No one was around when Camellia picked up the phone to call Dr. Sirimon again and inform him of Mr. Shaw’s mistake and her desire to work with the child. To her misfortune, Dr. Sirimon was out. Sad and worried, she came out of the house to find Sam cleaning the car again. Sam looked nervous as he saw her.

“Will you be going out, Miss,” Sam asked her quickly.

“Where can you take me, Sam?” she asked, knowing he would not take her to the hospital.

“I can take you to see the city, Miss,” he replied with a smile.

Camellia smiled. It had been a long time since she had seen the city, so she nodded her head and allowed Sam to open the door for her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam left her at the bustling flea market. He had gone to pick up Mr. Shaw and would return afterward to pick her up. She had no money, so she only observed how fascinating and exciting the place was. There were so many people and foreigners here. Unexpectedly, she bumped into a man, speaking to a group of foreigners. He turned to look at her and his mouth dropped.

“Hello,” he remarked in English.

“Hi,” she returned it in the same language.

He looked surprised at her, and as she left, he followed her.

“Wait! Are you from around here?”

She cautiously looked at him.

“My name is Jerry, and what is yours?”

He extended out his hand to shake hers. She looked at it and tried to leave.

“I’m a tour guide. Perhaps you are new here. I can help you out,” he remarked.

Camellia finally smiled.

“Is that why you were speaking English to me?” she asked him.

He nodded.

“What is your name?”

Camellia finally told him her name and shared that she was sightseeing.

“My tour ends here. Perhaps I can help you get to some beautiful places,” he said.

Camellia warily looked at him, and after a moment, seeing that he was sincere, she nodded her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Teresa, a beautiful, slender woman, clung to James’s arm as they entered the Shaw mansion. She was dressed in a sleek blue dress. Sam paused by them after he placed James’s briefcase in the library.

“Will you be leaving for anyplace tonight, Mr. Shaw?” Sam asked.

James shook his head.

“Then I will pick up Miss Quintana,” Sam quickly replied.

James looked surprised.

“Where is Miss Quintana?”

Sam looked nervous.

“She is at the flea market, Mr. Shaw. She asked me to leave her there and pick her up after I picked you up,” Sam quickly replied nervously.

James’s eyes narrowed.

“Fine,” he remarked, “Go and bring her back.”

Sam nodded in relief as James dismissed him and left with Teresa to the back room. Sam was about to go when Sara came by.

“Miss Quintana just called,” she remarked. “She said she’d get home by herself. She doesn’t need you to pick her up.”

Sam scratched his head in confusion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why do you stay far from me, darling?” Teresa remarked coming to hold his arm, as he stared out of the window to the backyard where some people were working on the plants and his dog was running around.

He turned to her.

“I am a busy man, Teresa. I don’t have time to fool around,” he remarked, rather tired.

She laid her head on his shoulder.

“You know I love you and will always be here for you. I am still waiting for a proposal,” she remarked charmingly.

He frowned.

“We’ve known each other for five years, James. When will you ask me to marry you?” she questioned him sweetly.

He looked at her sarcastically.

“You know I am not the marrying kind. Beside I am not the right man for you, Teresa. I would bore you to death.”

She smiled seductively.

“You know I only smile when you are around. You are my life.”

She reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Who is Miss Quintana?”

James frowned at the name.

“She is a new member of the family. You’ll get to meet her very soon.”

“Why is she here?”

“She is here under my father’s guardianship. Unfortunately, that guardianship is passed to me,” James remarked drily.

“Is she a relative?”

“She is neither a relative nor a close friend.”

“Then why do you keep her here?”

“It is my father’s wish.”

“But your father is no longer living,” she replied unsympathetically. “Would you also not marry me, if that was your father’s wish?”

He looked at her and charmingly smiled.

“Any men would do anything for you, even go against the wishes of their father,” he remarked.

Her face brightened up and she kissed him on the cheek.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

James brought Teresa out of the front door. They found Sam busily dusting the car.

“You’re back already, Sam?” James asked his chauffeur.

Sam stopped his dusting and nervously looked at him.

“Miss Quintana called and said she will come on her own, Mr. Shaw,” Sam remarked.

James’s eyes narrowed in displease.

“And how will she be returning with no transportation and money?” he asked Sam angrily.

Sam only timidly shook his head. Seeing his anger, Teresa stroke his arm tenderly.

“Why are you worry, darling? She is old enough to take care of herself, isn’t that right?”

James unhappily looked at her, then he turned to Sam.

“Sam, I would like you to escort Miss Teresa home,” he remarked.

