Love Prevails

The Family

Having seen the photo of her cousin and husband, Camilla was unsure what she was going to do.

The next morning, she woke up early, got the children dressed, and took a drive to her aunt and uncle's place. She hadn't informed them that her and the kids were coming but hoped that they would be home.

On arriving, her aunt saw her face, pulled her in, and said to her husband, "Please go take the kids to the shops and get them something nice for breakfast. I will message you when I am done, and then you can come back."

Camilla's uncle understood full well what her aunt was alluding to and said, "Come kids, let's go buy breakfast and do some shopping, then I will buy you each an ice cream and a soda."

The children did not need to be tempted twice. They loved their great uncle.

Once they had left, her aunt turned to her, "Camilla, what on earth happened?"

Camilla related the whole incident of yesterday and also explained it had not been the first time he had raised his hands to her.

"My child, when a man first lays his hands on you and gets that taste, he will never stop," her aunt explained.

"I know," she replied, "but I think about the kids, and I do love him," Camilla explained.

"I know you do honey, but is this the environment your mom and dad would have wanted for their grand-babies? It's definitely not what I would have wanted for you," her aunt expressed with a sense of deep sadness for her niece.

Camilla thought for a second about what her aunt had said, and she was right.

She then decided to take out the picture that Michelle had sent her, "Aunty, this is the picture Michelle sent me."

Her aunt was shocked. "Is this your cousin Tamara? Your Uncle Chris and Aunt Ruby's daughter?" she asked, flabbergasted by what she had seen.

"Yes, aunty it is," she responded.

"Fine, leave this for now. You and I will speak more, but for now, you will play it calmly, and we will put the wheels in motion to oust them both." Aunt Joyce instructed.

Camilla's aunt couldn't believe that her own niece would do this and bring reproach upon the family name.

Just then, the phone rang. "It's Steven," Camilla said to her aunt.

"Well, answer it. Let's hear what he has to say," her aunt coaxed.

"Hi Steven," she answered in an icy cold tone.

"Camilla, where are you?" he asked, "I woke up, and you and the kids were gone."

Camilla took a deep breath, "I'm by my aunt," she said.

"We need to talk, Camilla. I'm sorry about last night. I don't know what came over me," he started to apologize.

"You're sorry, that's very rich coming from you!" she retorted, not letting go of the icy tone.

"Just wait there, I'm going to come now there to you, so we can go home," he said.

"Steven, with all due respect, please don't, I would like to stay a little while longer with my family. I was alone all day yesterday," she said in a low and piercing voice. She ended the call with her husband.

At the same time as she ended the call with Steven, her uncle and the kids walked in. The kids were so tired they went to have a nap. This gave Camilla and her aunt enough time to bring Toby up to speed on what had happened.

Looking at his brother's daughter, his heart broke. He had been entrusted to look after her when her parents passed away. He drew her into his embrace, "Somehow I feel like I have failed you and your parents, my child," he whispered.

"No, uncle, you have done everything right, dad would have been happy," she whispered.

How she missed her parents so terribly much.

Before leaving to go home, her aunt helped her put a plan into action under the guidance of Uncle Toby.

On arriving home, Steven was sitting in the living room waiting for them to arrive. He quickly scooped up the kids and gave them both a big, big hug. He turned to his wife and tried to draw her into an embrace, but Camilla pushed his hand away and said, "I'm going to wash up and prepare something for this afternoon."

"No need," he smiled, "I took the liberty of ordering take out to give you a break from the stove today."

Camilla knew only too well that this was a ploy. She would wait for the other shoe to drop. After they had had their fill of pizza, Camilla carefully began to prepare the kids' bags and clothing for the next day, then she started preparing Steven's clothing, then her own. This was her usual Sunday afternoon routine.

While she was busy, Steven said, "I'm going out for a little while. When I get back, we can talk."

"Do whatever you must," she responded.

While Steven was away, she got a visitor on her doorstep. Looking at her, Bradford asked, "What happened?"

"It's nothing," she responded.

"Nothing!" he raised his voice slightly, "did that man lay his hands on you?" His face was blood-red with anger, and he clenched his fists.

Bradford was the heir to the Hemmingway family fortune. He hated seeing women being abused by men specifically. He also didn't know why he had a strong reaction seeing Camilla like that.

"If you ever feel the need to talk, Camilla, please message me. I'm staying with my grandfather now, so I'm not too far away," he handed her his number.

"Thank you," she smiled gently.

He couldn't understand why, but her smile melted his heart. After a few words, they said goodbye, and Bradford headed back home.

Back at the Hemmingway residence, Grandpa Hemmingway was nagging at Bradford.

"Young man, do you not think that it is time you found yourself a good woman and settled down?"

"Grandpa, when the time is right, I will get married," he let out a chuckle. Meanwhile, he couldn't stop thinking about Camilla and everything she was enduring.

"It wasn't right to endure such hardships," he thought to himself.

Bradford Hemmingway, too, had been in a relationship a few years ago, but due to his fiancé running off with his best friend, Bradford had decided to remain single and focus on the family empire.

The Hemmingways were the richest architects in England. Bradford was the only grandson on his father's side of the family, and his father and grandfather doted on him. Unfortunately, his father passed away a few years back, and his mother passed away when he was very, very young.

Grandpa Hemmingway knew the Jones family well, especially Tamara's family. But he was familiar with all the Jones brothers.

Of late, Grandpa Hemmingway had been on his grandson's case about getting married.

Back at the Middleton residence, Camilla wasn't going to wait up for her husband. She decided to go and sleep in the same room with her children.