I went to pick up my three-year-old son from kindergarten, never expecting to walk straight into a nightmare.
A madman, driven by rage against the world, swung a knife wildly, cutting through the crowd without mercy.
To shield my son, I took the blows meant for him, more than ten, each one searing through me like fire. I collapsed in a pool of my own blood.
Tiffany Timmerman had the attacker dragged to the police station and summoned the best medical team to save us.
Before they wheeled me into surgery, I clutched onto the last thread of my fading consciousness and asked about my son.
Her eyes were red-rimmed, yet her voice was eerily steady.
"He lost too much blood. He… he didn’t make it. He died on the way here."
The words hit like a knife straight to my heart. Grief swallowed me whole and before I could even mention that anesthesia didn’t work on me, darkness pulled me under.
When I woke, the haze of pain barely registered over the voices I overheard.
"President, the child could have been saved. Why did you give up on resuscitation? That was your own son. He was only three years old!"
"I never intended for him to live. His birth was a mistake. And he had the audacity to ask me for a birthday gift? Did he think he could inherit the company?"
"My son with Peter Garrett is turning eighteen soon. I promised him the company as his coming-of-age gift. I won’t let anyone else compete for it."
The marriage I once thought was blissful had been nothing but a carefully constructed illusion, a living hell dressed in gold.
If that was what they wanted, then so be it.
——
The doctor let out a weary sigh as he glanced at my battered body, the wounds so deep they barely resembled flesh anymore.
"I examined him. His injuries are severe, but… his vas deferens are still intact. He might still have a chance to be a father in the future."
A cold, clipped voice shattered the moment.
"Who gave you permission to leave them intact? Cut them off completely. I want him to lose the ability to reproduce forever."
The doctor’s breath hitched. His eyes widened in disbelief.
"President, in three days, you’ll be handing the company over to Peter’s son. Even if he has children in the future, it won’t change anything. He just lost his child and now you want to take this away, too? Do you really need to be this ruthless?"
Tiffany trailed her fingers down my face, her touch gentle, almost tender. But her words dripped with nothing but venom.
"Giving birth to that bastard was already my greatest mistake. I never expected him to have the audacity to ask me for a birthday gift. That could only mean one thing: he was eyeing the company’s inheritance."
"I swore to Peter that I would never let anyone compete with our child for the family wealth. Even though he married another woman back then, I will still help him and his son eliminate any future threats."
A sharp knock on the operating room door shattered the silence, followed by a man's voice, careless, almost mocking.
"President, appreciate you forging my psychiatric evaluation and getting me off the hook. I’ve already taken care of that little brat for you. Now, about my payment..."
"I’ll have five million wired to your account. Take the money and get out of Savannah. Never show yourself in front of Joseph Peterson again."
"Fine by me. Now, let’s wrap this surgery up. I still have to accompany Peter to pick up Gabriel’s custom-made gift. Oh, and make sure to use extra anesthesia. I don’t want Joseph feeling a thing."
Their footsteps receded into the distance. I clenched my eyes shut, grinding my teeth until pain shot through my skull, refusing to let a single tear fall.
So that man hadn’t been a madman at all.
He was a butcher, one my wife had personally hired to put her beloved man’s mind at ease.
My son was only three years old. He was murdered on his birthday, under a fabricated accusation, by the very woman who had given birth to him.
My body rejected anesthesia. The cold instruments dug into me, slicing, twisting, tearing. Every motion was torture, an agony I could neither escape nor endure.
The pain was unbearable. Darkness swallowed me whole.
When I opened my eyes again, Tiffany sat beside me, her eyes red-rimmed, her voice trembling with feigned concern.
"Joseph, you’re finally awake. Does it still hurt?"
"I was outside the entire time… You have no idea how terrified I was. Losing Levi is already the greatest pain of my life. If something had happened to you too, I wouldn’t want to live either."
"Joseph, the doctor said your injuries were too severe… They damaged your vas deferens. You won’t be able to have children anymore. But don’t worry, I’ll take care of you for the rest of my life. Being child-free isn’t so bad, is it?"
