then from Gavriel and my father made a noise low in his throat.

“It’s almost ten pm right now, why is he calling you so late?”