Chapter 5
The scene was in chaos.
Lily rushed over with a few security guards, her ashen face twisted in anger. "Sophie, have you caused enough trouble? Let go! Do you want to ruin Adrian's reputation?" she asked anxiously.
She shouted at the guards, "Hurry up. Separate them and get Adrian into the car!"
The burly guards wasted no time, roughly pushing me away from Adrian and Easton.
"Easton!" I could barely breathe as I watched my son sobbing in Adrian's arms, his tiny face red and scrunched in tears. My heart shattered.
Easton screamed, "Mommy!" His broken cry cut through the chaos, piercing me to the core.
Adrian shot me one last cold look. His eyes stormed with so many emotions I couldn't understand, and I felt powerless. Then, surrounded by Lily and the guards, he pushed through the reporters, clutched Easton, and got into the black van.
The door slammed shut, shutting out Easton's cries and locking me out of their world.
The van roared to life and sped away, leaving only exhaust fumes and a mess behind.
I felt like my legs had given out as I crumpled to the ground.
The reporters swarmed around me, shoving microphones and cameras into my face.
"Ma'am, what's your connection to Adrian?"
"Is that kid really Adrian's son?"
"Did you guys get secretly married? Why did you split up?"
"Did you plan this all along? Are you using the kid to get attention?"
Their sharp questions pierced my ears, drilling into my brain.
Flashbulbs flashed nonstop, blinding me with their harsh light.
The world spun, voices twisted into a blur.
Everything else faded away. I couldn't hear or see anything. All that was left in my head was Easton's terrified face and his desperate cries.
"Make way. Move, all of you!" A familiar, feisty voice sliced right through the uproar.
It was Vivian, my neighbor and only real friend, who owned a fruit shop. She charged like a mama lion with a bag of fruit swinging from her hand. She pushed past the reporters and rushed to my side.
"Get lost! Never seen someone pick up a kid before?" Vivian planted her hand on her hip, waving the fruit at the cameras, glaring. "Keep filming, and I'll sue you for privacy invasion. You'll wish you never picked up a camera."
The reporters flinched and backed off at the sight of her wild energy and the bag of fruit.
Vivian didn't waste any time. She scooped me up, half-dragging, half-supporting me like I was fragile. "Sophie, come on. Pull yourself together. Don't be scared. I'm here. Let's get you home."
I was so weak that I could barely stand, clinging to Vivian as she half-dragged and half-carried me out of the crowd like a rag doll.
I could still hear the frustrated murmurs and whispers from the reporters behind us.
"She lives nearby."
"Hurry. Find out where that kid goes to preschool."
"This is big. Adrian has a love child!"
The words "love child" burned into my heart, leaving a raw ache.
I bit my lip so hard that I tasted blood.
*****
Vivian practically dragged me all the way back to my cramped apartment.
As soon as the door clicked shut, blocking out the rest of the world and anyone who might be watching, my nerves finally snapped. I slid down against the door and landed on the freezing floor, shaking all over like a leaf caught in a storm.
"I... Easton... my son..." I couldn't hold it together anymore. Tears poured down as I buried my face in my hands and sobbed until I couldn't breathe. Panic and absolute despair smothered me. Adrian's cold, angry eyes, Easton's terrified screaming, and those insane reporters spun around in my head on endless repeat, like I'd stumbled right into a nightmare.
"Don't cry, Sophie." Vivian crouched down and hugged me tight, her voice cracking with both anger and tears. "That jerk Adrian, who the hell does he think he is, just barging in and taking your kid? For five years, he didn't care about either of you, and now he suddenly wants to play dad? Well, he's way too late for that!"
Vivian was shaking with rage. "We're calling the police, Sophie! Let's report him for kidnapping Easton."
The thought of calling the police made me shudder. I couldn't do that.
If I called the cops, it would only make everything worse. Easton's story would be out there for everyone to see, and he'd be called a "love child." He was still young, and it would destroy him.
With Adrian's status and power, would calling the police even affect someone like him?
A crushing sense of helplessness washed over me.
"We can't call the police." I shook my head, voice raspy. "Vivian, we can't. It would ruin Easton."
"So what now? Are we just supposed to stand by and let him snatch Easton away?" Vivian asked in frustration.
"He... He won't hurt Easton," I muttered, almost as much to myself as to Vivian. Adrian might be cold, even ruthless, but he wouldn't hurt his own kid, would he? The way he looked at Easton earlier carried anger and shock, but also something else. His fleeting shock couldn't fool me.
But he got Lily and Mandy with him.
What would they do to Easton?
Just imagining Easton, who might be terrified and unable to speak, or being left alone with those people, was torture. My heart felt like it was burning.