The little boy ran into Morgan’s arms, crying loudly. “Daddy, that bad lady hurt me. Please hit her for me!”
He wailed so hard it sounded like something terrible had happened.
Before Morgan could even respond, Violet rushed over and scooped the boy up. “Ian, what’s wrong, sweetheart? Why are you crying like that? Tell Mommy, who hurt you?”
Ian pointed at Luna and sobbed, “It was her. She pinched me. It really hurts!”
Violet turned to her with tears in her eyes and said, “Luna, I know you hate me. You can hate me all you want, but Ian is innocent. He is just a child. Why would you take it out on him?”
Luna frowned. “I didn’t do anything.”
Violet gave a bitter smile. “He’s only three, Luna. He can barely talk properly. How could he lie, especially about something like this about my own sister?”
More and more people gathered around, whispering and judging Luna.
“I heard his mom call her ‘sister,’ so that’s the boy’s aunt? I’ve never seen such a cruel aunt before.”
“Just look at her. She doesn’t seem like a good person. Maybe she’s jealous of their happy family and took it out on the boy.”
“Shame on her. Poor boy, having an aunt like that.”
Each whisper felt like a knife stabbing deeper into Luna’s chest.
She suddenly remembered how Violet once made the whole class against her, spreading lies that made everyone hate her. Even breathing became painful.
Trying to stay calm, Luna looked at her half-sister and said coldly, “When you were three, you fell down the stairs and blamed me for it. Why wouldn’t your son learn to be a liar from you?”
Violet froze for a moment before shouting in anger, “Who are you calling a liar?”
Morgan shot her a warning glance, silently telling her to stop, then turned to Luna. “Luna, he’s just a child. Kids don’t lie.”
Luna stared at him, disbelief filling her eyes. “So, you think I would lie? You think I would just hurt a child for no reason?”
The man frowned again. “That’s not what I meant. I know you didn’t do it on purpose. Maybe you had… one of your episodes again and didn’t even realize it.”
“Luna, can’t you just make things easier for me? Why didn’t you stay in your hospital room and wait for me to come back?”
Luna let out a quiet, bitter laugh and held up the bag of medicine in her hand. “Wait for you? What about my medicine? You never came back last night after you left, remember?”
Guilt flashed in his eyes upon hearing her answer.
“I’m sorry, Luna. I didn’t mean to. Something urgent came up at work and I had to go deal with it. I was wrong, yes, but I promise, once this is over, I’ll come back to stay with you and never leave again.”
Luna looked at him and then at Violet, already knowing the truth. There had been no urgent work, of course. He had gone to see her half-sister.
Just then, Violet secretly pinched her son hard. The boy burst into loud tears again.
Morgan immediately pushed his wife aside and rushed to them. “Ian, what’s wrong?”
The boy clung to his leg tightly, crying harder. “It still hurts. Daddy, don’t leave me. That bad lady glared at me again!”
Morgan frowned and turned back to Luna. “Luna, he’s just a child. Why are you acting like this?”
She let out a small laugh. “Acting like what? He just called my husband ‘Daddy.’ Am I not even allowed to look at him?”
His face instantly grew tense, but he still held the boy tightly. After thinking a moment, he finally said, “Luna, I told him to call me that because… because he is our child.”
Luna froze, completely confused, but then Morgan brought the boy even closer to her face.
“I adopted him from the orphanage. Luna, we’ve been married for years and still don’t have a child. Maybe it’s fate. So, I thought we could adopt one. It’s the same thing.”
“I know you’ve been sad about not having kids, but now you don’t have to be. You can be a mother without the pain. Isn’t that a good thing?”
“Ian, come on, call her Mommy.”
The boy looked at Luna, then suddenly slapped her across the face while crying. His little nails scratched her skin.
“I don’t want a bad woman as my mommy. Sobs!”
She touched her cheek and stared at the blood on her fingertips.
However, her own husband pretended not to see it. He and Violet both tried to calm the boy down. Ian kept crying, sticking out his tongue at Luna, pretending to gag.
Violet suddenly gasped. “Oh no, what’s happening? Luna, what did you do to him?”
Morgan gave his wife a complicated look, then turned and carried Ian away, leaving Luna standing alone as everyone around her continued to blame and insult her.
