Kai fell silent for a few seconds, panic flickering across his face, before his voice turned icy.
"Who deserves you if not me? Divorce? You're nothing without me. How dare you even think about leaving? I won't allow it!"
I stared at him.
This was the man I had once trusted unconditionally, the one I had given everything to. And now, he stood there, whip in hand, ready to strike our six-year-old child.
All I felt was regret.
Regret that I hadn't taken Scott and left the first time he cheated on me.
As the tension thickened, Florence suddenly complained of feeling unwell. Without hesitation, he rushed her to the hospital.
I held Scott close. His forehead burned with fever and the horror of watching his dog being eaten played on a loop in his mind, leaving him trembling in my arms.
"We're going to the hospital too," I whispered to comfort the child, holding him tighter.
That night, I stayed by Scott's side. His fever wouldn't break and his forehead burned like fire. I swapped out damp towels over and over as he mumbled deliriously, "Mom, the dog … don't eat it. Please don't … "
I patted his back gently, fighting back tears.
He was only six years old, yet he already knew how to care for small animals. He wasn't a bad child.
Around one in the morning, exhaustion finally pulled me under. I slumped in the chair and drifted into a hazy sleep.
I didn't know how much time had passed when the hospital door slammed open.
Two bodyguards strode in and seized my arms without warning.
I jerked awake, thrashing. "What are you doing?"
"Miss Yale's face was injured. She requested your assistance with a skin graft. Mr. Lockwood has already approved the surgery."
The words hit me like a bolt of lightning. "A skin graft? My skin?"
"Mr. Lockwood said this is your atonement for you and your son harming Miss Yale."
"That's insane!" I writhed against their grip. "Who said I'd atone for a crime she staged? Are you really buying her lies?"
They didn't answer. Just dragged me out of the room.
"My son is still sick!" I screamed down the corridor, "Kai! Kai! Do you have any humanity left?"
Unfortunately, no one responded.
The operating room lights glared blindingly white as I was pinned down onto the surgical table.
Just as the anaesthesia began to take hold, I heard the doctor murmur in confirmation. "This is the donor, blood type matches, skin viability confirmed … "
Outside, Kai stood in the shadows, his expression unreadable.
Florence had arrived at the hospital with a fresh cut on her face. She claimed a shattered bowl had grazed her. Now, she demanded my skin as reparations.
She claimed this was to make me realize my mistake.
Kai hesitated, but upon seeing Florence's face, which was almost identical to his ex-wife's, he hardened his heart.
At worst, he could just spend a lot of money to have me healed later.
He would compensate me well.
When I woke up, my face felt as if it were on fire.
I touched it and the doctor hastily stopped me, "Don't move. The surgery just finished. There will be a scar, but it's not a big problem. You can get plastic surgery later."
The mirror was held up in front of me.
At that moment, I saw my face. The stitched wound was still oozing blood, half of my face was wrapped in gauze, swollen and purplish and a patch of skin was noticeably discoloured, making me look like a monster.
My phone vibrated on the bedside table. I picked it up; it was a text message from a lawyer.
[Ms. Wallace, your divorce procedures have all been completed.]
I froze, then let out a soft laugh, tears silently streaming down my face.
I got up and walked out of the ward step by step.
At the end of the corridor, Kai was with Florence.
He was gently peeling fruit for her, coaxing her not to cry. "Your face won't be ruined. The doctor said it can be restored to how it was. Don't be afraid, I'm here with you."
"Am I very ugly?" she whispered.
"No, you've always been beautiful," Kai said softly.
He never once looked up at me.
I went to my child's ward and bent down to pick up Scott, who was still half-asleep. A fever-reducing patch was still on his forehead and his face was frighteningly pale.
I coaxed him, "Mommy will take you to a place where no one bullies us and no one eats puppies, okay?"
Scott's eyelashes fluttered and he clutched my clothes tightly.
In the airport lobby, the boarding announcements echoed repeatedly.
I held my son and walked towards the boarding gate without hesitation.
From now on, Kai would no longer exist in our mother-son world.
