“BRIA!” I grabbed her arm and made her face me. I slapped her and I wanted to slap her again but Cameron pulled me away from her.
“What the hell is your problem?! Are you insane?!”
“Stop acting innocent you bitch! Are you that threatened?! How low can you go just to beat me?!”
“What are you talking about?! Oh, are you blaming me for your wardrobe malfunction?! How dare you! Do you even have proof that I did it?!”
“Who else in here would want to humiliate me?! It’s only you!”
“Only me?! Almost everyone in the industry hates you! Everyone would grab the chance to humiliate you!”
“See! You said it yourself! You would also want to do it!”
“Yes! I want to but I’m not the one who did this!” This bitch is really getting into my nerves!
I was about to speak but Cameron pulled me away.
“Babe, that’s enough. Let’s just leave for now, there’s also a lot of cameras and you would just embarrass yourself more.”
He brought me to the car and he drove back to our house.
“That was my comeback on the catwalk and now it’s all ruined! Mess with me whenever they want but ruining me while I’m on stage is crossing the line!” I angrily shouted as I enter the house. Cameron pulled and hugged me tight. “Cameron not now—”
“Calm down first. I won’t let you go until you’re relaxed. I know you’re frustrated, but you have to calm down. Now inhale and exhale until you’re calm.” I had no choice but to do what he said. “Are you now, okay?”
“Yes.” He lets me go and smiled while fixing my hair.
“I know what happened is frustrating, but in times like that you have to be vigilant. They will take the opportunity to humiliate you more if you let your guard down.”
“It’s just frustrating! I almost got naked in front of thousands of people! It was my comeback in the catwalk but then this happened! Imagine the news saying ‘Savannah Harris’s gets naked on her catwalk comeback’.”
“But you did not.”
“It’s because you were there! You prevented it from happening! What would I do if you weren’t there?!”
“But I was there and I would always be there. You don’t even have evidence that Bria—”
“Are you defending her?”
“No! What I want to say is, let’s be more logical and realistic. Babe, remember that someone is chasing after you and your family. If there’s someone you should suspect, it’s them. Accusing Bria like that will only put you to a tough place.” The door opened and the rest of our family members entered.
“You’re trending on social media, but for two reasons. Your comeback incident is number one, while your argument with Bria is on number two on the trending spot,” Vester said as soon as he enters.
“Is it something I should be proud of?”
“What even happened?” Cassandra asked.
“I think somebody stole the original dress and then replaced it with the fake one. One thing is for sure, they did that to humiliate Savannah,” Cameron said.
“Was it really Bria?” Stefano asked.
“I don’t know. I just thought it was her.”
“I don’t want to say this, but you acted too reckless by accusing Bria Wright without proof. They are now talking bad about you because of it.” When Cameron’s dad says that kind of things, I know that I fucked up big time. “Why don’t you just take a rest for today? It’s been a long day for you.”
“Dad is right, you should take a rest babe. I’ll take care of Via, don’t worry.”
I agreed and went upstairs. I took a shower before going to bed. I tried to sleep but I couldn’t.
I went out of the room and was about to go downstairs but I heard noise from Via’s room. I carefully peeked and saw Cameron and his dad talking to each other.
“Your wedding is next month. Savannah keeps on being in the headlines and it’s not helping us. Do you know what people said after seeing her video with Bria earlier? That she’s been always a troublemaker and a war freak.”
“Savannah is nice.”
“I know, she’s a really nice kid and responsible mother. But if she fails controlling her temper even on the smallest things, it would just hurt you and your reputation.”
“Dad, when did you care about reputation? You’re the one who keeps telling us that image doesn’t matter. You told us that as long as we are doing it right and we know it, the opinion of other people doesn’t matter. That’s how you raised us, and now you’re being like this to Savannah?”
“I know, but I’m just concerned about you.”
“Are you saying that I should think again whether I should marry her? Dad, no matter what you say I will marry her. She was just frustrated earlier. She prepared so much for the show but then she almost got naked on stage. Just understand her frustration at the moment. There’s also a lot of problems going on around her and it is stressful for her.”
“You always understand her. What about her? Does she understand you too? You try hard to protect her to the point that you’re the one being damaged. Does she know that?”
“No one is getting damaged, dad. You should wait downstairs; I have to put Aviana to sleep.”
The door opened and Cameron’s dad was startled to see me.
“H-How long have you’ve been there?” Cameron peeked and saw me.
“Babe—”
“It’s okay... I’m okay.”
“You heard everything? Then, let me just go straight to the point. Everything you heard is what I really meant—”
“Dad!”
“No Cameron, sugarcoating words will not solve the problem. You have to understand, Savannah. You also came in a business affiliated family. You know how it works. One word can destroy an entire career. I can’t just sit and watch the career of my son collapse because of you.”
“I know... and I understand where you’re coming from.” I took a deep breath trying to hold back my tears. “But... why is the world unfair? I was so happy the moment you welcomed me. You treated me nicely, and I was over the moon because of that. If only... if only I had a father like you while growing up, maybe I wouldn’t turn out like this. I became mean, I became war freak, I became a troublemaker... because I had too. If I won’t, then I’m weak. That’s the kind of mindset I had while growing up. No one was there to protect me, not even my own father. I lived like that for years, so I think I need sometime to adjust. I’m doing my best to change on who am I, but it’s not that easy as I thought. I also hope you understand where I’m coming from.”
I turned around and entered the room. I felt tears coming down from my eyes. I immediately wiped it and went to bed.