Chapter 2

The hospital's head doctor came to check on Laura himself.

"Your daughter has a congenital heart condition? Why on earth was she in gym class?" he asked, his face etched with concern and a hint of reproach.

"That can't be right!" I was on the verge of tears.

Laura was born in this very hospital, and I had her checked by colleagues immediately. She was the picture of health with no sign of any congenital illness.

"Also, your daughter's fracture seems to be from a severe impact. You need to get some answers from the kindergarten!" he advised.

"Poor kid, she's going to need at least three months to recover."

A shiver ran down my spine.

I checked every second of the kindergarten's surveillance footage.

Nonetheless, the mystery was right there!

In the video, no one came near Laura. The kids were simply doing their running drills when suddenly, Laura began to cry out in pain.

The teacher called the school nurse right away, but when they found nothing wrong, they had to call me in a panic.

Soon after, Laura passed out on the sofa.

The teachers tried to move her to a bed, but before they could lift her, blood started seeping from Laura's leg, as if it were broken.

My mind was reeling; I could not fathom how that had happened.

When Laura came, I asked her urgently, "Sweetheart, how are you feeling? Are you still in pain?"

Laura burst into sobs. "Mommy, my hand hurts! My whole body hurts! I'm hurting everywhere!"

That was when I noticed her hand, grotesquely swollen.

Without thinking, I checked Alicia's social media and was stunned to see her follower count had skyrocketed to over half a million.

The buzz around Tony's bungee-jumping video was skyrocketing online, with everyone freaking out over that four-year-old daredevil.

[Hey, kiddo, did you level up without us? That's a fifty-meter dive!]

[He didn't just stick the landing–he walked away like it was nothing. Scary stuff!]

Alicia, riding the wave of hype, rolled out a challenge series titled, 'Tony's Top 100 Extreme Stunts.'

One fan threw down the gauntlet: if Tony was untouchable, they wanted to see him go hand-to-claw with a monster lobster.

I had seen clips where those lobster claws could snap a phone screen like a cracker!

Alicia did not blink; she was all in. There was Tony in the video, bare-handed, holding his own against the lobster's onslaught. His chubby little hands came away without a scratch!

Meanwhile, I was left patching up Laura, taking deep breaths to steady my nerves, trying to make sense of it all.

Alicia had somehow transferred Tony's heart condition to Laura. Even the injuries could be passed on. Laura did not have to lift a finger, and still, the pain could jump to her.

It was downright eerie! How on earth did she do it? Was it because Laura and Tony were related?

Out of options, I called Jeff. "We need to divorce!"

His voice came through, audibly annoyed, "All this over not picking up Laura? Do you have any idea how much people are tipping Tony? You're all hair and no brains. I'm looking out for our family, and you're just throwing a fit over nothing!"

Desperate for a quick split, I was ready to walk away empty-handed. After all, I was the one who bought the RV, and Jeff's earnings barely covered his habits.

Without a second thought, he returned, and we signed the divorce papers. Soon after, he and Alicia settled into a swanky villa, paid for with Tony's live-streaming cash.

"You're such an idiot; I won't give you the time of day ever again!"

Alicia boasted about the drama on her streams. "Tony's got a real gift, and I want him to rake in the dough. It'll make life easier for all of us!

"Who would've thought she'd be so twisted, accusing me of messing around with my brother-in-law and throwing a tantrum for a divorce!

"She even told Jeff a whopper about her daughter being deathly ill! Probably just green with envy over Tony's success and trying to hog all the family's love for herself!"

They branded me as unethical, incompetent, and jealous. In no time, I was the talk of the town, and patients steered clear of me. The hospital gave me no choice but to take a leave of absence.

Honestly, my job was the least of my worries then. Seeing Laura all battered and bruised, I took her back to my parents and changed her last name.

With the Charlton family out of our lives, I believed Alicia would not have Laura suffer for Tony's troubles!