Chapter 2

The day after the anniversary celebration, a video of me was all over the school's forums. Someone had edited footage of me doing flips in the mascot costume into a chaotic meme video titled, "The Real Heiress' Unhinged Moments".

Janet's fans flooded the comment section with thousands of replies.

"For the sake of stealing the spotlight from Janet, she was even willing to throw her dignity away!"

"Janet, your older sister's mental state is somewhat worrying."

"I suggest the Lancasters look into whether they accidentally took the wrong baby twice back then."

In the past, I would've immediately rushed into the fray and confronted them all alone.

This time, however, all I did was like their comments.

Ms. Berkins anxiously pushed my phone down, her expression filled with anxiety.

"Why are you liking their comments? Aren't you going to explain things?"

"Explain what?"

That Thomas had panic disorder? He would rather watch me get scolded than speak the truth. In that case, why should I help him keep the secret?

"Don't delete that post for now."

Just then, Mr. Peterson, the Dean of Students, opened the door and entered. Following closely behind him was Janet.

"Melissa, all you need to do is publicly apologize, and we can let this matter slide."

Janet bit her lip and said, "Mel, I'm not blaming you. As long as you admit that you weren't purposely stealing my spotlight, the others will stop insulting you."

Wow, she truly wanted to have her cake and eat it too, huh?

Not only did she want my recommendation slot, but she was even asking me to admit to being crazy.

Taking the they had prepared for me, I stepped into the broadcast room.

The entire school was holding its breath, waiting to see how I, the attention seeker, would apologize with my tail between my legs.

Turning on the microphone, I began to speak.

"Regarding what happened at the anniversary gala, I apologize to all students affected by the incident at the anniversary gala."

Janet sighed in relief, but then I went on, "From today on, I'm officially withdrawing from the school anniversary gala production team, the school radio station, and the campus comedy club. I will also no longer be responsible for dealing with anything to do with the Lancaster family. I hope everyone will have peace and quiet from now on."

Outside the broadcast room, it was deathly silent.

Mr. Peterson hastily cut off the audio while Janet shot me an aggrieved look.

"Mel, do you have to blow such a small matter out of proportion like this?"

I shoved the at her. "You wanted peace and quiet, didn't you? Well, I'm giving it to you now."

That night, the Lancaster residence was indeed very quiet.

Dad was having a video conference on the couch with a cup of black coffee beside him.

In the past, like clockwork, I would go over to him at 8:00 pm to take away his coffee and replace it with a glass of warm water and his medication.

That day, though, I headed straight upstairs.

Ten minutes later, I heard Dad yelling from downstairs, "Melissa! Where's my medication?"

I stopped at the stairwell to reply, "It's in the second drawer of the medicine cabinet."

"Bring it here."

"I'm not the medicine cabinet."

Dad slammed a hand down on the table. "I'm just asking you to bring my medication over! What's with the sass?"

Janet hurried over to the medicine cabinet and began digging through it. After a moment, she pulled out a box of blood pressure medication.

I glanced at it before saying, "That's Mom's."

The scowl on Dad's face deepened. "Since you know that, why are you still standing there instead of bringing me my medication?"

"As I said yesterday, don't bother me with any of your family's problems."

At that moment, Mom stepped out of the bedroom. Prominent dark circles were under her eyes.

"Mel, stop throwing a temper tantrum. With how busy your dad is with work, what's wrong with you helping him out a little?"

In the past, whenever she couldn't sleep, I would tell her terrible jokes, sing off-key tunes, or wrap myself up in blankets and pretend to be a caterpillar wiggling around, all to entertain her.

However, last night, I had made sure to wear my earphones nice and snug.

From the looks of it, she hadn't gotten any sleep at all last night.

I nodded. "I understand. All of you are very busy, while I'm apparently the only one with enough free time to worry about this family."

Thomas happened to come back home then, just in time to hear my words. He laughed coldly.

"What's with the sarcasm? It's just a recommendation slot. You've made enough of a fuss, so just stop already. It's been two days."

Tossing his sports bag at me, he added, "Wake me up at six tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

The bag landed by my feet, but I didn't move to pick it up.

The next morning, Thomas jerked up in bed as the 9:30 am sunlight shone down on him.

The finals had already started half an hour ago.

As for my room, a brand-new lock had been installed on the door.