My Dream, My Destiny:The heiress's second chance

Chapter 5

You both have to wait for your parents. They are already on their way."

Mr. Scott said it quietly, but the disappointment in his voice was loud enough. He looked between me and Ricardo like he was trying to figure out where exactly things had gone so wrong so fast.

I already knew where. I just wasn't going to say it in this office.

Ricardo stood on the opposite side of the room. I stood on mine. The space between us wasn't very wide but it felt like it — charged and uncomfortable, like the air before a storm breaks.

I stared at the wall. He stared at whatever he stared at. Neither of us spoke.

Then the door opened.

Mom walked in first — composed, heels precise on the floor, that particular expression she wore when she was furious but choosing not to show it yet.

Behind her came a woman I didn't recognize, elegant and unhurried, who could only be Ricardo's mother.

I felt Mom's eyes land on me the moment she entered. I looked at the floor.

"Welcome. Please, have a seat," Mr. Scott said.

They sat. The room rearranged itself around the two of them.

"You must be Mrs. Diego," the principal said, nodding at Mom.

"And Mrs. Salvador," he added, turning to the other woman.

"Yes, sir," they said — at the same time, in almost the same tone. I would have found that funny under different circumstances.

Mr. Scott folded his hands on the desk.

"Mrs. Diego, your daughter just resumed school with us today. And already she is involved in a disturbance." He paused.

"I know she used to be one of our best students. I have always believed highly in her. But I don't understand what is happening here."

He turned to Mrs. Salvador. "And Mrs. Salvador — I cannot confirm whether the accusations against your son are true."

Mom turned to me. Her voice was calm. That was almost worse than if she'd been angry.

"Camilla. What happened?"

I took a breath.

"Mom." My voice came out tighter than I meant it to. "He was rude to me first, which I refused to accept. Then he nailed my clothes to the chair in class so when I stood up I fell, and everyone laughed at me." I looked straight at Ricardo when I said the next part. "And then he stained my car with paint."

"I did not stain your car," Ricardo said immediately.

I laughed — not a real laugh. The other kind.

"Oh, please." I turned back to Mr. Scott. "And even if it is about the car I can replace it. After all, it's just an Aston Martin. Worth two point three million." I let that sit for a second. "Then you can replace mine. Which is worth four point five."

"Camilla." Mom's hand closed around my arm. "This is not the time for that."

I pressed my lips together and said nothing else.

Mom looked at the principal. "Sir, I sincerely apologize on behalf of my daughter. But may I ask are the CCTV cameras not active on the school premises?"

"They usually are," he said. "Unfortunately they were recently turned off due to a technical issue. That is why this has become complicated."

Mrs. Salvador turned to Ricardo. "Did you do this?"

"No, Mum." His voice was even. Certain. "I promise I didn't do anything."

Something snapped in me.

"Can you stop lying?" The words came out before I could stop them. "If not you, then who did it?"

"Why would I do something like that to you?" he said, frowning.

"Because you hate me—"

"You both need to be quiet right now!"

Mr. Scott's voice filled the room so completely that I actually stopped. Ricardo did too.

The principal took a long breath. Looked at Mom.

"Mrs. Diego — as you can see, the young man insists he did nothing. Therefore your daughter will need to write an apology letter to the school management and to this young man. Or she will be suspended."

"Apology?" The word came out of my mouth like a foreign language.

"Alright, sir." Mom spoke before I could say anything else. "I promise she will write it. And I will come personally to submit it with her."

"Mum—"

Her hand went up. Sharp. Final.

"Not this time, Camilla."

"I will not apologize to anyone!"

My chair scraped back and I walked out.

I heard Mom's voice behind me apologizing to the room, smooth and composed — as the door swung shut.

I didn't stop walking.

Outside the main building, I found a bench near the hall and sat down. Dropped my bag. Stared at the ground.

The anger was still there but it had changed shape less fire, more weight. The kind that sits on your chest and makes everything feel slightly too tight.

I heard footsteps on the path and didn't look up.

Mom sat beside me.

"Cam, baby." Her hand came up to my hair, gentle. "You have to apologize."

I turned my face away.

"Please, Mom." My voice came out flat. "Can we just go home?"

She was quiet for a moment.

Then: "Alright. I'll send Zeke to get your car later."

"Thanks."

We walked to her car without another word.

The drive home was the kind of silence that has texture. Heavy. Slightly suffocating. Mom kept her eyes on the road. I kept mine on the window, watching Seoul move past in streaks of gold and grey.

The moment I stepped through the front door I almost walked straight into someone.

"Whoa—"

"Dad!"

I didn't think. I just grabbed him and held on, and something in my chest gave way all at once the anger, the embarrassment, the whole horrible day —and I started crying before I even fully understood I was going to.

"Hey. Hey." He pulled back to look at my face, both hands on my shoulders. "What happened? Did someone harass you?"

"Honey — you're back early," Mom said behind me.

"Less work today." He was still looking at me. "Why is my princess crying?"

I pulled away and went upstairs without answering. I didn't have the words for it yet. Not the right ones.

Mom would explain. She always did.

I was on my bed staring at the ceiling when they both knocked and came in later.

Mom sat on one side. Dad on the other.

"Cam." Mom's voice was gentle now, the office composure gone. "Please just write the letter."

"I'm not apologizing to anyone."

"Cam, you have to lis—"

"Mom, no." My voice cracked slightly. I hated that.

"I wasn't wrong. You want me to apologize for something I didn't do?"

"That's true," Dad said quietly. "She wasn't wrong, Ariel."

"Honey." Mom turned to him. "You cannot keep taking her side every single time."

"But I wasn't wrong, Dad." I pressed my face into his shoulder. He put his arm around me. "I really wasn't."

"Ariel, why should she apologize if she did nothing?"

"To save her last year of college." Mom stood up.

Her voice had the quiet finality that meant she was done negotiating. "Please, Camilla. Just write the letter."

"Mom, I'm not doing it."

"Cam—"

"No!"

"Enough!" Mom screamed at me and I really hated when she do that .

The word landed hard. I went still.

Mom stood in the middle of my room looking at both of us, and for a moment nobody said anything.

"Camilla." Her voice was controlled now. Careful. "Listen to me. It is better you apologize. If you refuse, you will not like what comes next. This is your final year. Write the letter."

She walked out.

The room felt smaller after she left.

I stayed pressed against Dad's side, not crying anymore — just tired. His hand moved slowly over my hair.

"Dad… why does she always do this? She always wants me to give in, even when I know I'm right."

He was quiet for a moment.

"I understand how you feel, my dear." He sighed. "But your mother has a point too. This is about your future."

He lifted my chin gently, the way he'd done since I was small.

"Please. Do it for your dad. Just this once."

He kissed my forehead and stood up.

I watched him leave.

Then I lay back on the pillow and looked at the ceiling and felt very, very tired.

The tears curled up at the corners of my eyes finally found way to flow

Apologizing when I'm not wrong was one is the hardest thing to do

Deep down in me I'm certain not to write the letter and ready to bear the consequences

With that in mind I curled myself under the blanket but sleep still refused to come leaving me thinking in my own world