Teresa looked up in horror.

“But it is only six, darling, and you haven’t treated me to dinner yet!”

He pulled her hands away from his arm.

“Next time, Teresa, I’ll bring you out for dinner.”

He nodded to Sam and brought Teresa down the steps. Sam opened the car door and James quickly bid her to go in.

“Won’t you give me a kiss?”

Impatient, he kissed her cheek, and she entered the car happily.

“I’ll call you tonight, darling,” she remarked after pulling the window down.

James nodded and waved as the car pulled away, then his eyes narrowed as he looked at the gate and turned to go into the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Toyota car parked outside of the Shaw mansion gate at 9 O’clock and Camellia got out quickly. Jerry’s head popped out of the driver seat’s window and he gazed at the white mansion in awe.

“You live here?”

“Just temporary,” Camellia remarked, trying to end their conversation quickly, so she could go in. She knew it was late, and she did not want to make it look as if she was a late-nighter. She knew James already regarded her with having little decency.

“Call me when you need anything,” Jerry replied, handing her a business card. “I enjoyed your company tonight.”

Camellia nodded and waved, hoping he would leave. When he did, Camellia buzzed the gate. To her relief, Sam came and opened it up for her.

“Where have you been, Miss? We were worried about you.”

“I went sight-seeing, Sam. I was fortunate enough to meet a tour guide who knew much about the city,” Camellia replied walking in.

“I could have taken you around the city, Miss. I know it as well,” Sam replied.

Camellia smiled to the kind chauffeur.

“Yes, you would know it, Sam, but you are Mr. Shaw’s chauffeur and I don’t think he would like me to use you for my enjoyment.”

Sam looked worried as Camellia turned and walked toward the house. She was tired as she walked up the stairs and into the house. Relieved that no servant or Mr. Shaw bothered her, she care-freely walked up the cascading stairs to her bedroom. To her fear and discontent, James stood at the top of the stairs looking down at her. He was in a dark blue pajama and robe and looked displeased as he watched her climb the stairs toward him.

“Is this how you spend your days in the states? Is this why you did not finish your education? Was all my father’s money gone to waste on pleasure?”

Insulted, she glared at him coldly, and tried to pass him, but he would not let her pass.

“I assure you that if you have any lovers out there, you are free to leave this place and go live with him,” he began cruelly. “Also, if I find that you are spending my father’s wealth on some lover of yours, I will cut you off my father’s money. As you know, there is a clause in my father’s Will that says that if you misuse the money, you will not be allowed to have any at all, Miss Quintana.”

James knew he lied, but he did not know if she knew anything about his father’s Will, and he would make sure that Mr. Jenson would follow his orders if he did find her with a lover.

But Camellia did not seem to care nor help herself from saying, “Rest assure, Mr. Shaw, that I won’t be like your sister.”

He glared at her in disbelief and grabbed her roughly.

“How dare you speak of my sister?!”

She tried to pull her arm away, but he would not let her.

“For you, it’s okay to speak unkindly of me, but if I speak unkindly of you or one of your family members, you think it is wrong?” Camellia questioned angrily, trying to pull away from his hold. “Let me go, Mr. Shaw!”

He gave her a deadly stare and released her.

“What I say is only true,” he coldly remarked after a moment, calming his anger.

Camellia breathed angrily.

“No, Mr. Shaw. What you say is not true. You don’t know me and yet you judge me like I am one of those people in your sister’s circle.”

He moved closer to her in anger.

“Who has been telling you these stories?”

Camellia backed away, nervously. She did not want to tell him that the kind Leek had shared it with her and get him in trouble.

“I met your sister and some of her friends on my first days here,” she lied.

He looked at her suspiciously.

“And what difference is there between you and them?” he asked after a moment.

She bit her lips in anger.

“We are quite different, Mr. Shaw. Unlike your family, my parents have never taught me to dress so little like they do. Nor act with such pretense,” she slowly replied, happy at seeing the horror on his face. “Nor have my parents taught me to greet a stranger with insults and disrespect, as even you have done. Perhaps education and wealth don’t make everyone intelligent and mannered.”

He sneered.

“You make yourself out to be so decent and proper, Miss Quintana? I wonder what lies there are beneath those talks of yours.”

“If I lie, Mr. Shaw, you’ll be the last to know, for my lies are deep, and even for a man of your intelligent, you wouldn’t be able to tell. Have a good night!”

She turned and left him speechless. Though his face tensed with anger, his eyes found her shapely body as she entered her room and locked it tightly. [Author: uniqnovels.com - please clear cache and refresh to view site]