Mi Corazón Book 2 (Camilo Madrigal and y/n story)

Chapter 7-Confrontation

We find Abuela at the table, along with most of the family, including Mariano and Bruno. Skirting around the edge of the table, we make our way over to her. "Abuela, we need to talk to you." Camilo says quietly, tapping her on the shoulder. "What is it, nieto?" She asks, slightly agitated. We beckon for her to follow us outside, and she does so, now looking concerned. "What is this all about?" She asks as we stop just outside the kitchen. "Abuela, this is going to sound crazy, but I saw Gracie here last night. She climbed onto the roof and was looking at the candle, I think she was going to steal it." I explain quickly. Abuela looks taken aback, and slightly confused. "Gracie? Steal the candle? What kind of joke is this?" She asks, now sounding angry. "Abuela, it's true, Y/n got up for water and saw her!" Camilo protests, coming to my defence. "Camilo,don't be ridiculous, what would Gracie want with the candle? She has been nothing but a delight since she moved here." My cheeks go red at Abuela's words. An anger rises inside me. A delight? Yes you would think that Abuela because all she's been doing is sucking up to you! I think angrily, but I hold my tongue. Camilo is about to protest again but Abuela raises her hand, cutting him off. "I will talk to Gracie and her parents, but only if you promise to drop this ridiculous story of yours." She says sternly. I nod reluctantly, glowering at her. Camilo gives an exasperated sigh, but nods as well. "Good, now go back to breakfast, and do not speak another word of this nonsense." She hurries back to the kitchen.

"Are you kidding me? She doesn't believe us." I say to Camilo, once Abuela is out of earshot. "I know, mi vida, I know." He sighs, rubbing his furrowed brows. "She's going to talk to Gracie and her parents, we'll see what they say. For now let's eat some breakfast." He takes my hand, kisses my cheek and we return to the kitchen. I sit down, avoiding Abuela's eye, and serve myself breakfast. I look up to see Isa sitting across from me. She has a smirk on her face, and looks from me to Camilo and back. She turns to Dolores, sitting next to her, and whispers in her ear. Dolores covers her mouth as she giggles, now looking between me and Camilo. I blush, and looking down at my plate. Camilo notices and, with a mischievous smirk of his own, he morphs his body into José's daughter for a few seconds. This causes Isa to blush, and she promptly returns to her food. I giggle before leaning over to Camilo's ear, "I think we should talk to Gracie before Abuela does," I say, and he nods in agreement. Hastily we finish our breakfast, and excuse ourselves from the table.

"We should see if she's at home first," Camilo suggests, as we head towards the entrance of the house, after I had run to my room to change into shorts, keeping Camilo's ruana on. "Agreed," I say, as I reach to open the front door. I open the door and to my surprise there on the steps is Gracie. I stare at her, resentment and spite in my eyes, and she glares right back at me. She looks me up and down once, eyeing Camilo's ruana, jealously. Camilo slips his hand into mine, squeezing it tightly. Gracie's eyes flick to our hands for a second before returning to meet mine. For a few moments we are frozen in place, neither of us even blinking. The deadlock is broken when I hear Abuela coming up behind me, and as soon as Gracie sees her, she grins, and puts on a cheerful expression. This fake as bitch...I think as she pushes through us. I see her wink at Camilo as she enters the house. My stomach twists itself into knots and I clench my fists. "Abuela! I was just coming over to see all of you!" She says in her sing-song voice. Abuela gives her a warm smile. "Gracie! Welcome, welcome." She embraces her. I stare at them in disbelief. "Now, Gracie, I need to ask you something, but please answer honestly." Abuela says, giving her a stern look. Camilo and I step closer to listen. "Y/n claims that she saw you trying to steal the candle last night," Abuela says bluntly, getting straight to the point. "Is this true?" Gracie lets out a deep sigh. I hold my breath waiting for her answer.

"Yes, I came here last night, but I would never steal the candle! I simply wanted to get a closer look, it is so beautiful and mysterious, I just felt compelled to see it again!" She blurts out her excuse. "Absolute bullshit," I whisper through gritted teeth. Beside me, Camilo narrows his eyes, staring at Gracie. "I'm so sorry, Abuela Alma, I should have waited till the morning but I just couldn't! I would never steal something so precious to the encanto." She looks down at her feet guiltily, her voice trembling on the verge of tears. This lying little- I think to myself, my fists clenched and steam practically coming from my ears. "Well, thank you for coming clean, niña. What you did was unacceptable, and I will be speaking to your parents, but I cannot blame you for your interest in the candle, it is a very magical flame after all." Abuela tells her, all anger gone from her expression. "Thank you for forgiving me, I promise, it was only a one time thing, never again." Gracie says, sounding almost genuine. I just stand there, a few metres away from her, fuming. "Y/n... Are you ok?" Camilo asks cautiously, as he looks from her to me. "She's lying! She was going to steal it I swear!" I insist, exasperated and angry. Camilo wraps his arms around me, slightly tighter than usual to prevent me from charging at Gracie. He rocks back and forth, stroking my hair. "Shh, shh, I believe you, mi vida, I do." He says soothingly. I hold him tight, the uncontrollable anger in me draining away slightly. Taking a deep breath, I step away, and Camilo kisses my forehead. "We'll get to the bottom of this I promise," he says, smiling.

I turn around only to come face to face with Gracie. She smiles at me, but it's the fakest smile I've ever seen. "I can't believe you would accuse me of such a thing Y/n, I thought we were closer than that." She smirks, eyeing me up and down before turning to Camilo. "Your "girlfriend" has quite the imagination, some might say she's...delusional." She puts up air quotations when she says 'girlfriend'. Flicking her long dark hair, she turns, and walks towards the lounge room, where Mirabel and Isabella greet her. If it weren't for Camilo's hand holding my wrist, I would have slapped her square across the face. "Leave it, she's not worth it." He murmurs, still watching her as she laughs and chats with Mira and Isa.

"Oh Dios mío" I say, turning back to Camilo. "She's got everyone wrapped around her finger! They all think she's an innocent little angel." I stamp my foot in frustration. Camilo sighs, and takes my hand. "Mi vida, I don't doubt you for a second, but we have no proof that she was going to steal the candle." We walk outside, the sun now shining brightly. "She's not gonna admit to it obviously, so maybe we should just drop it for now, there's nothing else we can do." He kisses my cheek. "You're right, amor, she just agitates me so much." I sigh. "Well, let's not think about her right now, come on, we're going somewhere." Camilo begins to run through the village, pulling me along.