Chapter 4
My phone was shattered, so I had no choice but to find a shady spot to rest with my daughter.
The little one leaned softly against me, asking in her tender voice, “Mommy, who were those people just now? Why were they saying mean things? When is Daddy coming to pick us up?”
I gently kissed her forehead, softly telling her, “Those were bad people, Lily. Don’t mind them. Daddy will be here soon to pick us up. Let’s wait patiently, okay?”
She nodded vigorously, and her expression made me kiss her little cheek again.
The weather was getting hotter. I told my daughter to sit quietly here and wait while I went to get some water.
But when I came back with the water, I suddenly heard my daughter crying loudly, “Mommy, help me! Let go of me!”
The sight before my eyes broke my heart.
Vanessa was clutching my daughter by the neck, slamming her onto the ground.
Seeing this, my rage erupted. All reason vanished.
I lunged forward and slapped Vanessa hard across the face.
Just as I snatched Lily from her grasp,
Marcus rushed over.
Vanessa was already crying uncontrollably, snot and tears running down her face as she threw herself into his arms. “Marcus, I saw her alone there and just wanted to be nice and keep her company. But then this child suddenly bit me! I only said a few words to her, and Sister Aurora rushed over and hit me!”
Marcus looked at the red mark on her face and the teeth marks on her hand. His face instantly turned cold, his eyes blazing with fury.
“Aurora Hayes, how dare you lay a hand on my woman?! You truly don’t respect me!”
He grabbed my hair and ruthlessly kicked me in the chest.
The kick was so heavy that I coughed up blood.
My chest throbbed with excruciating pain, as if my whole body was falling apart.
“Mommy! Mommy!”
My daughter’s heartbreaking screams came from behind me.
Marcus didn’t seem satisfied. He turned and slapped my daughter, sending her sprawling onto the ground.
“You little brute! If your mom can’t control you, I’ll teach you a lesson!”
Hearing my child’s cries, my heart twisted with pain.
I struggled to crawl towards her, but Marcus stepped on my head, pinning me to the ground.
Vanessa walked over, hugged my crying daughter, and clamped her hand over Lily’s mouth, forcibly muffling her cries. Lily’s face turned bright red from holding her breath.
“Sister Aurora, since you don’t know how to raise a child, making her suffer so much, why don’t you let me take her?”
Marcus looked down at me with a cold sneer. “Stop talking nonsense. This woman doesn’t deserve to be a mother. The child belongs to me today. You’ll never see her again.”
His leather shoe pressed down heavily on my back, and he continued with his cruel words: “She can’t even control a child. If this keeps up, this little brat will grow up to be just like you, causing trouble. Might as well get rid of her now.”
“Marcus!” I shrieked, suddenly grabbing his ankle, my nails digging into his flesh. I screamed the truth hysterically—
“She’s only three! She’s not your child at all! She’s Caleb Hayes’s child! And I’m Caleb Hayes’s wife, the current Mrs. Hayes!”