Chapter 72 Sebastian, Merry Christmas

Camilla's lips curled up a bit. "No worries, you don't have to dodge it."

Even though she said that, they both went quiet.

Out of nowhere, the noise on Juniper's end got wild. "Camilla, I gotta bounce. Family dinner's kicking off, and my mom's hunting me down."

"Gotcha."

After hanging up, Camilla was about to set her phone down when a bunch of messages popped up.

They were from Marcus.

There were some international lawsuit docs and receipts, giving a quick rundown of the progress. The rest were papers needing her John Hancock.

International lawsuits were a whole different beast, way more complex and time-consuming. Seeing it move this fast, Camilla was kinda shocked.

She downloaded the docs, signed them online, and shot them back to Marcus.

He got them in a flash and sent another message, kinda joking: [You trust me that much? Not scared I'll screw you over?]

Camilla: [You wouldn't]

Marcus felt a little flutter and chuckled.

Clearly happy with her reply, he quickly typed back: [Chill, it's just some necessary docs to sign, nothing crazy.]

Camilla raised an eyebrow, not buying his explanation.

She wasn't dumb. She'd read the docs carefully before signing, making sure everything was legit.

Besides, if Marcus wanted to play her, he wouldn't use such a lame and obvious trick.

Two seconds later, her phone buzzed again.

Marcus: [Merry Christmas, hope my wish comes true next year.]

Camilla flipped her phone face down on the bed. She wasn't Santa; his wish had nothing to do with her.

"Camilla, your dad made apple pie, come and eat." Bella's voice called from downstairs. She jumped up and shouted back, "On my way!"

Camilla munched on apple pie and chilled on the couch with Alistair and Bella , watching TV. Bella would occasionally feed her a piece of fruit. It was pure bliss!

Suddenly, her phone buzzed in her pocket.

An unknown number was calling.

She usually ignored calls from strangers, but seeing the Imperial City area code, she picked it up.

"Merry Christmas." A familiar voice came through, calm and classy.

Camilla's smile grew. "Sebastian, Merry Christmas."

Sebastian had a hunch from Juniper's words that Camilla might be back home.

After the family dinner, he went back to his study, opened his laptop to recheck some experimental data. But halfway through, he stopped, his eyes drifting to his phone.

Two seconds later, he grabbed his phone and found Camilla's number.

This was the number they swapped when they first met.

Since then, Sebastian had never dialed it again.

When the dial tone rang, his heart sped up a bit. When the call connected, before the other side could speak, his brain made him blurt out, "Merry Christmas!"

The other end also sent greetings, Camilla's soft and calm voice seemed to have a hint of a smile.

Sebastian couldn't help but imagine her holding the phone, smiling slightly as she wished him a Merry Christmas.

He thought, 'Bet it's gorgeous.'

The next day, Camilla got to sleep in until eleven.

Sunlight crept up the windowsill, sneaking through the curtains. Camilla cracked open her sleepy eyes and saw tree branch shadows dancing outside, making claw-like shapes on the curtains.

She thought, 'Is it sunny?'

She sat up, yawned, strolled to the window, and with a swish, yanked open the curtains.

Sure enough, the sunlight was bouncing off the snow on the distant hillside, blindingly bright.

Alistair and Bella were chilling in the yard, reading and soaking up the sun.

Alistair had sharp ears and knew Camilla was awake the second he heard the window open. Being a teacher, Alistair always had a strict sense of time and wasn't a fan of Camilla's habit of sleeping in.

Alistair picked up his cup and took a sip of tea. "It's all your mom's doing, letting you sleep this late. Skipping breakfast, what about your stomach? Moore folks these days don't take care of themselves. When they get old, they'll regret it..."

Bella shoved a piece of orange into his mouth. "It's just sleeping in. Stop nagging. Camilla's graduated; she's not your student anymore. What's wrong with sleeping in?"

She glanced at Camilla by the window. "Your dad's just old-school, don't mind his nagging. There's breakfast on the table, just heat it up."

Camilla grinned. "Got it."

With the sun shining bright, after breakfast, she joined the tea-drinking and sunbathing crew.

"Dad, what kind of tea is this? It smells amazing."

Camilla sniffed the teacup. The light, fragrant tea aroma was subtle but not overpowering. Drinking it had a delicate flavor, like a fine pastry, very unique.

"This was sent by Tobias." Alistair took a sip and smacked his lips. "It does taste good."

Tobias Learmond, the only son of Alistair's brother Maurice Learmond, Camilla's cousin.

"Don't you usually hate tea?" Alistair asked.

Camilla, like most Moore girls, preferred fruity teas and wasn't into the slightly bitter, pure tea that needed savoring.

Camilla smiled. "People change. I didn't like it before, but now I suddenly do."

A couple of years ago, Leopold always drank alcohol, so she tried to get him to switch to tea.

However, Leopold didn't quit drinking; instead, she fell in love with tea.

Bella, sensing something, frowned and glared at him, changing the subject. "You have the nerve to say that. You drank all the tea at home. Didn't the doctor tell you to drink less tea and more water?"

Alistair touched his nose and kept quiet.

Camilla didn't get to gloat for long before Bella turned to her. "And you, always cooped up at home, what's that about? The weather's so nice, go out for a walk."

Just like that, Bella practically shoved Camilla out the door.

A few minutes later, she found herself in the crisscrossing alleys, suddenly not knowing where to go.

Not wanting to bump into the neighbors, she thought for a few seconds and chose a quiet, less-traveled path.

Aimlessly, she wandered wherever her feet took her.

Before she knew it, she ended up at Maplewood High School, where Alistair taught and where she had spent three years of high school.

Broken Heart
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