“Yeah, eat it all!” someone shouted mockingly.
I stared at the cake, my chest tightening.
Then, I looked up at Margot, my voice barely more than a whisper. “You know I’m allergic to mangoes.”
Her eyes met mine, but they were empty—void of any emotion, any compassion.
“And?” she said with a shrug. “If you can’t eat it, I’ll have someone feed it to you.”
Her words hit me like a blow to the chest. My throat tightened, and I struggled to breathe as despair settled over me like a suffocating fog. She had once been my salvation, the one who lifted me out of darkness, but now… now, she was the one dragging me deeper into it.
“I told you—I’m allergic to mangoes!” I repeated, my voice cracking. Every word felt like a plea, but I knew it would fall on deaf ears.
Margot’s expression twisted in frustration, and she snapped, “So what? If you won’t eat it yourself, I’ll make sure someone does it for you.”
Her cruelty stunned me into silence. The woman who had once cried at the sight of my pain now stood before me, cold and unrecognizable. The love we had shared was long gone, reduced to ashes under the weight of her selfishness.
I felt something inside me break.
With shaking hands, I grabbed a slice of the cake and forced myself to take a bite. The overwhelming sweetness coated my tongue, but the bitter taste of humiliation was far stronger. My throat burned as I swallowed, the rashes already starting to creep up my arms. My skin itched like fire, and I felt my airway beginning to tighten.
Margot’s eyes flickered with something—hesitation, maybe even regret—but the moment was fleeting. She quickly masked it with cold indifference, stepping back as the crowd egged me on.
“Don’t waste it!” Steven shouted, his voice cutting through the noise like a blade.
At his words, any trace of humanity in Margot’s expression vanished entirely. She gestured for her bodyguard, who grabbed a massive chunk of cake and shoved it toward my face.
The frosting smeared across my mouth and nose, and I couldn’t hold back any longer. My stomach twisted violently, and I vomited onto the floor, coughing so hard that tears streamed down my face.
The crowd erupted into laughter, their voices merging into a cruel cacophony.
“How pathetic!” someone jeered.
“Carmichael, you’re such a joke!” another added.