Chapter 150 On the Brink of Death
“Yeah?” Madeline snapped out of her trance. “What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Nothing.” Crystal then asked, “What’s on your mind? You were so caught in your thoughts that you didn’t hear me calling out to you several times.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” Madeline responded, her cheeks blushing. “What’s the matter by the way, Mom?”
“Well, it’s just that…” Crystal seized her daughter’s hand and replied, “I want to ask you about visiting Cameron in the detention center. Your dad pulled all the strings he could to get us in, and we can drop by for a visit later in the morning. Would you like to come with us?”
Madeline reacted with a brief silence before she nodded and said, “Sure, Mom. I’ll go with you.” Deep down, Madeline wanted to meet up with Cameron too. After all, she knew Crystal couldn’t wait to vent out her anger on the lady in the detention center. Since she knew that seeing Cameron was the only way for her mother to find peace within herself, Madeline couldn’t think of a reason not to visit the detention center.
Therefore, she decided to go ahead and meet up with Cameron, wanting to hear what the latter had to say. I wonder whether Cameron will regret swapping me with Angie. Is she going to be overwhelmed by her guilt, or is she going to bite our heads off and feel no remorse?
“Good.” Crystal wrapped her fingers around Madeline’s palm, gritting her teeth while speaking vengefully, “If your grandfather hadn’t made me swear not to act against her, I would have tortured and killed her myself!”
At that moment, Crystal was reminded of her father whose kindness was taken advantage of by Cameron’s mother before she gave birth to Cameron, but even so, Crystal’s father still treated Cameron with love and kindness. In fact, he even wished Cameron could live a happy life forever by forbidding Crystal and her brothers to go after her.
Unfortunately, the kindness of Crystal’s father was not repaid with appreciation and gratitude, leaving Crystal heartbroken and disappointed when she discovered that Cameron was even more wicked than her merciless mother. My brothers and I didn’t have to do a single thing to take Cameron down, but instead, she got herself into trouble and ended up behind bars.
“Mom, Grandpa just didn’t want your hands to get dirty because he loved you.” Madeline could see through her mother’s resentment toward her grandfather. Thus, she tried to comfort Crystal and alleviate her frustration. “I heard from my uncles that you used to be Grandpa’s favorite child. The reason he didn’t want you to go after Cameron was not because he was trying to protect her. Instead, he was trying to protect you.”
Crystal responded with silence and smiled. “Well, you’re right. I would have gotten my hands dirty if I had to take her out myself. If I was the one who broke the law, I could be in Cameron’s place instead, spending my days behind bars. Your grandpa knew it well that my impulse could easily get the better of me, so he made me swear not to do anything to Cameron to keep me from going astray.
Thus, you’re right. I was your grandfather’s favorite child.” At the thought of how Cameron and her mother set them up, Crystal’s exasperation immediately surged through her and gnawed at her rationality.
The longer Crystal dwelled on that matter, the angrier and madder she felt. Therefore, she stood up and suggested that they should set out. “Let’s head to the detention center, shall we?” Crystal’s words revealed just how desperate she wanted to meet Cameron in person. At the same time, Crystal felt a strong urge to lecture the former even though she couldn’t give her a slap in the face or kill her by herself; she felt that doing that would perhaps help her find some peace on the inside.
On the other hand, Michael had no objection about Crystal’s plan as Nelson and Madeline felt the same way. Soon, the few of them left Wendel House and made their way to the detention center. Since Michael had already sent his people to the place ahead to deal with the necessary procedures, it didn’t take them long before they got to meet Cameron.
When Cameron came into view, she was seen wearing her prison uniform with her hair cut short. Unlike her favorite curly hair that was running down to her shoulders, her hair was now a few inches shorter than it previously was. At the same time, her hands and legs were both cuffed as her wrinkles filled the saggy skin on her face, accompanied by dark circles.
Although she was about Crystal’s age, Crystal looked ageless as if she was merely in her thirties while Cameron seemed just like a middle-aged woman in her fifties. The moment she saw Crystal along with Michael, Madeline, and Nelson entering the detention center, she tried to stand up behind the table, only to be restrained by the warden with her hands on her shoulders. “Sit still!”
Thus, Cameron could only remain seated without moving a muscle, and she glared at Crystal in a grudgeful manner. “What’s your purpose for visiting? Are you here to gloat?”
“You know what? You’re right. I’m here to gloat over your misery!” Crystal sat right opposite Cameron and jutted her chin, gazing at her with disdain and contempt. “What goes around comes around, Cameron! The jail is the only place that is meant for someone so scheming like you! As you can see, you’ve failed to get what you wanted in the end!”
Cameron clenched her fists unhappily, and a grudge filled her mind and soul. “What are you gloating about? You always act like you’re above everybody else, but don’t you find it embarrassing for having failed to protect your daughter?” She glimpsed Madeline and smiled contemptuously.
“Your daughter may look like a decent lady now, but did you know that she used to look like my dog? When I told her to kneel down, she sank down to her knees as I said; when I told her to slap herself in the face, she kneeled down before my feet and spanked herself repeatedly. When she failed to make me happy, I knocked her down and put my foot on her face to make her apologize to me. She…”
“Shut your mouth!” Before Cameron could finish her sentence, Crystal succumbed to her overwhelming anger that prompted her to stand on her feet and grabbed the former’s hair just before giving her a few slaps in the face.
However, Crystal showed no signs of stopping what she was going to do as she grabbed Cameron’s hair and dragged her away, whereupon she knocked her down and put her foot on her belly. “This is the price you’re going to have to pay for having bullied my daughter! I’m going to beat you to death right here!”
As a well-educated woman, Crystal was hardly capable of any demeaning verbal insults. Thus, she directed her anger at Cameron by repeatedly stomping Cameron’s body and face, refusing to tolerate a single word that Cameron just said.
On the other hand, the warden, who was watching aside, couldn’t help but criticize Cameron’s character after hearing the words that came out of her mouth. Thus, she was gleeful to see Crystal roughing her up. Although she was bound by her duty to make attempts in stopping Crystal from pressing ahead with her violence, she didn’t try hard to make sure the job was done.
In fact, she was even shoved away by the furious Crystal a few times in the process. It wasn’t until it seemed to her that Cameron had suffered enough that she decided to step in and separate Cameron from Crystal. After all, the warden’s job could be jeopardized if Cameron was found with internal injuries as a result of Crystal’s brutal beating.
Meanwhile, Cameron was seen curling up and wrapping her head with her arms in pain. Although Crystal’s beating wasn’t as devastating as expected due to her usual poor health, Cameron’s old injuries that were inflicted by her cellmates only added to her agony. Ever since she was locked up, she found herself in a living hell, in which she was tormented by her cellmates every single day.
Deep down, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was Michael and Crystal who bribed those inmates to give her a hard time. Not only did they beat her up and take her meal away, they also pressed her against the toilet bowl and humiliated her by forcing her to drink the water in it. Besides, they harassed her in her sleep at night by tying her limbs up, making her kneel on her knees until dawn.
No! I can’t take this anymore! I’ve had enough of this! Despite Cameron’s reluctance to show weakness in front of Crystal due to their long history of rivalry, she somehow lost all her willpower to stand her ground and pathetically crawled toward Madeline’s feet before grabbing her trouser legs. “Maddie… please save me! Please save your mother, Maddie!”
