Chapter 42
Ciara could feel that Callum was pissed, but he was just controlling it. Though it was already etched on his face how he wanted to make a point, because he knew that he was still firing his shot at her, taking his chance and making a move, disagreeing with Ciara was really not a good idea.
“Have you asked permission with our daughter?” he asked, inserting Cara, who should not be on the topic.
“Yes. It was actually her suggestion to let me explore and…date”
Callum glanced at her uncontrollably. It showed on his face how offended he was and how he disapproved of it.
“She said
aid that?”
“Yes. She doesn’t like you at the moment, Ciara murmured and looked to the window.
Callum licked his lips when he remembered the exact words Cara said during his phone call with Ciara.
“Does she know about… Callum glanced at Ciara, weighing her expression.
Ciara shook her head. “I haven’t told her anything about the past, I may have hated you for that moment, but I am not a bad mother to paint you as evil in your daughter’s mind.”
Callum’s expression calmed down. The disappointment was now mingling in his expression, as it seemed like the past was drastically playing in his head, and he looked so apologetic about it.
“I hope she gives me a chance too,” he whispered.
Ciara couldn’t say anything about it, knowing how unpredictable Cara is-like her father. It was what she inherited from Callum that surprised Ciara because of how her mind works and how she easily copes with things.
“She was like your little version when it came to her attitude,” Ciara said.
Callum’s face lightened. He seems invested in knowing every little thing about Cara.
“Then she must be pretty smart, huh? Someone you can’t deceive so easily,” he said proudly, with a smile twitching on his lips.
“Yes, she doesn’t trust even her father,” she whispered, looking outside the window.
Callum heard it clearly. Though he understood why his daughter was kind of distant from him since it was his fault after what he had done to Ciara in the past, he was still trying to get her trust.
A silence grew between them while Ciara was only looking outside the window, thinking about the news that the Haynes were now welcoming the Wilsons again,
Clearly, she is so curious about it, but she doesn’t want to stress Herself out about what Callum is up to. She would rather stay silent about it and let Callum just do it according to what he plans.
But a part of her was holding onto the idea that he was serious this time and he meant to fix everything when it was getting blurry to her as she felt like she would be betrayed any minute.
“I want to invest in your company too,” Callum said in the middle of the silence. Ciara glanced at him.
“I’ve worked with you in the past. If we worked again, we would only repeat the mistakes we made,” she pointed out.
“There was no mistake when we worked as business partners. You’ve learned a lot from me. I watched you grow from that woman who successfully handled the land alone until it bloomed. But this time, you will do it on your own, without using
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Chapter 42
your connection, for the sake of your company, which means you needed more allies.”
Ciara looked at him thoroughly, like he was a puzzle she was trying to study.
“Andreus is fine,” she said.
“You like him?” It was almost a confrontational question, which Callum just made seem like a gentle interrogation, but the way his brows furrowed, Ciara could really tell he was being nost
“As a business partner? I guess so.” She shrugged.
Callum licked his lower lip, and his brows furrowed even more. She could feel his frustration, the unsaid words that could be vividly read on his expression.
Callum checked his pulse to look at the time.
“Tell our daughter you are coming late. I’ll take you somewhere in the meantime,” he said.
Though she was supposed to come home late because of his dinner with Andreus, that was cut short because Callum texted her, but she still texted Cara that she would be coming home late
Her mind was immediately creating scenes such as being in bed while Callum hovered over her, and she just wanted to strangle her neck to show how available she is when it comes to Callum.
“Be extra careful this time. When she hurt you for the first time, it would cut deep, but the second time would cut like a lifetime. You might blame yourself for trusting him again despite what he did to you. That’s the pain that’s going to hurt so bad, she heard Serra’s voice in her mind on that day. She was advising her if Ciara would give Callum a chance.
Indeed, she might be stupid when it comes to love since it showed how she built a life just for Callum so he could fit in. She did a lot of things as a woman who was willing to give him the world.
Goddamn it, Ciara You are playing in the heat of the tire, expecting it wouldn’t burn you, huh? You are really sick in t head. You always think that Callum will never hurt you.
She pursed her lips while thinking about how she was falling for him in the middle of the chaos. No matter what he would say, and even her daughter, who disapproves, he was like a drug that, when she gets closer to him, she gets eas addicted to.
And she made him her own rehab, a jail where she wanted to be locked forever-in his arms, someone who could only f her broken heart, someone who could only complete the missing pieces he stole.
Callum’s car went to an overview place while they were going into the highest part of it, as Ciara could see the astonishing overview city lights that made her eyes widen amusingly.
“Wow,” she gasped.
“This is actually my own private place-something I selfishly gatekeep for myself. But tonight, I’m going to share it with
you.”
Ciara glanced at Callum, stunned that his gesture was actually too romantic, like the old Callum from the past who would surprise her with his unexpected gestures.
She couldn’t say anything, but Callum could feel she liked the place because, as soon as he parked and went out, as he opened the door for her, he saw how her eyes immediately went to the city lights, as if she were comforted by its beauty.
Callum opened the back of the car and took a champagne drink that made Ciara’s brows arch.
“You’ve prepared for this, haven’t you?” she asked as she watched him walk toward him, holding a bottle of champagne and two champagne flutes.
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Chapter 42
“This was my plan, you declined every time I’d invite you,” he said, pouring her a drink while he arched his brow at her.
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Ciara’s brow arched as she couldn’t help but smile. She knew that Callum was courting her, or pursuing her, as he said, and to see him making an effort just to make her happy felt so romantic that she was suddenly craving intimacy.
Damn you, Callum. You really have your ways to spin me into your palm like a doll, huh?
She took the champagne flute she handed and sipped on it as she rested her elbows against the barricade and looked at the sparkling city lights that seemed so calm.
Callum stood next to her after placing the bottle on the hood of the car as they both watched the city lights silently.
The cold wind played against their hair. The twinkling stars mirrored the lights that seemed like falling stars into the darkness of the sky as if they were sinners who were thrown into the world as they weren’t welcome in the sky anymore.
And Ciara empathizes with them. As she felt like an abandoned woman by the man whom she loved in the past, she needed to drift away from her life, and despite being found again, she still felt so lost.
Callum glanced at Ciara. She could see him looking at her in her peripheral vision, while she could feel the cold breeze hugging her, Callum walked back to his car, opened it again, and took his coat as he stood at her back and put it at the top of her shoulder, which made Ciara feel warm as she could smell his scent.
It was in those instances that her world crumbled down as she fell on a soft mattress-his arms comforted her, despite the menace he gave to her life, A burning house that seems too destructive to live-and yet-she fell as soon as he cradled her with a lullaby that fixed her broken heart. It was Callum-her own downfall, but the sweetest.
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