Chapter 81: The Face
Camellia shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "No... I’m not mistaking you for Julian." She stepped forward quickly, clutching Theo’s hand. "I swear... I love you. Not Julian."
Theo’s brow furrowed. Without a word, he turned, carried Daisy to the base of the staircase, and set her gently on the first step. "Wait here," he murmured.
When he faced Camellia again, his eyes were cold and unflinching. He closed the distance between them, leaning in until his gaze locked with hers.
"Look closely," he said, his voice low but sharp. "This is the man you’ve been messaging every year, reminding him he murdered the person you loved."
Camellia flinched as if the words had struck her. "That was before—"
"Before what?" Theo’s voice sharpened. "Before you decided to rewrite history? Before you convinced yourself I could fill his place?"
"I’m not rewriting anything!" Her breath came fast, uneven. "I hated you for so long, but somewhere along the way..." She reached for him again, desperation flickering in her eyes. "I realized you weren’t the monster I thought you were."
Theo’s jaw tightened, but his expression didn’t soften. "You don’t love me, Camellia. You love the ghost of a man who isn’t here. And you’re trying to bring him back through me."
Her fingers curled, trembling, as tears brimmed in her eyes. "That’s not true."
"It is," he said quietly, the steel still in his voice. "And the more you deny it, the more dangerous this becomes... for all of us."
Behind him, Daisy shifted on the stair, watching silently, the weight of his words hanging heavy in the air.
"Let’s end this and go seek help. You need treatment more than anything..." Theo turned his back now to her.
Camellia’s voice cracked, slicing through the air. "Don’t you dare walk away from me!"
He didn’t stop, just reached for Daisy’s hand. "This isn’t a conversation anymore. It’s a cycle and I’m done living in it."
Camellia took a step forward, but something in his tone made her freeze. His words weren’t shouted, but they carried the kind of finality that felt colder than any anger.
Camellia’s breathing quickened, her face twisting, eyes glistening with a manic shine.
"For ten years..." her voice shook violently, "ten fucking years, Theo... I planted it so deep in my head that you were Julian. That you were him. That’s the only thing that kept me alive all this time!"
Theo’s hand paused on the banister, his grip tightening.
"You think I can just let that go?" she cried, stepping forward as if every word might pull him back. "If you walk away now, if you... if you don’t take me in—" Her voice broke into a sob. "I’ll have nothing left to hold on to. Nothing. And maybe it’s better if I just... end it right here."
Her knees buckled slightly, but she caught herself, trembling.
Daisy’s eyes widened from the stairs, her mouth parting as the room went deathly still.
Theo turned halfway toward her, his expression unreadable, but the darkness in his gaze made the air feel heavier.
Without a word, he turned from the stairs and strode toward the dining table, the sound of his steps striking the floor sharp in the silence.
Camellia’s breath hitched. "Theo—"
He ignored her, picking up the phone he’d left by an untouched cup of coffee. With a swipe, he brought it to his ear.
"Mom," his voice was as steady as ice, "take your daughter away from here. Now. She’s standing in my house threatening her life, and I am not going to entertain her delusions any longer."
A muffled voice crackled through the speaker, but his gaze stayed fixed on the far wall, jaw set.
"Right now! I’m sick of this madness!" His tone sharpened, every word clipped.
Behind him, Camellia’s breathing turned ragged. "Theo, please—"
He shifted the phone slightly, his eyes finally cutting to her, cold and unyielding. "I’ve had enough. I deserve to be happy for at least one day, so get out... while I’m still asking politely."
Her lips trembled, but no sound came out. The silence that followed was suffocating, broken only by the faint hum of his mother’s voice through the phone.
Theo didn’t wait for a reply. "You heard me, Mom. Make it quick." He ended the call without another word, slid the phone into his pocket, and turned his back on Camellia like she was nothing more than an unpleasant noise he’d chosen to mute.
"No, no, Theo..." Camellia rushed toward him, her voice shaking. "I am in love with you... I swear, I love you... You’re not Julian, I never said anything like that, I can differentiate between you and him."
Theo closed his eyes, dragging in a deep breath like he was summoning the last of his patience. The air between them felt thick, heavy, like even oxygen refused to get caught in this mess. When he opened his eyes, there was nothing but frost.
"Listen," he said flatly, "you never liked me. Not me, not my other side. This—" he jabbed a finger toward his own face, "this is what you’re obsessed with. The look and shape of it. The familiarity. The ghost it reminds you of."
Before she could speak, he gripped her face in his hands, firm enough to make her flinch. "This face. Not Theo Kingsley. Not the man standing in front of you. You’ve built your whole delusion around it, twisting it into some fairy tale you needed to survive, feeding on it like it’s air. And now..." his voice cut lower, colder, "you’re drowning in it, dragging yourself deeper every day. There’s no love here, Camellia. Just a sickness you refuse to treat."
His grip tightened just enough to make his point. "Do you get it? Or do I need to spell it out for you? You... Are... Crazy... C-R-A-Z-Y."
Something inside her suddenly snapped. Camellia looked up at Theo, her gaze changed.
And at that moment, Theo turned to Daisy at the back. "Go up, now! Go!"