Those faint red marks felt like a giant axe, cleaving us apart.
Jack, flustered and guilty, hurried to close his shirt.
He tried to speak but fell silent. His eyes had fixed on the photo of the four of us, frozen in happier times.
He shoved me aside, sneering coldly, “What right do you have to talk to me about divorce?”
“In this world, who else but me would want a piece of trash like you, someone who killed her own son?”
That one sentence silenced me.
The wound I had buried deep inside, the one that would never heal, was torn open again, bleeding all over.
I stood frozen, the pain so sharp that I couldn’t find the words to speak.
A satisfied smirk curled at the corner of Jack’s lips. After calling me a shrew, he slammed the door and walked out. And I couldn’t hold on any longer.
I collapsed into the chaos around me, sobbing uncontrollably.
Until a timid voice broke through the silence, Ruby clutched her little bunny, her eyes wide with fear.
“Mommy, did you and Daddy fight?”
“Are you going to separate? Will Daddy still come home?”
The fear in her eyes pierced straight through my heart.
I pulled her tightly into my arms.
“I’m sorry, Ruby. Mommy scared you.”
“Go back to bed now. I’ll take you to school later.”
Ruby shook her head, her eyes fixed fearfully on my phone.
After a long pause, she gently tugged at my sleeve.
“Mommy, I’ve seen that lady before… a long time ago… on the day Brother died…”
“What did you say?”
My breath caught and my eyes widened instinctively.
“Ruby, do you know something? Tell Mommy, what happened that day?”
Ruby stepped back, her innocent eyes filled with deep fear.
Then, all at once, she broke into sobs and threw herself into my arms.
“That day, Daddy brought that lady home.”
“He said they were going to play a game and told Brother and me not to bother them.”
“The lady gave us two pieces of chocolate with liquor in them, then locked us in the room.”
“After Brother ate the chocolate, he said it hurt and then he just fell to the floor and stopped moving.”
“I was so scared. I kept banging on the door, crying, calling for Daddy, but he just kept playing with the lady. He wouldn’t listen no matter what I said.”
“Later… Brother was gone. Daddy said it was our secret and we couldn’t tell anyone. He said if I told… he wouldn’t want me anymore…”
“Mommy, I’m sorry. Ruby’s not a lying bad girl… Ruby was just scared…”
I stood there, dazed, completely at a loss for words.
It felt like a knife twisting inside me, tearing through everything.
Aiden’s death had been the deepest pain of my life, of both our families.
Two years ago, the other party had pushed me to attend a meeting.
To help the company secure that crucial contract, I had no choice but to leave Aiden and Ruby with the nanny and drive off alone.
When I returned, the nanny was gone.
Only Ruby was there, crying uncontrollably and Aiden lay stiff and cold.
The doctor said Aiden had died from an allergic reaction after mistakenly eating chocolate with liquor in it.
If he had been brought in just ten minutes earlier, he could have been saved.
My mother couldn’t bear the shock and died of a heart attack.
My mother-in-law directed all her fury at me.
She grabbed me by the neck and slapped me over and over, calling me a murderer with every word.
“You wretched woman, how could you leave two such small children home alone? Are you even human?”
