Chapter 5

That evening, Camila got a message from the Johnson family.

Cindy sent over the latest haute couture wedding dress designs, telling her to pick one.

Camila carefully went through each of the designs before calling Cindy.

As soon as the call connected, Cindy could hear the exhaustion in Camila's voice and couldn't help but ask what was wrong.

She thought about all the hurt she'd suffered today, and her eyes got a little misty, but Camila swallowed it down. She shook her head and said, "Mom, I'm almost done packing. How are things going with the wedding preparations?"

Just then, Julian and Lucas walked in.

When they caught Camila mentioning the wedding, Julian and Lucas both asked, "Wedding? What wedding?"

Camila gave a quick explanation and then hung up.

She looked straight at the two men with a cold, unreadable expression, holding their gaze until they both glanced away. Only then did she say, "I'm heading back to Southvale for a wedding in five days. Are you coming with me or not?"

Julian and Lucas had been growing colder toward her lately. Once she went back to Southvale, they probably wouldn't see each other again. They wouldn't even be friends anymore.

It wasn't even worth telling them she was headed home to get married.

Julian and Lucas exchanged glances, feeling something was odd about what Camila said.

But neither thought much of it. Both brushed her off, "Nah, you go on your own. We're busy."

Still pissed about Camila firing Sophie earlier, Lucas shot her a frosty glare before turning on his heel and leaving.

Julian's expression was icy as he said, "Sophie cried herself sick today because of you. Her eyes are swollen. Take back what you said about firing her, or Lucas and I won't ever forgive you."

With that, he strode off as well.

Camila couldn't help but give a wry, self-deprecating laugh. She didn't say a single word in her own defense.

The next morning, Camila slept in and woke up on her own, feeling refreshed.

But as soon as she opened her bedroom door, ten cats were zooming all over the living room, turning it into a total madhouse.

Before she could even process what was happening, two of those cats slipped into her room.

Camila's face turned deathly pale, her breath shallow and labored as her thoughts grew hazy.

She was allergic to cat hair.

She couldn't stop coughing, her chest tightening as each breath became more desperate. Her vision darkened, and she collapsed.

She could feel her blood pressure plummeting and her heart racing uncontrollably.

"I need my meds..." Camila wheezed.

Using every ounce of strength left in her body, Camila staggered her way to the balcony and threw open the glass door.

The instant she opened the balcony, the cats went wild, stampeding toward the exit in a frantic rush.

Tufts of cat hair were swirling through the air, plunging everything into utter chaos.

Julian and Lucas showed up to find cats scrambling outside in groups, darting everywhere.

Julian and Lucas were so distracted watching the cats wandering curiously in the garden that neither of them noticed Camila's suffering. Instead, they were both annoyed.

"They're pet cats. Seriously, have you ever heard of keeping the windows shut if you have cats?" Julian snapped.

Camila didn't pay them any attention, struggling to hold her breath as she reached for her medicine. She couldn't deal with them right now.

Julian, furious, marched over, pushed her out of the way, slammed the door shut, and went straight to the garden to catch the cats.

Camila hacked and wheezed.

Her whole body was trembling harder by the second, and when Julian roughly shoved her out of the way, her knee smashed right into the edge of the wall, and a jolt of blinding pain shot through her.

Blood snaked down her calf all the way to her ankle, but she was way past caring about the pain now.

She snatched up her emergency allergy meds like they were a lifeline, injecting herself with quick, practiced hands while fumbling to open the other window.

With the medicine kicking in and the cat hair gone, Camila felt herself slowly starting to recover, the panic beginning to fade.

Julian, not caring that Camila was catching her breath, marched over and shut the window with zero hesitation.

Lucas hadn't noticed. He was still busy rounding up cats out in the garden.

Camila hurriedly pulled on her mask, but before she could make a move to get away, Julian seized her arm.

Julian's voice rang out above her head, sharp and accusing, "Camila, can't you let Sophie be? You kicked her out, and she doesn't even have a place to stay, so she can't take care of all these cats on her own.

"Sophie only asked you to help out for a little while, and you're going to toss the cats out?"

Lucas chimed in angrily, "Camila, what did Sophie or the cats ever do to you? This is way over the line."

Camila felt hollow inside, like everything had been sucked out of her.

Her whole body was trembling, seething with anger and indignation. There was so much she needed to get off her chest.

Instead, what came out was just a steady, almost chilling question.

She asked, "Am I the one who's gone too far, or is it you?

"You know I'm allergic to cat hair, right? Or did you both not care?"

Camila's voice was barely above a whisper.

But every word landed like a bombshell, blowing Julian and Lucas's minds wide open.

Before, nobody freaked out over Camila quite like those two did.

Whenever her allergies kicked in, they were always the first ones in a panic.

They'd sit by her side, eyes red with worry, scrambling to bring her drinks or anything she needed, and nothing could pry them away, no matter who tried.

But now, they couldn't remember something this important.

"So, after growing up together for more than ten years, do you remember anything at all?" Camila said sharply.