Camilla arrived at her father's office and was shocked to see the mess it had become.
Santos stood in the middle of the chaos and sighed in relief when he saw his daughter walking toward him.
"Dad, what happened?" she questioned and rushed over to him.
Father and daughter hugged each other tightly.
Camilla had stayed at Liam's place for the past week and only returned home tonight to celebrate their admission at her place because of Liam's brother's presence in the house.
He was serving as the Vice President of the country and was a very strict person who wouldn't allow them to party however they liked.
Camilla studied her father, and it seemed he had lost some weight in just a few days, which made her worried.
They both took the elevator up to his office, where she made a cup of coffee for him and made him sit down.
"Dad, can you tell me what is going on now?" she questioned again when her father had calmed down and she took a seat beside him.
"We might have to apply for bankruptcy," he began.
Camilla's jaw dropped at his words. She was clueless as to why her father's company, which had been doing well for so long, would suddenly go under.
She turned away briefly, then looked back at him, waiting for more explanation.
"I took a huge amount of money from the company to invest in your uncle's business, but it flopped, and he ran away after that. I tried getting in touch with him, but no one knows where he disappeared to, and I'm stuck with a huge debt," he explained further, holding his throbbing head.
Although Camilla knew nothing about her father's company and had little memory of her uncle.
She remembered how her mother always complained about him before she died.
She couldn't believe her father would trust someone like that.
"Is there no other way out?" she questioned, and Santos shook his head negatively.
"Is that why the company is in a mess?" she asked, referring to the ugly state of the building.
"It happened a few months back, so I skipped some tax payments and tried to get some money through gambling, but it didn't work out.
People from the tax ministry came for investigation today and took everything," he told her, tears filling his eyes as he blamed himself.
Camilla's eyes also filled with tears as she watched her father break down and found herself lost for words to comfort him.
Santos immediately assured her that he would take care of things, but she knew their status would definitely be affected by this crisis.
"There are just two things that might change," he told her with an apologetic look in his eyes, and Camilla braced herself to hear it.
"You can't study at Heights. I can't afford to send you there at this time."
"What?" Camilla exclaimed.
"I know you really want to attend the same school with Liam, but things are not good for us right now, and I can't afford the tuition there," Santos tried to explain, but Camilla wasn't hearing any of it.
It had been her long-time dream to attend Heights together with Liam and their other friends.
It was the best school in the country, and only the best of the best were admitted every year.
Because she didn't get into their desired high school before, Liam had forfeited his admission and attended Novel with her.
Now that things had finally worked out, another problem had arisen.
"Dad, I can't give up my opportunity to attend Heights, not now," she tried to reason with him, but her father had already made up his mind.
"We have a lot of debt to cover, my sweetheart, and we also have to move out of our house," he dropped another piece of bad news, and Camilla was left speechless in anger.
…After leaving the hospital years ago, their mothers kept in touch, and after her first birthday, Camilla's parents moved into Liam's high-end neighborhood, and the two reconnected.
Moving out of the house she had spent sixteen years of her life in—the only place that held memories of her mother, would break her completely.
Apart from losing those precious memories, she wouldn't be able to see Liam as often as before, and gradually, they would drift apart.
Although her father was helpless, Camilla didn't want to let go of the two things most important to her and broke down.
After losing her mother to her sickle cell illness, she had only been able to live well because of Liam.
He was the only one who could get through to her, and she relied on him more than anyone.
If she attended a different school five hours away from his, she wouldn't have anyone to rely on.
Camilla received a message on her phone while still pondering her father's decision and read it.
Liam had sent a text informing her that they had already left the house and asked her to call him.
She realized then that she had another problem.
How would she tell Liam that their promise to attend Heights together wasn't going to happen and that she would have to move out of his life—because that was exactly what moving out of the house meant to her?
She took the cup of coffee from her father's hand and told him they should return home first and think more about the decision tomorrow.
Santos knew how hard it would be for his daughter to let go of the house and return to her old school, but he had no other choice.
Liam's parents owned the house they lived in, and they paid the rent yearly.
He had moved in because it was his wife's request, but their status was far below that of the Andersons, and they paid a hefty sum every year, even after the discount given to them.
"Let's return home. I'll inform the Andersons about my decision tomorrow," he told her, but Camilla still couldn't believe they were moving out.
Being an only child, she had been pampered and always got what she wanted, but her father refusing her this time meant there was truly no other way, and it saddened her.
~
The Santos moved out of their house a few days later and returned to their old home.
Although it was beautiful and richly furnished, Camilla was unhappy and refused to talk to any of her friends or even Liam.
Liam was very worried after learning from his parents that they had suddenly moved out.
They briefly explained what had happened to their company.
When his parents heard about it, they offered to help and even told Santos not to worry about the rent, but he declined, not wanting to become a parasite living off them, so they left.
Liam had planned to tell Camilla about his feelings on the day they were supposed to leave for Heights, but she had already begun avoiding him before he got the chance.
He sent her his hundredth message, informing her that he would soon leave for Heights and wanted them to go together, but he received no response.
It had been like that for days, and he was restless, pacing around his room and ignoring Eric, who was busy playing games.
He didn't understand why she wouldn't speak to him and wondered how she was doing.
Eric dropped the game pad and came closer, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You'll see each other at school anyway, so why are you so worried?" he said as he sat down.
"I just want to know how she's doing and why she didn't tell me before leaving," Liam replied, sitting beside him.
"I'm sure she's fine, and we'll find her when school resumes tomorrow," Eric said to reassure him, but Liam wasn't convinced.
"Liam! There's a message for you!" his mother called from outside his room, and he quickly opened the door, thinking it was from Camilla.
"It's Camilla's dad. I think Camilla is leaving for college today," Mrs. Anderson said and handed her phone to him.
Liam took a few seconds to read the message and was shocked to learn she was attending a different college and one far away.
He hurried downstairs, grabbed a car key, and ignored his mother's warning to drive safely as he sped off toward the address in the message.
Although he was angry that Camilla was attending a different school without discussing it with him, he was more worried about not seeing her before she left and drove faster.
The drive to her house took about an hour, but Liam arrived earlier than expected.
He rushed inside, but the doors were locked, and no one answered his calls.
He tried calling Camilla repeatedly with no success and kicked his car in anger.
Northvale is not only far away but also allowed their students live in the school hostel only, he would have to wait until she has a break before seeing her again.
Liam was shattered and sat on the floor, frustrated.