Chapter 3
Mia let out an exaggerated scream.
At the same time, she pushed Ethan straight into Nathan's arms.
Without hesitation, Nathan shoved Jensen aside and scooped Ethan up with concern.
Jensen's eyes lost their light, his face almost ghostly pale.
"Nathan, do you even have a heart? Jensen's having a heart attack. He needs emergency treatment right now!" I screamed, my voice hoarse with panic.
I hugged my son tightly, trying to comfort him.
But all my desperate cries got was Nathan brushing me off, calling me immature.
"Jensen's fine. He's had that heart problem for years, and the meds never did anything. He's still kicking, isn't he?" Nathan said, not even bothering to look at me.
He didn't even spare me a glance.
His tone was flat, but the obvious contempt in his voice was impossible to miss.
I couldn't believe those words actually came out of his mouth.
Ethan was leaning on his shoulder, flashing me an angelic, harmless smile.
"Linda, don't get the wrong idea. I've got a prep school interview next month, and I need to ace all the physical tests. I can't afford even the tiniest slip-up," Ethan said.
"That's right, Linda. My son is destined for the Ivy League, so we really can't afford any delays," Mia said, putting on a show of modesty, though the pride in her eyes was impossible to miss.
Just then, I noticed Ethan clutching a limited-edition figure.
I'd had someone send it over from abroad.
I'd used Nathan's work address for the delivery.
Seriously? I didn't even get to give it to Jensen, and Ethan's already got his hands on it?
Jensen saw it too, lying in my arms, his eyes welling up with tears, looking completely helpless.
"This is my son's gift," I said, gritting my teeth in frustration.
I snatched the figure Jensen had been dreaming about right out of Ethan's hands.
"Nathan, my present got snatched!" Ethan whimpered, his head down, voice muffled.
He kept his head down, his voice low and sulky.
He looked all sad and wronged, like he'd just been bullied.
Mia comforted him, her heart breaking for him as she turned away to secretly wipe her tears.
Nathan couldn't stand to see them upset, and his expression changed in a flash, clearly annoyed.
"Seriously, why are you being so stingy? We've got tons of toys at home. Let Ethan have one, what's the harm?" he snapped.
Nathan snatched the figure right out of my hand, ripping it away with brute force.
He was so strong that the cut on my palm, which had barely healed, split open again.
Blood started trickling down the toy, drop by drop.
All the feelings I'd been bottling up finally snapped.
I set Jensen down and flung the toy as hard as I could, smashing it away from them.
"I'd rather smash my son's things right in front of you than let anyone else take them!" I yelled, my voice trembling with fury.
The figure splintered into a million pieces across the floor.
The crash was so loud, both kids burst out crying.
"Crying won't help! Stop it!" Nathan snapped, his face dark with anger.
Nathan's face turned terrifyingly grim.
Nathan suddenly lost it and kicked Jensen hard.
Jensen clamped his hands over his mouth and shrank into the corner, too terrified to make a single sound.
"Nathan, are you even human? He's your son!" I screamed, my voice shaking with rage.
I froze for a second, then lost it and started swinging at him, kicking and punching in a frenzy.
While Mia pretended to break up the fight, she kept digging her nails into me when no one was looking.
Stung by the pain, I shoved her off me, grabbed a brick from the ground, and swung it hard at her.
"Mia, watch out!" Nathan yelled, panic in his voice.
"Linda, are you done yet?" Nathan barked, totally fed up.
Nathan yanked Mia back out of the way.
He wrenched my arm behind me, ripped the brick out of my grip, and looked ready to bash my head in like a raging beast.
Just as Nathan was about to bring the brick crashing down on me, I caught sight of a figure rushing over behind him, their voice ringing out with a fierce, commanding shout.
"Stop! Drop it now!"
But that harsh command didn't even slow Nathan down.
Agony exploded in the back of my head, my mind going blank as a deafening buzz filled my skull.
A stream of crimson blood ran down from my scalp.
"L-Linda, I didn't mean to..." Nathan stammered, his voice trembling.
It was like he'd just snapped out of a trance.
A flicker of panic flashed in his eyes.
"Nathan, you'd better have a damn good explanation for this!" the rescue team leader barked, storming over.
The rescue team leader rushed over, ordering the others to patch me up right away.
I took the opportunity to have them rush Jensen to the hospital first.
Ethan, that little fox, instantly sensed trouble brewing.
His eyes welled up, and he started crying before anyone else could.
"It's not Nathan's fault! Linda started it, not him!" Ethan sobbed, his voice trembling.
"But Linda didn't mean to mess up the rescue. She just wanted Nathan to save her son first, even if it meant ignoring everyone else," Ethan added, playing the innocent card.
Mia shot Ethan a mock-angry glare, but she couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips.
Nathan just frowned and kept quiet.
"What did you just say?" I demanded, my voice loud and sharp.
Ethan was so scared he froze, shivering as he hid behind Mia, completely lost and terrified.
Ethan instinctively shot a glance at Nathan, who was still silent, his eyes darting slyly as he tried to figure out what to do next.
Then, all of a sudden, he dropped to his knees right in front of me, putting on his best pitiful act.