Merlin's head was buzzing.
She couldn't bear to imagine how this three-year-old child, who always slept close to her mother and had never left home, could be huddled in a corner, struggling to survive, all alone, separated from her parents.
"You mean that little beggar? He was so annoying, always following me around, so I kindly took him to an orphanage." Joel smiled innocently, but Merlin broke out in a cold sweat.
"There's no orphanage in Frostvale City! Where did you take Luther? Tell me!" She shook the little girl's shoulder forcefully, but she flew two meters away like a kite with a broken string, hitting her head on the corner of a table.
"Daddy, did I do something wrong until that Auntie hit me so hard?” she asked, “Please, Auntie, forgive me…"
Even more suffocating, Lily suddenly knelt down, tears streaming down her face.
“Merlin, if you have a problem, come at me! I've tolerated all the beatings and scoldings you've given me before, but the child is innocent. Don't drag the child into this, okay?”
“Yes, I’m shameless. I fell in love with a married man—so what? I love Dave so much that I can’t pull myself away. I was foolishly infatuated.”
Merlin was about to argue when someone brushed past her, their hair and shirt collar swaying.
“Merlin, it's just a small matter, is it necessary to make such a big deal out of it? Are you only happy if you drive them to their deaths?”
“I used to think you were just straightforward and cute, when did you become so vicious?”
Dave's gaze was gentle, his eyes filled with nothing but the incessant commotion of Lily and her daughter.
His own son was missing, possibly dying, yet he seemed oblivious, not even bothering to ask.
Merlin felt as if a sharp stone was stuck in her throat.
She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
Even a blind man could see who was forcing whom, yet he could utter such cruel words with his eyes wide open.
Why were Lily and her daughter’s issues treated as serious, while she and Luther were dismissed even in a life-or-death situation?
Did being unloved mean they didn’t even deserve to live—only to be abandoned and sacrificed?
"You don't want Luther, but I do!" Merlin searched frantically for three days and three nights, finally finding Luther.
His small body was limp, his skin blue from the cold, curled up quietly in the mosquito-infested garbage disposal center, clutching the piggy bank his father had given him.
"Mom, I cracked the computer virus at Dad's company, but I need to pay a fee to fully recover the files."
"Mom, I didn't mean to, can you please beg Dad not to abandon us?"
He was on the verge of death, his thin, cold body unable to withstand the constant rubbing and breathing on to warm him.
Worse still, Luther's severe allergic reaction triggered asthma and he was on the verge of suffocating. Dave, who had brought him specially made, highly effective medicine, refused to see him.
She waited from dusk till dawn, kneeling in the rain all night, holding her ailing child, pleading with him to save Luther.
But all night, Dave was busy comforting the frightened Lily and her daughter to sleep.
He was so anxious that he summoned all the doctors in the city to be on standby, yet he was so stingy that he wouldn't give Merlin a single dose of the medicine.
"He's been stealing since he was little. If we don't teach him a lesson, what will he do—murder or arson!"
"He just wanted to help you with his own pocket money. What did he do wrong!"
Merlin raised her voice, her nose stinging, almost crying.
"Why don't you investigate Lily? Instead, you're trying to destroy us, mother and child."
He used to be so considerate. Even a slight frown from her would cause him endless worry; forgetting to say goodnight would keep him tossing and turning all night.
Now, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. Luther was delirious with a high fever, yet he narrowed his eyes, his gaze filled with scrutiny and suspicion.
“Keep making things up, Merlin. Do you know that Lily just had an…”
“Oh, Dave, please stop. That's all I should do.”
Interrupted by Lily’s “sensible” manner, the last sentence, “just received ten million in investment funds,” was forced to be phrased differently.
“Lily is a highly educated returnee from overseas. With her in charge of the company, what problems could possibly arise? Besides, if such a major loophole had truly occurred, wouldn’t I know?”
What if Lily was deceiving her superiors? What if her intention was to steal company secrets for money?
Merlin had investigated; Lily’s ex-husband had recently made a name for himself in the computer field, but his progress was limited to core technologies.
If the secrets were truly stolen, everything Dave was so proud of would be gone.
But the words caught in his throat.
The child was in shock and suffocating; he held the life-saving medication in front of her, slowly counting the pills. "This area is your punishment for laying a hand on Lily and hurting her."
"This area is the consequence of your mockery of Joel."
