Chapter 2
After marrying Xander, I moved into the Fox Family home.
I saw ten-year-old Kieran in the Fox Family garden.
On a chilly autumn afternoon, he wore short sleeves, handling a caged bird.
He poked the bird with a bamboo stick.
The bird screeched in pain and hit the bars.
The cage rolled to my feet, blood splattering on my high heels.
Xander frowned and called Kieran.
Kieran grabbed the cage and tried to run.
He treated me like I was invisible, ready to flee.
"That's rude," Xander said.
He pushed Kieran's head down. "This is your mom. Say hello."
Kieran paused, then asked, "My mom's dead. Are you?"
His words struck me deeply.
[This kid's savage! No wonder he'll be a walking crime encyclopedia.]
[Dead mom, scumbag dad, evil kid, Jasmine's doomed.]
I held Xander's hand. "Let it go. He's just a kid."
"He's lived alone so long, he never learned manners," Xander said.
He gently patted my hand. "Don't worry. I'll send him to my parents."
[If Kieran moves to the Fox Family's old house, his cousins will torment him, making him worse.]
[Kieran is a bad seed from the start.]
No one is born a villain. It's caused by a broken family.
His deadbeat dad always fooled around with women and ignored his kid.
I gave Xander a look. "No need to send him away. He's just a kid. I've got this."
I knelt to Kieran's level. "Don't listen to your dad. Call me 'Auntie Soon,' not 'Mom.'
"Actually, 'Miss Soon' would be even better."
Kieran muttered, "Nonsense."
I snatched the cage while he was distracted.
"Don't let such a cute little bird die. Let me take care of it," I said.
I treated the bird and let it stay in my room.
The next day after the banquet, I no longer heard the little bird's wings.
Pushing the door open,
The cage was empty, only a few feathers left.
[Kieran had tossed the bird into the fountain.]
As the chat panel predicted, I saw the drowned bird in the garden fountain.
Kieran stood staring at the dead bird.
[Man, he is such a little devil!]
[If he kills birds now, he'll be a killer grown up.]
[He threw Jasmine's fiancé into the sea to drown.]
I took a deep breath and watched the chat scroll.
"Why kill the bird?" I asked.
He looked unfazed, eyes calm. "It was fun," he replied.
Life meant nothing to him.
With someone this messed up, you must play hardball.
I grabbed Kieran by the collar and held him in my arms.
"Let go! What are you doing?" he kicked and struggled.
I locked my arm around his neck to stop him from wriggling.
[Jasmine's no damsel in distress. She've got the strength and the means.]
I grabbed Kieran and marched into the hall.
The butler and servants all gave us strange looks.
Kieran screamed for help, but no one stepped in.
Xander barely noticed him, and he was a nobody here.
Kieran's mom drugged Xander for money and got pregnant with Kieran.
The butler and servants feigned respect but secretly saw him as an illegitimate kid and bullied him whenever they could.
I will deal with these people later.