Camila has lived and worked all her life in Hawthorne Manorhouse. It's all she's ever known along with the kindness shown by her boss after her mom's death. But now she's gone too and her future is uncertain.
The Manorhouse is to be inherited by som...
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I'm a bloody mess.
It shouldn't affect me, I know it shouldn't hurt.
We're not even involved anymore but every action the Duke's mother took and every word she and Elleanor said—even if not directed at me—felt like I was being cut open.
Growing up, Vincent was always kind and charming to me, despite the slight age gap. He was patient and attentive and did my bid most of the time. It was refreshing to have someone to play with, other than my mom. Of course, I would feel drawn to him.
I often used to daydream, about how he'd fall in love and I would become a princess. Well, a Duchess. Ridiculous, right? Well, that naïve young girl doesn't exist anymore.
But it doesn't make it any easier.
He was also the only boy I was in touch with up until my last three years of high school—when I decided I didn't want to be homeschooled anymore. I've had two boyfriends, ever since, and I thought I loved them both but ever since Vincent and I met again... I just knew.
I was never in love with those boys—even if I am not sure I love Vincent either—because what I felt with them is not even ten percent of what I feel around him now. And we haven't even gone past the physical connection.
We're both clinging to whatever restraint there is left because if we let go, we're both doomed.
"Oh, you have a dog?" A male voice startles me.
Turning around, with my hand clutching my chest from the scare, I find the Duke's youngest brother—Edgar—crouching down to pet Primrose.
"She's such a cutie!" He exclaims when she lays on her back, begging for belly rubs. "Does my brother know?"
"Yes, of course!" I answer wide-eyed.
"Hmm, he really likes you then."
My heart goes into a rage fit, trying to beat its way out of my chest.
"What do you mean?"
"He was never really that much attached to animals, so the fact that he lets you keep her, tells me a lot."
"Really? He seemed quite friendly with her. And she was Mrs Elizabeth's not mine."
"She is yours now, right?" I nod. "Then that's what counts. Never thought my brother would be such a simp."
"Simp?" I ask, confused about what it means.
"Sorry," he laughs. "I only use proper vocabulary in front of mummy dearest. It means he is whipped, wrapped around your finger."
"That's not true," I start to laugh nervously. "There's no way the Duke would even think abou-"
"Darling," he cuts me off. "I'm his brother, he confides in me and I know his body language. The guy is head over heels. even if he is still in denial. I mean, you both are."
