Chapter 146 Chapter 146

Chapter 146 Chapter 146
Maxwell

"You don't have to come to the office with me or follow me everywhere I go," I said, struggling to hide my frustration.

I was already growing tired of her clingy behavior. At first, I had found it a little cute because I believed she was only trying to make sure I didn't hurt myself again. But now it has become exhausting. It no longer felt caring—it felt obsessive.

I couldn't go anywhere without her right behind me. Sometimes it felt as though I couldn't even breathe without her watching me. The worst part was that she had actually tried to follow me into the bathroom more than once.

At this point, I was completely irritated.

"I just want to watch you work," she said with a playful smile. "A lot of men would be happy to have their wives by their side while they are working."

"I'm not other men," I replied, my voice firm. "And I certainly don't enjoy feeling suffocated. I deserve some privacy too. You can't keep hovering over me every second and call it love."

The smile on her face disappeared instantly. Her eyes became glassy, and within seconds, tears spilled down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry if it feels like I'm suffocating you," she said quietly. "It's my fault for loving you too much, even more than I love myself. I didn't realize loving you this much was a crime."

I looked at her silently, I didn't know what to say. Instead of calming down, she cried even harder.

"I'm only trying to protect you," she continued through her tears. "I'm trying to make sure you don't hurt yourself again. How am I supposed to live if something happens to you and you leave me all alone in this world?"

I let out a slow breath. "I am not asking you to stop loving me," I said as calmly as I could. "I'm only asking you to tone it down a little. You need to love yourself too." My gaze dropped to her stomach. "And you need to think about the baby growing inside you. You should be resting, the baby needs that."

I walked a little closer.

"I don't want you coming with me today. I will call you often to check on you, and I'll leave work early so I can spend the rest of the day with you."

She shook her head immediately. "No," she said stubbornly. "You are not going anywhere unless I come with you."

I clenched my jaw and let out a frustrated grunt, I couldn't remember what my life had been like before all of this. But I was certain this couldn't be how I wanted to live now, I needed to find a way to deal with this before it got even worse.

Just like the other day at the bikers' event, she had almost smothered me with her constant presence. She barely left my side the entire time. Wherever I went, she followed. She stayed so close that it became difficult to have a normal conversation with anyone.

Ironically, all her hovering didn't stop the women from surrounding me. They still came over, flirted openly, and tried to get my attention as though she wasn't even standing there.

I knew it was my responsibility to tell them to leave. But a part of me thought their presence would annoy Camilla enough for her to finally give me some space. Instead, she stayed glued to my side.

By the end of the event, I had somehow ended up giving my number to a girl whose name I could barely remember just to annoy the fuck out of her.

The shrill sound of my phone interrupted my thoughts. Before I could even reach for it, Camilla hurried toward the table, clearly intending to check who was calling.

I shot her a cold look, she froze immediately, stopping halfway before slowly lowering her hand.

I picked up the phone. "Hello, Mom," I said, making sure Camilla heard me. At least she would know it was my mother calling instead of trying to find out for herself.

"What is wrong with you?" my mother demanded without greeting me. "Why did you send Amelia out of the house? You have already taken the children away from her. Why would you take the house too?"

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"It's all over the news!" she shouted.

Before she could say another word, I ended the call and quickly opened the news on my phone.

The first video that appeared made my blood run cold. It showed several security men standing outside the mansion. Amelia stood near the entrance with Adrian and her loud-mouthed friend, Adele, while they loaded suitcases into the back of a vehicle.

The reporters had surrounded them from every direction. Camera flashes lit up the scene as questions were thrown at Amelia from every angle.

She wasn't answering any of them, she was crying. Her friend was arguing with the reporters, trying to push them back while Adrian focused on getting Amelia away from the cameras.

I watched the clip from beginning to end without blinking. Something twisted painfully inside my chest. Seeing the tears streaming down Amelia's face made my heart sink. Why? Why was seeing her cry affecting me this much? What was it about this woman that kept making me feel so unsettled?

I tightened my grip on the phone before turning the screen toward Camilla, my anger finally exploded. "Did you do this?" I demanded. My voice echoed through the room.

Camilla's eyes widened in shock, she stared at me as though she couldn't believe what had just happened. In the two years we had been together, I had never once raised my voice at her.

"Did you go behind my back and throw her out of the house?" I shouted. "Did I ask you to do that?"

Camilla didn't seem frightened by my outburst. Instead, she simply shrugged. "I just thought she had benefited enough from living in that house," she said. "Why should she get to keep an entire estate? She isn't related to you in any way." She paused before adding, "I did it so we could move back there."

I closed my eyes for a brief moment and took several deep breaths, trying to keep my temper under control, I had already lost my patience once, I refused to lose it completely. When I opened my eyes again, I looked straight at her.

"You are overstepping your boundaries," I said, my voice low but firm. "I can't keep letting you have your way all the time."

She immediately started walking toward me, probably intending to calm me down. I took a step back before she could reach me.

"Don't touch me," I said coldly. "I need some space right now."

She stopped in her tracks, a look of pain spread across her face, but I didn't have the energy to comfort her. Right now, I couldn't even comfort myself.

I lowered my gaze to my phone again, every major blog was carrying the same story. The videos of Amelia being thrown out of the house had spread everywhere. I stared at Amelia's tear-stained face on the screen.

I couldn't stop wondering what she must be feeling, she probably believed I had personally ordered all of this. Frustrated, I threw my head back and rubbed a hand over my face.

When I looked at my phone again, another breaking headline appeared at the top of the screen.

My eyes narrowed, I opened the article. The moment I saw the picture, I blinked several times, making sure I wasn't imagining it.

It was the same woman from the bikers' event, the one who had flirted with me, the woman I had given my number to.

She was dead, a chill ran through my body. Slowly, I lifted my head and looked at Camilla.

Author's note: Camillaaaaa