Page 42 of Dr. Billionaire's Fake Marriage

I see Camile's back from the door leading to the backyard. Her mother has a few plants there and seems to be tending them while Camile converses with her.

I start to wave, but I stop when I hear her mother mention my name.

I pause and realize that listening to their conversation isn't the best choice I can make. I listen anyway. They are both talking about me.

"You slept with him again?" Her mother tries to hide the amusement in her voice. "I never thought you had it in you. I told you to seduce him long ago, and I think you did a good job, knowing he might fall for you."

I don't wait to hear what she says next. I hurry out of the house, catching my breath when I jump in my car. I wish I hadn't told my driver to take the day off.

I hope I can drive home safely. I unbutton my shirt when I get to the house, opening the tap on my head and spying my damp face in the mirror.

Camile's mother's words come back to me. Was Camile meant to seduce me all along?

I can't help the headache brewing, making me want to hit my fist on something. I try to breathe calmly and tell myself that I hadn't heard her, right?

I don't want to think of her as a gold digger – the very gold digger I had spent many years avoiding.

Have Camile and her mother set up a plan for her to seduce me?

I stay put until I hear Camile come in. She smiles at me like she always does, but now, I question her innocence. "You promised to pick me up at Mother's house." Camile's voice echoes into my ears. "Are you okay?" She asks when she suspects my silence.

I turn to look at her, but look away immediately, not wanting to be subject to her gaze.

"I came to your mother's house," I say. "I overheard you talking to your mother."

Camile's eyes widen in surprise. She seems to realize what I had heard, and she begins to shake her head in denial. "It is not what you think; you didn't hear the rest of the conversation."

“Oh, I heard you loud and clear,” I scoff. “You seduced me? This was all a plan to you?”

"No!" she cries. "Mother thinks it is my plan, but it is not. I promise you."

I stand up, adamant. “I need to be alone right now,” I say, strolling out of the house.

If this is true and Camile had come into my life because she wanted to, then my instincts were right from the onset.

Camile placed herself strategically in my life, and I now feel helpless in her trap.

But I don't want it to be true… I want to be wrong.

Chapter fourteen

Best Friends

Camile

Troy hasn't been home since yesterday. I assume he went to visit his mother. I look at the time again and am tempted to call his brother, Henry, but I don't have Henry's line.

I call Amelia instead. She doesn't pick up. "Fuck," I say under my breath.

Troy had misunderstood the conversation he heard at Mother's place. I can't figure out how to convince him that what we had last night wasn't because I wanted to seduce him for his money.

I am pacing the room when my phone rings. It is not Troy like I hoped; it is Mother.

"Troy heard what you said in the backyard about the whole seduction thing, Mom." I say, "I don't know what to do. He is not at home and not picking up my calls."

“I am sorry,” Mother says over the phone, “this is all my fault.”

“No,” I say. “I just need to find Troy.”

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