My mom is an A-list actress. On the set of a family reality show, the host asked my mom which of us three kids she loved the most. Mom gave her signature serene smile. "That's like asking me to choose a favorite limb. I love them all equally." My younger brother, Mason, and my sister, Skyler, exchanged a knowing look and snuggled up against her. "No matter how busy she is with filming," Skyler chirped, "Mom always takes us on an international trip every year. We feel so lucky." I smiled and chimed in, too. "Even though she's never taken me abroad, she did take me to see Mickey Mouse at Disney World when we came to L.A. this time!" The moment I said it, every smile in the room froze. Because Disney World is in Florida. 1. Realizing I’d messed up, I shrank in my seat, my eyes darting nervously to my mother. She recovered in a split second, laughing as she patted my head. Her touch was feather-light for the cameras. "Oh, Chloe, sweetie. You’re thinking of Universal Studios." The host let out a booming laugh, smoothing over the awkward moment. But the live-stream chat was already on fire. 【She’s like, what, a teenager? How can she not know the difference between Universal and Disney? I bet she’s never been to either.】 【Hold up, even if it was Universal, they don't have Mickey Mouse. That lie doesn't even make sense.】 【I heard this is the daughter from her first marriage, with the guy who went broke. She was dumped with her grandma in some flyover state and they only brought her out for the show to fix her image.】 【And the other two? They're the producer's kids. She keeps them by her side like they're made of gold.】 A moment later, those comments disappeared. The users were banned from the chat. How dare they speak the truth? I’d never been to Disneyland. Or Universal Studios. For the past fifteen years, I’d been living with my Nana in a tiny town in Ohio. Back when my dad’s business went under, my mom filed for divorce without a second thought and moved to Los Angeles with a big-shot producer. Not long after, crushed by the weight of losing his company and his family, my dad jumped from a bridge. My mom knew Nana and I were barely scraping by, but for fear of the tabloids digging into her past, she never sent a single child support check. It was Nana who raised me, working as a house cleaner, collecting cans, doing whatever it took. Now, Nana was in the hospital. She needed surgery, urgently. I finally managed to get in touch with my mom, sobbing and begging her for the money. It just so happened that a rival actress had just leaked to the press that "America's Sweetheart" had an abandoned older daughter. So, my mom saw an opportunity: she’d bring me on this reality show to salvage her reputation. I didn't want to come. But she promised me ten thousand dollars after the show wrapped. Ten thousand dollars could save Nana’s life. So I came. 2. "Time for us to get our beauty sleep! No peeking, camera-bots!" Skyler said sweetly. The moment the red light on the camera went off, the atmosphere shifted. Mason stormed over and kicked my shin, hard. "You're not even worthy of tying my shoes. Who said you could be my sister?" I clutched my leg, glaring at him. Before I could say anything, Skyler rolled her eyes. "What are you looking at? My brother's right. You don't even know where Disney World is. It's so embarrassing. No wonder Mom didn't want anyone to know about you." The warm, maternal smile on my mother’s face had vanished, replaced by a cold mask. She looked down at me like I was a piece of trash on the floor. "This is a live show. The whole country is watching. Watch what you say," she hissed. "If anything like today happens again, you won't see a single penny of that ten thousand." She yanked a worn, thin blanket from a closet. "This bed isn't big enough for all of us. Chloe, you can sleep on the floor." Without another glance at me, she opened her suitcase and pulled out a plush, fragrant duvet set for the bed. Seeing her other two children still making faces at me, she snapped, "What are you two still standing there for? Go brush your teeth and get to bed! Chloe can look rough, but you two have perfect skin. We can't have you showing up with dark circles tomorrow." I numbly picked up the thin blanket, an outsider to their warm, happy family. A familiar ache rose in my chest, and I forced it back down. Growing up, kids used to tease me for not having a mom. "That's not true! My mom's a famous movie star!" I'd argue, my face burning. They’d laugh. "Oh yeah? Then have your movie star mom show up for the parent-teacher conference. Otherwise, you're just a liar." After a while, I stopped arguing. Maybe... maybe Nana had lied to me. Maybe my mom was dead. But Nana would point to the radiant, impossibly beautiful woman on the TV screen and insist, "You have a mother. That's her." I'd press my face against the cool glass of the TV, trying to feel her warmth through the screen. I told myself there had to be a reason she left me. Maybe she was too busy, maybe she didn't want me to suffer with her, maybe... Maybe she just didn't want me. Just admit it, Chloe. Your mother abandoned you. You're the kid nobody wanted. 3. My "Disney World in L.A." comment made the show's ratings skyrocket. The producers, sensing they’d struck gold, added a special segment the next morning. "We're going to play the 'Family Sync Challenge'!" the host announced. "The kids will write down an answer to a question, and the parent has to guess it. Your ranking determines the difficulty of your task for the day!" The host lowered the cue card, his eyes landing on me with a sly grin. "For Team Isabelle, let's have Chloe play with her mom, shall we?" I didn't answer. I just looked timidly at my mother. She hesitated for a fraction of a second before her perfect, camera-ready smile clicked into place. She bent down, stroking my hair gently. "I have faith in you, Chloe. Let's do this together." Her body blocked the camera, so only I could see the ice in her eyes. I shivered, managed a weak smile, and let her lead me to the game chairs. 4. The host blew a whistle. "First question! Kids, write down a single word on your board. Any word." We went through the other families. When it was our turn, my mother faced the camera with practiced confidence. "I know Chloe. She definitely wrote 'Mom,' right?" The host flipped my board around. The camera zoomed in for a close-up. "Chloe wrote... 