Chapter 4

Yvonne cried and choked out, "It was Mom! She knows we're allergic, but she still gave it to us on purpose!" Yannick nodded fiercely. "She's so mean!" Jennifer's fingers clutched the doorframe so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Yannick, Yvonne, do you even understand what you're saying? You better tell the truth right now!" "That's enough!" Leonard suddenly stood up and grabbed her wrist with almost enough force to crush bone. "Jennifer, is this how you act as a mother? Not only do you harm them, you force them to lie?" "I didn't…" Jennifer's voice trembled slightly. Leonard sneered. "So you're accusing them of lying now? They're just kids, how could they be lying about something like this? Can you even call yourself their mother?" The two children suddenly began to cry loudly, their faces turning red. Yvonne sobbed, "Dad, we feel so awful…" "What would make you feel better?" Leonard asked softly, wiping her tears with gentle fingers. Yvonne turned and looked at Jennifer. "She's allergic to mangoes too. Make her drink mango juice so that she feels awful too!" A chill swept through Jennifer's heart. She looked at Leonard, and the iciness in his eyes made her go cold. "Alright." He straightened up and snapped his finger, and two bodyguards immediately entered the room. "Hold her down." Before Jennifer could react, she was forced into a chair. One of the bodyguards gripped her jaw, forcing her mouth open. Two full pints of mango juice were poured down her throat. The sickly sweet liquid flooded her airways, causing her to choke violently as her throat began to burn. Red welts rapidly appeared across her skin. Her face started to swell, and her breathing grew even more labored by the second. She clawed desperately at her neck, and as her vision blurred, she locked eyes with Leonard. He just stood there, watching without a flicker of emotion in his eyes, showing no intention of stopping. The two children had stopped crying. Instead, they clapped gleefully. "Serves her right! Let her suffer too!" As darkness rushed in, the last thing Jennifer saw was Leonard's cold, merciless gaze. She had no idea how much time had passed when she woke up in a hospital bed. Her throat burned, and there were still rashes on her face. Outside the room, she heard some familiar voices. Samantha said, "Leonard, I really didn't know they were allergic. I just wanted to give them some juice…" Leonard replied in a tender tone, "It's not your fault. You didn't know." "If only I had come forward sooner to clarify, then you wouldn't have misunderstood Ms. Jefferson," she said regretfully. Then, she chided, "Yan, Von, you two as well. This is all my fault. How could you shift all the blame onto your mom just to protect me?" The children's pitiful voices came through loud and clear. Yvonne whimpered. "Aunt Sam, we know what we did was wrong. We just don't like Mom…" Yannick added, "That's right. She always nags us and never lets us eat snacks. She makes us go to bed on time, too. We just want her gone…" Jennifer's fingers clenched the bedsheet so tightly her knuckles turned white. These were the children she had carried in her womb for months, nearly dying on the operating table to bring them into the world. She remembered the day she gave birth to Yannick. There wasn't a single soul waiting outside the delivery room. The nurse told her that Leonard was tied up in an important meeting and couldn't get away. The pain had been unbearable, but she gritted her teeth and endured it all alone. It was even worse with Yvonne. Jennifer suffered a dangerous hemorrhage during labor, and the doctors even said she was in critical condition. Meanwhile, Leonard had flown abroad for an international acquisition deal. Yet now, those two children she had risked her life to give birth to were the ones who hurt her the most.