The Miracle of You

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Michael stared at Camille, who sat stiffly on the sofa in front of him. She had never met his eyes since they arrived here. Her demeanor was a little unnerving, but he figured it had to be.

After all, it was he who had invited her to his private villa.

He didn’t know what had come over him. Before he could think twice, he had sent her a message a few days ago, asking her to meet him somewhere far away, where they could talk privately.

To be on the alert, he asked Grady to pick her up at a public mall and drive her to the location in a conspicuous car. That way, Christian wouldn’t be able to easily track them down.

Unless he put a GPS tracker on her or something.

Michael knew a great deal about Christian Callahan. The first time they met was during Michael’s training to inherit the company. The two of them were at a social event after his father introduced him to Christian and Gregory Callahan.

He was 25 years old at the time. He heard good and bad things about Gregory Callahan. However, John McGregor had no intention of creating a friendship between the two families. From the beginning he was suspicious of Greg, especially the suspicious rumors surrounding him.

John, being very careful about his own reputation as well as that of the company, liked to choose his small circle of ‘friends’. That way his name would be associated with the decent ones. He was so particular that he even went so far as to erase all records of Michael’s past ‘misdemeanors’ just so that things would run smoothly.

Of course, things like that aren’t so easy to erase, especially when there are too many incidents and witnesses involved.

But some of the big media companies were under John’s control, which was funny in a way because Gregory Callahan was not that interested in that. The two of them were competing with each other to see who had the better products and sales, but they usually operated in different ways.

Michael also heard about Christian, Gregory’s son, who was stationed at a branch in another city. It seemed that he was visiting his hometown this month, hence why he was present at this event.

There were a lot of rumors surrounding Christian Callahan, especially when he was a teenager. There was a rumor that he had been a bully in middle school, a rumor that he had dated three girls at the same time in high school, and a rumor that he had beaten a man black and blue in a nightclub during his college years.

The gossip was certainly ridiculous, but considering the cold, aloof aura Christian often exuded, it wasn’t hard to believe such rumors. No one really knew the real story, because it was either the truth or just a bunch of lies being spread around.

Their family background, however, was a bit confusing to people. Seventeen years ago, Gregory Callahan’s wife left the house for unknown reasons and never returned. It was speculated that she was having an affair, but there was no hard evidence. There were even rumors that Gregory may have abused her, causing her to leave the house and not even taking their two young children with her.

Unfortunately, Pamela Callahan died a few years later after that incident. It had been a hushed topic among the upper class, but no one could say if her death had something to do with illness or if Gregory had taken revenge on her for leaving the family.

That last part was morbid, but ridiculous rumors surrounded the Callahans most of the time because there was no hard evidence to back up the accusations. People loved to gossip and make exaggerated assumptions just to make things seem more dramatic, so it was really up to the imagination.

Needless to say, the family was pretty much shrouded in mystery. It may seem that they were transparent, especially considering the occasional negative rumors, but in reality there were crucial things that they carefully never revealed to the public.

‘They’re like snakes hiding in a dense forest, just sneaking around to kill their targets from behind,’ Michael thought to himself.

It was the first time he was going to meet Christian Callahan, and he wasn’t looking forward to it. First, he hated making social connections – even though his family often forced him to – and second, he didn’t trust the Callahan family. For some reason, John didn’t want to reveal the reason for his subtle hostility. But in public, and especially in front of the media, they had to be polite and nice, even if it was just for show.

A couple of other businessmen came over and started talking to John and Gregory, causing Michael and Christian to stand off to the side, unable to follow the conversation as they had no idea what they were saying.

The atmosphere between the two was a bit tense and awkward, but not too uncomfortable. By now it was obvious that both of them were introverted and not social butterflies at all, so they weren’t really pressured to make conversation.

Until someone suddenly came towards them.

“Chris!” a young girl called out, approaching Christian with a sullen look on her face. “I still can’t find it. I don’t know what to do.”

Michael couldn’t help but send a subtle glance at Christian, who only sighed in response to this girl’s complaint.

“Just forget about it,” he told her. “Buy a new one instead.”

“But Chris…”

“If you keep on searching, you’ll only inconvenience the guests.” He closed his eyes, almost like an act of exasperation. “Act more like an elegant lady, will you?”

“You’re being irritating right now!” she complained. “Why can’t you-”

Suddenly her voice was cut off when she noticed Michael standing right next to Christian. She had been so wrapped up in her own protests that she hadn’t realized there was another person nearby.

“Oh my! That was rude of me,” she said hastily, bowing politely to Michael. “I’m very sorry. I was just… my brother…”

She was stammering. Christian restrained the urge to roll his eyes and turned to Michael with a dull expression.

“This is my younger sister, Patricia,” he introduced. “Forgive her manners. She’s still in university and doesn’t go to this kind of event much.”