'Nana'!" I flinched, not daring to look at my mother's face. The host’s smile faltered for a beat before he quickly recovered. "Wow, it's clear that Chloe and her Nana have a very special bond! Raised by her since she was a baby, that's a connection you can't replace." My mother’s gentle expression was cracking at the edges. Her fingers tightened into a fist, but she forced a laugh. "It's true. They're so close, I get a little jealous sometimes." The live chat exploded. 【Seriously? Her actual mom is right there and she writes 'Nana'? Oof, that's awkward.】 【If I were Isabelle, I'd be mortified.】 【OR... maybe it's because the 'A-list mom' has never actually been around for her kid?】 【Don't jump to conclusions! Isabelle is a busy woman. It's normal for a kid who just moved from her grandma's to be closer to her.】 Sensing the mood shifting, the host rushed to the next question. "Okay, next up! Kids, write down your favorite food!" My palms were sweating as I gripped the marker. I had no idea what my mother would guess. I could only write my truth: "Fried Bologna." Because bologna was cheap. The few hundred dollars Nana made a month barely covered my school fees. Meat was a luxury we couldn't afford. Most nights, our dinner was a fried bologna sandwich, maybe with a few lettuce leaves from her tiny garden. Nana would always give me the crispy, browned slice, saying she preferred the softer parts. But I’d see her carefully scraping every last fried bit from the pan for herself. I snapped back to reality as the host held the microphone to my mother. She stared at me intently, trying to read my expression for a clue. "Chloe probably likes... hamburgers? No, wait, sushi? Or maybe ice cream?" "Final answer, Isabelle!" She frowned, then her face lit up. "Cake! It has to be cake. What girl doesn't love cake?" The host nodded, taking the board from my hands. As he revealed it, his professional smile froze solid. "Wow... Chloe's favorite food is... fried bologna. A real down-home classic!" My mother’s eyes were wide with a mixture of shock and a flicker of disgust she couldn't hide. It took her a moment to speak. "That's... not very healthy, sweetie. You should eat less of that." From the sidelines, Skyler piped up immediately. "Totally, big sister. Fried bologna is so gross. The housekeeper made it once and we threw the whole thing out." Mason nodded, deliberately flashing the designer watch on his wrist. "If you want good food, just ask me, Chloe. I'll have Mom buy you anything. You don't have to eat that cheap stuff anymore." Their words felt like tiny hammers pounding on my heart. I gripped my marker, saying nothing. The chat went wild again. 【A kid whose favorite food is fried bologna? Isabelle Vance's daughter is surprisingly... normal.】 【She makes millions a year and can't buy her oldest daughter a decent meal? I'm starting to feel really bad for this kid.】 【Stop twisting things! Maybe Chloe just likes it. Look at the other two, they're clearly well-cared for. Isabelle is a good mom.】 The host pointed to the scoreboard. "Team Isabelle is still at zero points! You'll have to get this last one right to avoid the hardest task of the day!" He leaned in conspiratorially. "Alright, for the grand finale... Kids, what is the one thing you want to do most, right here, right now?" I took a deep breath, sneaking a glance at my mother. She was holding her smile for the camera, but I could see her foot tapping impatiently. An idea sparked in my mind. I slowly, deliberately, wrote on my board: Help Mom win the game. I wasn't sure if it would work, but for Nana, I had to take the risk. Soon, it was our turn. The host grinned at my mother. "Isabelle, the final question. What do you think Chloe wants to do most right now?" My mother was silent for a few seconds. Her eyes flicked from me to the camera, as if weighing her options. Finally, she clenched her fists. "I think... I think what Chloe wants most right now... is to help her mom win the game." The host dramatically revealed my board. The words Help Mom win the game were written in clear, block letters. The studio erupted in applause. "And that's the only team to get the final question right!" the host boomed. "Now that's what I call a mother-daughter connection!" My mother’s smile was wider than ever. She walked over and pulled me into a hug. "I knew it," she said into the microphone. "Chloe has always had her mom in her heart. She's just a little shy about showing it." Her arms were tight around my back, the pressure a clear warning. I stood stiffly in her embrace, a sudden sting in my eyes. It was the first time my mother had ever hugged me. And I felt nothing but cold. The chat’s opinion flipped on a dime. 【YES! They finally got one! See? That's the bond they have!】 【Chloe is so sweet, wanting to help her mom win. This is so wholesome!】 【To everyone who said Isabelle was a bad mom, you can shut up now. Look how in sync they are!】 5. My mother was clearly pleased with this outcome. But the producers wanted more drama. They shoved a mic in my face. "Chloe, why did you want to help your mom win so badly?" My mouth opened, but no words came out. I couldn't exactly say it was because she promised me ten thousand dollars for Nana's surgery, could I? My mother gracefully took the mic from my hand. "Everyone knows Chloe grew up with her Nana, and they assume we're not close. But it's actually the opposite," she said, her voice dripping with emotion. "Chloe's grandmother wouldn't let me take her, you see. I had no choice but to send money and trust that she was taking good care of her." She looked at me, her eyes pleading. "But we have a mother-daughter bond. She knows how much I love her, and of course, she wants to be a good daughter to me. Isn't that right, Chloe?" The production team pounced. "Chloe, is that true? Was it your Nana who was keeping you from living with your mother?" I bit my lip, trapped. I wanted to scream, No, that's a lie! But I was terrified she'd take back her promise. The ten thousand dollars... Nana... Just as I was trying to figure out what to say, a production assistant rushed onto the set and handed me a phone. "Chloe! It's the hospital... they said your Nana... she didn't make it through the surgery..."
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