Chapter 71 Missing Her at Christmas
Moreover, from Debra and Bella's conversation, all Camilla heard was oppression, not concern from Debra towards Bella.
"Can I read them? Pretty please~"
"Alright, I'll send 'em over, but I bet you won't finish 'em!"
Camilla was all, "I totally will!"
When they got home, Alistair was messing with the Christmas lights at the door. He couldn't see the whole thing, but Camilla tilted her head and said, "Dad, it's kinda crooked. Shift it a bit to the left."
Bella hopped out of the car and shook her head. "Nah, it's too high. Lower it a bit."
Alistair lowered the lights, then Bella was like, "Nope, too low, raise it a bit."
Camilla chimed in, "This looks about right."
Alistair finished up, climbed down the ladder, and checked both sides, feeling something was off. "Are they not lined up?"
Bella spotted the issue. "Did you hang them upside down?"
Alistair coughed, "Looks like I did."
No wonder it looked weird.
Bella casually said, "Once the holidays hit, your brain just shuts down."
Camilla couldn't help but crack up.
On Christmas Day.
Alistair whipped up a feast: roast turkey, cheese platter, roasted chestnuts, and a veggie salad.
At 5 PM, the three of them sat down for a killer dinner.
After eating, Camilla started cleaning up, but Bella quickly stopped her, "Don't worry about it, go watch TV in the living room. Your dad and I got this."
Alistair poked his head out from the kitchen, "Yeah, if you can't sit still, go mess around in the yard."
Despite what they said, Camilla still helped clean up the trash, washed and cut the fruit, and opened the snacks, putting them in a basket.
At 7 PM, after cleaning up, the family sat down together.
Camilla opened the window, and fireworks lit up the night sky, bursting and fading. She rested her chin on her hand, feeling a moment of peace and happiness.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed.
It was a message from Juniper, wishing her well. Camilla smiled and sent back a long message of blessings.
Immediately, a video call came through.
Juniper, with slightly curled long hair and a pearl hair clip, looked different from her usual style—quiet and ladylike. It seemed she had toned down a lot after going home.
Camilla guessed right away that Juniper only toned down her rebellious nature when meeting elders.
Juniper, however, was surprised by the background wall behind Camilla. "I thought you were spending Christmas in Imperial City like every year. I was planning to ask you out after dinner, but it looks like you're back home?"
Camilla had spent Christmas in Imperial City for the six years she was with Leopold.
Elodie didn't like her, thinking she was of average background and education, and had no good attitude towards Camilla, let alone inviting her to spend the holidays together.
At first, Camilla felt sad, but later she accepted it. Since Elodie didn't like her, they would just keep their distance.
They wouldn't bother each other by keeping it that way.
Leopold, always stuck in the middle, just dodged the whole mess, never bringing it up or dealing with it.
He never even tried to fix things between Camilla and Elodie.
Camilla got it and never pushed him.
Like, she never made a fuss about where to spend Christmas Eve, whether with her or with Elodie. She never put Leopold in a tough spot.
Looking back now, all her compromises, patience, and understanding were just her way of coping.
Guys wouldn't appreciate it; they'd just take it for granted.
Camilla said, "Yeah, I missed my folks, so I grabbed a ticket and came back."
Camilla's words were simple, but Juniper knew it must've taken a lot of guts for her to come home.
"How are Alistair and Bella? Haven't seen them in ages. Say hi for me."
"They're good. They even asked about you during dinner."
Back in college, Alistair and Bella knew Juniper was Camilla's bestie. During summer breaks, they often had Camilla bring some local goodies to her.
Juniper still craved Alistair's beef sauce.
"When are you coming back? How long you staying?"
Camilla thought for a sec, "Probably for a while. It's been too long since I came back, and I wanna spend more time with them."
Juniper nodded. "Yeah, they must miss you a ton since you haven't been back for so long."
On the other end, Juniper's eyes shifted down, and she suddenly lit up, "This is hilarious, I just saw something wild."
Camilla asked, "What is it?"
"You didn't see it?"
"No."
Juniper remembered she had blocked Leopold ages ago.
"Let me tell you! Just now, Amara posted on Facebook, showing off a Hermes bag Leopold probably got her for Christmas. She made sure to flaunt it."
Juniper didn't even remember when she added Amara, but she saw it and found it amusing. "She mentioned it was a Christmas gift, and there were two hands in the bottom right corner, making sure everyone knew Leopold was spending Christmas with her. But soon after, Oliver debunked it."
Oliver, either clueless or just stirring the pot, stood out in the envious comments: [Wasn't Leopold just at Stellar Counsel LLP? How did he get home so fast?]
The comment section got awkward real quick.
Juniper couldn't help but sneer, "So petty, getting all excited over a Hermes bag. Think about when you were with Leopold, you had everything."
If Amara wasn't so showy, it would be fine, but she posted pics and chat records, making her intentions obvious!
But that wasn't the main point. The most shocking part was Leopold's Facebook post two minutes ago.
A picture of him holding a wine glass, with the background showing the master bedroom, and a photo frame on the nightstand.
It was a picture of him and Camilla from a trip two years ago.
The caption read: [Drunk, missing her.]
"Serves him right! Why doesn't he just drink himself to death!" Juniper was ranting, but sensing Camilla's silence on the other end, she cleared her throat. "Forget it, let's not talk about these depressing things."
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