Karma Doesn’t Sleep: The Revenge Queen Rises novel Chapter 216

Clive: [Cameron’s at the hospital. I’m heading over. I’ll be back before midnight.]

The next message was a screenshot, like he needed to prove he wasn’t making this up. Clive had forwarded Cameron’s text, sent just ten minutes before.

Cameron: [Come to the hospital.]

He’d even included the address.

Amelia stared at the screen, feeling nothing. She didn’t bother replying. Instead, she closed her messages and called Ms. Arnold.

“Hi, Ms. Arnold? Sorry for calling so late. I’m Penny’s mom, from your class.”

Ms. Arnold was still at her desk, working late. The moment she heard the intro, she froze.

“You’re… Penny’s mom?”

That voice was all wrong.

Ms. Arnold quickly pulled up Penny’s file. Under “Mother,” it said Kristen, clear as day. There was even a family photo—mom, dad, two kids. She remembered at the start of the semester, it had been Ms. Watts from the picture, together with Salmeron, who brought Penny in for registration. Penny had called her Momma Kristen the whole time. And now it was someone else?

Ms. Arnold bit back her questions. Even at a school where tuition was eighty grand a semester, the Salmeron family’s wealth stood out. In families like theirs, swapping moms was probably just business as usual.

“Yes, Mrs. Salmeron. How can I help you?”

Being called Mrs. Salmeron made Amelia a little uncomfortable, but she didn’t bother correcting her. The divorce wasn’t even official yet.

“I wanted to ask if, right before dismissal today, anyone gave Penny something to eat?”

Penny hadn’t felt sick until she got home, so lunch was off the hook. That narrowed it down to right after school.

“No way,” Ms. Arnold said, sounding certain. “Mr. Salmeron was very clear at the start of term—Penny can’t eat anything random, and if she does, we’re responsible. We wouldn’t risk it. But once she leaves campus… well, I can’t say.”

Penny and Timmy were always picked up by the driver and the security guard. So whatever happened, it must’ve been right outside the school.

On impulse, Clive deleted their entire chat. Out of sight, out of mind.

Soon, the car pulled up to the hospital Cameron had mentioned. Clive got out, checked with the nurse at the front desk for the room number, and headed down the hall.

He pushed open the door—and stopped short, surprised.

“Kristen?”

It wasn’t Cameron in the hospital bed, but Kristen, hooked up to an IV. Cameron was sitting next to her, slicing fruit with serious focus.

“Clive!” Kristen’s face brightened when she saw him, but she quickly tried to hide it. She glanced at Cameron with a helpless look, her voice soft, even as she scolded him. “Cameron, you promised you wouldn’t tell Clive. I’m fine, really. It’s so late—I don’t want to bother him. Amelia will just get upset again…”

Just the mention of Amelia made Cameron bristle.

“Why do you care what she thinks? When that crazy woman made your life miserable, you think she ever held back?”