I felt a bitterness rise in my chest and was about to speak again.
However, Hector suddenly shrugged off the mink coat Janet had just draped over him and cried out, his voice full of false grievance, “Janet, let him out! They’re so delicate, they can’t take this kind of torture. Not like a poor kid like me… I was frozen to the point of fainting in that air-conditioned room and didn’t even dare to speak…”
Fainted? From the cold? I had only turned on the air conditioner for half an hour.
When I left Janet’s office, Hector was still grinning, chatting with a group of women about meeting up at the bar that night.
I opened my mouth, ready to explain, but Janet’s face changed in an instant. Her voice turned sharp and cold. “Someone go in and take his clothes off! Isn’t he delicate and tender? Then today, let him experience what it’s like to be a poor child!”
She bent down to pick up the mink coat and gently placed it back on Hector’s shoulders, then shot me a cold look.
“When you understand what you did wrong, then you can come out. The doctor said my daughter is perfectly healthy, don’t use her as an excuse to avoid punishment.”
Then she leaned up, brushing her fingers across Hector’s face, her voice full of unshakable devotion. “Hector, your body runs cold. You can’t afford to be chilled. Stay here, in my arms. I dare anyone to say a word about it.”
Janet had just sat down with Hector in her arms when a group of strong men came charging toward me, grinning.
I clutched my thin pajamas and shrank into a corner, but no matter how hard I struggled, I couldn’t fight off the strength of several grown men.
The flimsy fabric was ripped in half and in an instant, the cold air rushed in, seeping into every inch of my skin through my pores.
With the last layer of protection gone, the child in my arms began to shiver uncontrollably.
As those lackeys walked out, they pointed at my daughter, now frozen and pale and laughed.
“Janet, your daughter’s just like you! Look at that little face, still rosy! She’s fine!”
“Yeah, red looks adorable on her!”
“From red to purple, that’s the color of wealth and glory!”
I held my daughter tightly, trying to keep her as warm as I could, but all I could do was shield the air vent closest to us.
My bare skin pressed against the icy metal and when I shifted even slightly, a patch of it tore clean off.
The sharp pain tore through me, straight to the heart.
Bright red blood oozed from the torn flesh, stark against the sterile white of the frozen chamber.
Janet saw it. She gently put Hector down and stepped closer.
Her gaze followed the blood as it slowly crept toward her feet. She opened her mouth, as if to say something.
However, Hector suddenly ran over from behind, touched the blood on the glass and trembled. “Please… just admit your mistake. Janet has so many friends here. If you don’t, things won’t end well for her…”
I stared at Hector. “Why should I admit anything? I saw how comfortable you were with the air conditioning today and how you were flirting with those girls…”
Janet caught what I said and gave Hector a quick glance, a flicker of suspicion flashing in her eyes.
But before I could say more, Hector suddenly slapped himself across the face.
Then, with a loud thump, he dropped to his knees, clutching Janet’s hand and shaking all over. “Janet! I can’t bear to see Yoseph suffer like this anymore. If he still refuses to apologize, then I’ll do it for him, I’ll apologize with him!”
The moment Hector knelt, the doubt in Janet’s eyes vanished.
