Chapter 27
Celine’s POV
“You were the boss’ wife?” The pretty girl Camilla told me about rushes to my side and atare at me, waiting patiently for me to say yes. Camilla had asked me a question and my reply had caused the fuss.
I turn to Camilla for help but she only shrugs like it is none of her business. Her shrugs also mean it is left to me to decide whether to tell the girl a yes or a no. I can see the curiosity, the questions, and the admiration in her eyes.
“I was like you said”, I confess, rolling out the dough.
She squeals and runs to her grandmother. “She is his wife.”
I shake my head with a smile. If only she knows what it means to be Bryan’s wife and the difficulties that come with living with all his rules. I guess that is what it takes to be a rich man’s wife or probably what it takes to be unwanted and wanted at the same time.
Bryan didn’t want me because I am not his spec but he needed me to rule out the scandal of dating another rich girl’s daughter and to put an end to his mother’s request to have grandchildren. I wonder why he doesn’t want the girl when it is obvious they belong to the same class.
Dragging my hand, making the rolling stick spin-off my hand, she asks again. “What happened? Why did you leave him? Why are you back?”
Before I can answer, Camilla thunders at her, pointing the frying spoon in her direction in warning. “Will you stop with the questions and get to work?”
A frown touches the girl’s lips. Her name is Lizzy and she is Camilla’s granddaughter. She came to visit Camilla for a week and Camilla insisted that she help in the kitchen.
I only came out here because I was bored since Jason is taking a nap and also because I wanted to prepare an early dinner for him so he can eat after he is awake when I saw how Camilla was struggling alone in the kitchen.
I asked her where the other two kitchen maids went and she said they were sent on an errand. I decided to help out.
“Check the chicken in the oven”, she orders her. Lizzy stamps her feet to the oven, throws it open, making me wince for the poor oven’s life and closing it back.
“Not done”, she folds her arms around her bosom. When our eyes meet, she gives me a cute smile.
It reminds me of the high school Korean drama I watched with Paxton a month ago and how almost all the girls in the school were crushing on the most handsome guy in school who just arrived on transfer from another school abroad.
They were all drooling for him and wanted his attention. He loved the attention he was getting but one girl didn’t notice him.
I believe I am that one girl in this situation and every other woman out there, dying to have Bryan in their arms is the other girls drooling. I doubt if I can drool anymore after everything that has happened.
“Celine, give the dough to Lizzy to finish up. Go take a shower and come down for dinner”, Camilla instructs.
I look puzzled. “Come down for dinner?”
“The boss doesn’t come home early on Thursdays. We will all dine in the dining room, including Jason.”
“Oh!” I mutter. “My presence is unnecessary, Camilla”, I tell her, moving away from the dough and taking off the apron for Lizzy who is with a pout on her face.
“It is.”
“No, please. I will pass”, I smile. I don’t want a repeat of Lizzy’s drama. I don’t know what the other maids will think of their boss’ wife coming back as a nanny in the same house.
Most of the people I met here years ago are gone, except Camilla. I don’t know how to answer them and what to say to them when I am being questioned.
I want to keep everything anonymous and I would have loved it if I weren’t known as the boss’ ex-wife but I know Camilla has spread the word already, just because I complained to her about how the guard at the gate humiliated me when I came looking for Bryan.
I don’t know what she told him but he regards me with a bow now and it makes me uncomfortable.
“Ok”, she nods with understanding. I smile again and walk out.
Sitting down all day long is boring and I feel like going out with Jason to go to the amusement park close by but I know Bryan will never allow that. I don’t even dare to bring it up to him. I decide not to think of it anymore or even bring it up. It is quite hard to view Jason as the billionaire’s son and not my son.
This is because Bryan’s home fills like a prison to me, even before now, despite how big the mansion is. If Camilla isn’t here, I doubt if accepting this offer would have been possible. Camilla is one of the reasons why I accepted it.
My son has not been out of the house since he was brought into this mansion and I hope the lack of interaction with other people wouldn’t affect him.
He hasn’t recovered fully. The antibiotics the doctor prescribed makes him sleep a lot and he eats well so I am not bothered whenever he begins to doze off.
I get to the door and push it open. I am trying to be careful so as not to wake him. Jason is still laying on the bed, with a slightly open mouth. I stand by his bed watching him and smiling.
Impulsively, I almost lay on the bed beside him so I can wrap my arms around him but I remember Bryan’s warnings and walk to the sofa.
I lay on the sofa, thinking about Paxton and everything. Even though I made Paxton’s disappearance look normal, I am puzzled by that action.
As much as I try to take it off my mind, the thought keeps coming back, making me question why he left me in that difficult situation. Even if he was scared, he couldn’t even defend or stand up for me.
After thinking about it for a while, I give up when no answers are forthcoming and I sigh heavily. I hear Jason’s murmur and I sit upright with alertness. All of a sudden, he starts to cry and I rush to his side.
He cries with his eyes closed and I try to make him stop with different tactics; I hug him to my body and rub my hands over his back in a comforting manner. After a while, he stops and begins to sob. He eventually opens his eyes to see me.
“Mommy”, he calls, blinking severally to be sure it is me.
“Yes, baby”, I answer with a soft smile. I have a feeling Jason hasn’t recovered from the incident of how he woke up one day to meet my absence for several days.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
I just hope my son isn’t traumatized by that incident. He is always scared I will be gone by the time he is awake.
Without saying any more words, his eyes close again with his tiny arms hugging me. I almost laugh at the action. I lay him back on the bed, climbing into the bed beside him.
After a while, he is breathing softly and back to the world of sleep. I lean on my arm and watch my son with pride.
There is a difference between the Jason I was doing my best to feed daily and the Jason I am seeing now.
My son has changed a lot. His face looks fresher and he looks robust now. I smile again, thinking inwardly that this is the sacrifice.
I didn’t know when someone throws the door open until Bryan casually walks in.
Fretting, I jolt up straight and we stare at each other in silence for a while as my hands suddenly become sweaty, before he rasps out.
“What the hell are you doing in my son’s bed?”