When Jessica saw my parents, her eyes lit up. Her arrogant demeanor vanished, replaced by a sweet smile. She hurried toward my mother, calling out affectionately, “Mom, what are you doing here?”
“Did you hear that Camille was causing trouble and come to back us up?”
My mother didn’t even glance at her. She just shoved her aside.
“Get away from me.”
tå stumbled, and Leo had to catch her. His face was livid “Mom why did you push her? Analogize to her right now!
But my mother had already rushed to my side, kneeling to help me up
“Camille,” she whispered, her voice choked with sobs. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at my injuries. “This is all my fault. I never should have let you come here with this. this animal!
I collapsed into her arms. “Mom, it hurts so much….
My mother wiped her tears, nodding frantically. “I know, baby, I know. We rushed over as soon as we got your call. A relative sent us a link to the live stream, and a screen recording of them hitting you.”
“Only then did I realize,” she said, her voice filled with a terrible bitterness, “that the child we took in, the boy we raised turned out to be a monster.
When Leo saw how my mother was treating me, panic seized him. His voice trembled. “Mom, what are you talking about? Wait. I’m your real son, right?”
My father’s answer was a swift, hard kick that sent Leo sprawling to the floor, crashing into a table. He clutched his chest, coughing
“Dad, why did you hit me?”
My father’s eyes were like daggers. “Lea,” he said, his voice dangerously low, “we adopted a child years ago because we were afraid Camille would be lonely. On the way, we found your birth parents. They were too poor to raise you and were about to abandon you. We paid them and took you in.”
“You may not be our flesh and blood, but ask yourself, have we ever mistreated you?” My father glanced at my injuries, and then, filled with self–loathing, he slapped his own face
“A few weeks ago, when you demanded to inherit the entire company, your birth parents happened to contact us. We were going to tell you the truth then, give you a house, and let you go
back to them.”
*But Camille,” he said, his voice cracking, “Camille was too soft–hearted. She was afraid you wouldn’t be able to adjust to that life. She begged us to let you stay, to even give you a share of the company!”
“If I had known you were this vile, this ungrateful, I would have thrown you out the moment your parents showed up! No, we never should have adopted you in the first placer
Leo was frozen, his mouth hanging open. He couldn’t speak.
Jessica was just as stunned. A moment later, she grabbed Leo’s sleeve, screaming, “You told me you were the real heir! You said everything the Vaughn family has was yours! You liar! You‘
re a liar!”
She shoved him back and forth as he stood there, completely shell–shocked.
“How could this be?” he muttered to himself. “How could I be the one who was adopted? No… you’re all lying to me. It has to be a lie. I’m the real heir!”
My father, who had been having the family doctor tend to my wounds, unlocked his phone and threw it at Leo.
“Here’s the video from the notary’s office when
