Chapter 2
Just as I was about to speak, my phone suddenly vibrated. Grandma Eleanor’s name flashed on the screen.
I looked up and saw the security camera in the living room blinking red. A bitter smile touched my lips.
Grandma Eleanor had been monitoring me. She wouldn’t allow me to reveal the truth.
“Alex, if you’ve got the child’s clothes ready, come over. He’s waiting.”
Grandma Eleanor’s voice was kind, yet a chill ran down my spine.
I nodded and hung up.
Victoria watched me suddenly pack my things without a word. She raised an eyebrow. “What about what happened back then? You’re not trying to say you had your reasons, are you?”
A flicker of anxiety crossed Julian’s eyes, and he quickly interjected, “Victoria, no man can accept his wife having another man’s child. You should consider his pride as a man.”
Victoria exploded. She grabbed a cup from the table and hurled it at me.
“A good-for-nothing freeloading off my family still dares to talk about pride?”
I didn’t say a word. As her cup shattered, I walked out of that suffocating house and headed to the old family estate.
The moment I arrived, Grandma Eleanor pressed a bank card into my hand.
“Alex, you and the child have suffered. Please take this money.”
I knelt before her. “I don’t want money. I just ask for one thing.”
Grandma Eleanor quickly helped me up. “If you want to leave, I’ll agree.”
“You’ve endured so many years of hardship. The kindness I showed you back then has long been paid in full. You don’t owe me anything.”
My eyes reddened as I looked at Leo’s body. “Besides that, I want to take Leo with me. I want to change his last name and bury him in my family’s cemetery back home.”
Grandma Eleanor hesitated.
After all, I had married into their family, and Leo not only bore Victoria’s family name but was also listed in their family tree.
Knowing she wouldn’t easily agree, I handed her the crumpled pregnancy test. “Victoria is pregnant. She’ll have other children. But Leo only has me.”
Grandma Eleanor remembered what Victoria had done to Leo, and she couldn’t bear it. Finally, she nodded.
After handling Leo’s funeral, I clutched his urn and returned to get my documents.
Click!
The lights flickered on. Victoria was sitting in the living room, waiting for me. Julian stood beside her, a smug look on his face.
The atmosphere was eerily silent until Victoria broke it, angrily. “Look at the good your son did.”
I raised an eyebrow, confused.
Leo was dead. What could he possibly have done?
Julian slowly patted Victoria’s back. “Calm down, don’t stress the baby.”
“Leo put peanuts, which you’re allergic to, in your nutritional meal. He was just jealous of his unborn brother and wanted to harm him. It’s our fault for not discussing having another baby with Leo. He’s young and doesn’t know any better. You shouldn’t take it to heart.”
Victoria was furious. “It seems the last punishment was too light. He hasn’t learned his lesson.”
He was only a three-year-old child. How would he know how to do that?
Besides, he was already dead…
“Leo didn’t do it.”
He was such a good boy. Even until his death, he regretted pouring cold water and making Victoria angry.
Yet Victoria believed someone else’s slander and wanted to punish him.
Ultimately, Victoria had transferred her hatred for me onto our child.
I’m so sorry, Leo. Mommy hated you because of me. You didn’t do anything wrong.
I hugged the urn tightly, fighting back tears.
Julian sighed. “If he didn’t do it, then did you?”
Victoria grew even angrier, grabbing a tissue box from the table and throwing it at me.
“It’s because you always cover for him that he became so unruly at such a young age! Today, he needs a lesson to learn some manners!”
“Hand Leo over now, or don’t make me punish you instead.”
He was so small. How could he possibly take the blame for such a big thing?
I couldn’t take it anymore. Holding up the urn, I yelled, “Victoria, Leo was locked in his room by you and died from a high fever!”
“His ashes are right here. How could he possibly harm you?”