Chapter 26 Drop The Act
Chapter 26 Drop The Act
Heidi’s voice trembled with a hint of tears. “Cam, I never wanted to force you into the transition surgery I know how crust it must’ve felt to you, but you know how it is. Your dad runs this house. I didn’t have a choice
Cameron cut in impatiently. “So because Dad’s the one in charge, that means you’re too spineless to even make a shone call without his permission?”
“What?” Heidi froze for a moment, clearly not following what Cameron meant.
Cameron’s tone turned cold. “Mom, do you even remember what day it was yesterday?
“Yesterday?” Heidi quickly backed out of the call screen to check the calendar. “Yesterday was your birthday Cam I know. was waiting for you to come home so we could celebrate, but you never showed up and you blocked your sister
“Oh, is that so?” Cameron’s lips curved into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Does she seriously think I’d buy that Excuses. That’s all it ever is.‘ she thought.
In her last life, she’d been forced to have her chest removed. She’d spent the first day of being eighteen lying alone in a hospital bed, her body broken, her heart shattered.
Not a single soul had said “Happy birthday” to her. Later, Heidi had come with the same half–hearted apologies,
It wasn’t the first time Heidi had ignored her. Every time something happened, she’d pin the blame on Martin, claiming her hands were tied. And every single time, Cameron believed her and believed she had her reasons.
But eventually, Cameron saw through it. There were no reasons–Heidi just didn’t love her. She had never treated Milena that way.
Cameron had seen the way she doted on Milena, which made it perfectly clear that Heidi never really loved her.
Now, hearing Heidi try to reel her back in with the same old tricks, Cameron just found it absolutely laughable.
Heidi had no idea just how deeply Cameron loathed her. She was still clinging to her role as the doting mother. “Yeah, Cam, I even bought you a big birthday cake. It’s your favorite flavor-”
“Great. Then send me a photo right now. You, holding the cake. Right this second,” Cameron interrupted coldly.
Heidi froze, choking on her next line. ‘There is no damn cake. Where the hell am I supposed to get a picture? What’s with this brat today? Why won’t she let it go?‘ she thought.
Usually, when Martin and Milena couldn’t get through to Cameron, Heidi just had to play the soft card and Cameron would ease up. But now, nothing was working.
After a few seconds of silence, Heidi said, “Cam, you didn’t come home last night. Your dad was furious. He smashed the cake. I’m sorry, Cam. I couldn’t even protect your birthday cake. I’m so useless.”
And just like always, she dumped the blame on Martin with the same old routine.
Cameron had reached the end of her patience. “Alright, Mrs. Wallace. Drop the act. You’re not that good of an actress. So? Why’d you call?”
Heidi was at a loss for words.
“I’m hanging up if you’re not gonna talk,” Cameron said.
“Wait. Cam, I get that you’re mad, but are you seriously gonna cut ties with your family over this? Can you come home tonight, just once?” Heidi asked gently.
Cameron was about to say no, but something crossed her mind, and she changed her tune. “I’m busy tonight. I’ll come home this weekend.”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you,” Heidi said softly.
Cameron let out a cold laugh. ‘Waiting for me? Fine. Let them wait. I’ll make sure to give them a surprise they’ll never forget, she thought.
After hanging up, Cameron headed back to class. Her classmates were still buzzing about the math problem that had been solved.
“I can’t believe it,” someone said. “Turns out there’s someone at this school even better than Elijah. Talk about flying under the radar.”
“But Elijah’s always ranked number one in every exam,” another voice chimed in. “Whoever solved it probably just got lucky and isn’t all that gat.”
Someone else argued, “Solving a problem that hard isn’t luck. That takes great skill.”
