The Princess Lives in a Truman World Chapter 05

The Princess Lives in a Truman World Chapter 05

Before I could respond, Mom grabbed my hand and burst into tears.

“Sofia, I don’t want to die. You have to save me.”

“I have a little money. How much have you saved? If we add that to whatever we get from selling the bracelet Grandma left you, we can pay for my treatment. Will you do that for me?”

The moment she mentioned Grandma, I could no longer listen in silence.

“I can give you whatever cash I have, but you can’t have the bracelet. It’s the last thing Grandma left me.”

Grandma had given me that bracelet before she died.

I had lived in the apartment for six years, and Grandma had spent three of those years by my side.

She had been deceived too. She believed her daughter had gotten divorced and then spiraled into gambling and self-destruction. Grandma drained her savings and sold everything she owned trying to save her.

Mom had been cruel enough to lie even to her own mother.

I frowned and demanded, “Mom, do you really have cancer, or are you trying to con me out of my money and Grandma’s bracelet so you can keep throwing money away?”

Her gaze darted away for a moment before she pulled a stack of medical records from her purse.

“I really am sick. Look at the diagnosis. How could I possibly lie to you about something like this?”

I scoffed. The Family controlled a hospital. Getting someone there to produce fraudulent medical records would hardly be difficult.

I was deeply disappointed in her.

“You’re not getting the bracelet, and I don’t have money for your treatment. Why don’t you go ask Dad and Aria?”

When she realized I would not give in, Mom finally dropped the subject. She even managed to put on a wounded expression.

“Then I’ll find another way.”

I slept unusually deeply that night.

When I woke the next morning, my wrist felt strangely bare.

The bracelet was gone.

I immediately opened the livestream and replayed the footage from the night before.

Mom had slipped sleeping pills into my milk while I was not looking.

Once I was asleep, she slipped the bracelet off my wrist, returned to the estate, and presented it to Aria as though she were offering her a treasure.

Someone in the comments wrote, [That is vicious. The bracelet was a keepsake Sofia’s grandmother had left her, and her mother just took it.]

Mom actually argued back.

[My mother’s bracelet belongs to me. I always intended to give it to Aria. It looks far better on her soft, delicate wrist.]

[I did this to make Sofia stronger and teach her how to cope with pressure.]

I watched Mom demean me in front of the entire audience while twisting her own cruelty into another supposed act of good parenting.

The hypocrisy shattered something inside me.

I cried as I tried to comfort myself.

It was all right. Grandma would not blame me.

The bracelet was worth nearly two million dollars. Within three days, I would make Mom pay the same price.

Just then, the streamer posted an announcement.

[On the day of the state merit-scholarship finals, we’ll livestream outside the testing center as we bring home the daughter we raised in deprivation. As her father, I couldn’t be more satisfied with what she has become.]

[That same day, I’ll formally name her heir to the Family. When it happens, flood the screen with gifts.]

The comments poured in.

[I can’t wait to see Sofia’s face when she learns her family is rich.]

[She’ll be thrilled. She’s about to become an heiress.]

[I’m not so sure. She’ll probably be devastated for a long time. Why was she the one forced to live in deprivation for six years?]

A humorless laugh escaped me.

I would never let their plan succeed.

By the time the scholarship finals began, I would already be on a plane to Germany.

In the end, I would turn their own game against them.