She avoided the most important question. “Yeah, it went down! Uncle Louis gave me a ton of supplements when he dropped by earlier. I’ll have Ashton bring some home with him later.”
“That won’t be necessary. We’ve got lots of supplements here too, so you can keep those for yourself! Oh, by the way, you haven’t told me what you like to eat. I want to make you something!” I said with a chuckle.
“I’m not a picky eater, so I’m fine with anything you make. Don’t make too much of it, though. I won’t be able to finish it all if you do.”
“All right. I’ll keep that in mind!”
After getting off the phone, I began looking for a lunch box to store the food for Hannah and called out to Ashton, “Hey, Ashton! Could you come over here for a second?”
I heard footsteps behind me moments later, but I was so focused on looking for a lunch box that I didn’t bother turning around. “Ashton, do we have any lunch boxes here? I need one to store the food that you’ll be bringing over to Hannah later.”
I frowned when I heard no response from him and turned around, only to see that it was actually Cameron standing behind me.
She fumbled through the kitchen cabinet and let out a cry of surprise when she found one. “Ah! There’s one right here!”
She let out an awkward chuckle when she saw the look of confusion on my face and said, “Ashton has gone for a walk with your dad.”
“Oh, I see… Thanks.”
I took the lunch box over and began putting a meal together.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Cameron asked from the side.
I shook my head and said coldly, “Nope, I’m good here. Thanks again.”
She went quiet after noticing the coldness in my tone.
After packing the food, I turned around and was surprised to see her still standing there.
I decided to ignore her and walk straight out of the kitchen, but she grabbed me by the wrist as I passed her by.
“Yes?” I asked with a frown.
“Scarlett… Can we have a talk, please?” Cameron was starting to tear up. Even at her age, she still looked stunningly beautiful.
For some weird reason, I felt my heart ache when I saw her like that.
That’s weird… Why am I feeling this?
“I think it’s best if we don’t,” I muttered coldly when I finally found my voice.
It felt terrible opening up old wounds and thinking about how you got them, and I didn’t want to experience that pain ever again.
“I knew it… You do hate me, don’t you?” Cameron said while sobbing.
I looked down at the scar on my hand that I got many years ago for being a mischievous child. It wasn’t really noticeable unless one looked closely enough, but I knew it was there all the time.
I then shifted my gaze toward the door and took a deep breath as I said, “I have a very bad memory, so I don’t really remember what happened when I was ten, but… there are certain things that I do remember very clearly, like the school I attended when I was seven. There weren’t any kindergartens in R Province at the time, and the teacher at the preschool said I was too old for it, so I went straight into first grade instead.
“Grandma told me I would be able to see my parents when I grow up if I studied hard and got into a decent university. As such, I told myself I had to work as hard as I could to make that happen. That way, the kids in R Province would stop calling me an orphan…”
Those memories were incredibly painful ones, and it took me all the willpower I had in me to keep my tears from falling as I continued, “It wasn’t like Grandma didn’t love me enough, though. I just didn’t like being called an orphan, that’s all. One night, Macy and I were discussing which university we should apply to in the yard when Grandma suggested that I apply to one in J City as I would be able to find my parents there.”
Seeing her tears dropping to the ground like a broken string of pearls, I averted my gaze before continuing, “Maybe going to J City was a mistake all along. Maybe I shouldn’t have gone there. That way, I wouldn’t have met Ashton, let alone Rebecca and you guys.”
“Scarlett…” Cameron was sobbing uncontrollably at that point and had to steady herself by holding on to the kitchen cabinet.
I let out a sigh and shot her a cold stare as I said, “Maybe my life would’ve been a lot easier if I didn’t meet you guys and fall in love with Ashton. I don’t know if it was the right thing to do, but my love for him was the reason I could tell myself to forgive everything and everyone. Discovering that you two are my biological parents made me realize how twisted a person’s fate can be, but I can’t bring myself to hate the two of you because you’re my parents. They say love makes everything pardonable, but that isn’t the case for me. I can’t bring myself to do it.”
