Chapter 36
“Yes, I’m really curious too, Davina. Why go to all this trouble? What do you get out of it if I move back?” Camilla’s patience finally snapped. She just had to ask.
Davina tried to keep her tone light. “What do you mean, what’s in it for me? Camilla, you let me and Daisy stay with you when we needed help. Now you’ve had to move out because of us. I just feel awful about it, really. And Barnard… I pretty much watched him grow up. Ever since you left, he’s been running back and forth between both places. It’s hard for me to see that. I p>
“Whose dog is this p>
Camilla had left her front door wide open, hoping Davina would take the hint and leave on her own. As Davina started talking, Dahlia came in with an armful of snacks. Her eyes went straight to the Bichon Frise, and she interrupted Davina without a second thought.
“It’s theirs,” Jasper chimed in quickly. “Dahlia, did you come to take me to see Snow p>
Dahlia kept her gaze on the Bichon, her face turning serious. “Something’s off about this dog. It looks sick. I need to take it for a checkup right away p>
“What?” Jasper’s face dropped and he took a couple steps back, putting space between himself and the dog.
“This dog might have distemper,” Dahlia said. “That’s highly contagious. If that’s true, then what you’re doing is pretty messed up. You know Jasper has a dog, and you bring a sick one here? That’s basically trying to hurt his dog on purpose p>
Dahlia had always been a big animal lover. She’d even started studying veterinary medicine because she couldn’t stand to see strays suffering. So, even though Davina had brought the dog, Dahlia instantly went into action, scooping it up and heading out for an exam.
Once Dahlia had left, Jasper looked pale as a ghost.
Camilla’s voice turned icy. “Davina, this is your so-called sincerity? Get out. You’re not welcome here. Susan, if you ever see Davina or her daughter show up again, call the police right away p>
Luckily, Snow was still at the animal hospital. If they’d brought him home after surgery yesterday and this sick dog had shown up, the consequences could have been unthinkable. If Snow caught distemper, there’d be no hope of saving him.
Jasper adored Snow. If anything happened to him, Jasper would be absolutely crushed.
Just picturing that scenario sent a chill through Camilla. She looked at Davina with bitter disbelief. She just couldn’t understand how someone could be so heartless. Davina always acted sweet and gentle, but first she lost Snow, and now she’d brought this sick dog here, like she actually wanted to hurt him.
If she could be this cruel to a dog… If Camilla hadn’t taken Jasper and moved out, who knows if she would’ve gone after Jasper one day too.
“Distemper? A sick dog? I had no idea, Camilla. Seriously, this is the first time I’ve ever bought a dog in my life. Daisy was even holding it earlier. If it really had distemper, would I let my own daughter carry it? Camilla, I’m honestly here to apologize. I can’t believe you’d just accuse me like this,” Davina said, her voice shaking.
Barnard jumped in to back her up. “Camilla, Davina doesn’t know anything about dogs. She just saw Jasper liked them and tried to get him a dog as an apology. If there’s a problem, someone must have tricked her. You can’t just blame her for everything p>
“I don’t care whether she did it on purpose or not. I’ve made myself perfectly clear. I don’t want her in my house again,” Camilla said. “Barnard, you can believe her if you want. That’s your choice. But I have every right to distrust her. Now, please, all of you. Leave p>
“Camilla, this isn’t fair. I really had no idea the dog was sick, I…” Davina tried again.
“It doesn’t matter to me what you knew. If you don’t leave now, I’m calling security,” Camilla cut her off.
“Camilla, please don’t do this. You’re scaring Daisy. We really just wanted to apologize,” Daisy piped in, almost in tears.
“Susan, call security and tell them we have trespassers,” Camilla’s voice was as cold as ice, shutting Daisy down before she could get another word out.
Barnard looked visibly irritated. He took a deep breath. “Camilla, you’re being unreasonable. Nothing’s been proven, so why are you jumping to conclusions and blaming Davina? Besides, Daisy carried the dog all the way over and I even took her for a shot just in case. If Davina bought a sick dog on purpose, would she let Daisy touch it p>
Then he reached over and snatched Susan’s phone, ending her call before it could go through.
“Apologize to Davina and to Daisy right now,” Barnard demanded.
Camilla stared him down. “Apologize? Not a chance. Since you want evidence, then let’s see it. Where did Davina buy this dog? She should have a receipt, a quarantine certificate, a health check, all of that, right? Why don’t you show those to us p>
“I…” Davina hesitated, unable to meet Camilla’s gaze.
Barnard gave her a small nod. “Go on, Davina. If you have the certificates, just show them. That’ll clear everything up p>
Davina tried to compose herself. “Camilla, I don’t really know what you’re asking for. When I bought the dog, they didn’t give me anything. I just… I just found it at the dog market. I saw it looked like Jasper’s, so I bought it. I had no idea there was all this stuff you needed. I didn’t know you needed certificates or papers to buy a dog. Back in my hometown p>
“Enough,” Camilla interrupted, her tone sharp. “So you didn’t get this dog from anywhere reputable. Why is that even a question? Even if you really did mean well, you could have chosen any number of responsible breeders, but you picked some random market and bought a sick dog with no papers. Don’t tell me that isn’t suspicious p>