Chapter 2

Harry finally saw the gravity of the situation. His face drained of color. He scrambled to his feet, pulling his car keys from his pocket.

"Okay, okay. Get him. I’ll pull the car around," he said, turning toward the garage.

Relief washed over me, so potent it almost made me dizzy. I bent down, cradling my limp son, whispering his name.

But just as Harry reached the back door, a sharp, childish cry ripped through the air.

"Daddy! Look! I’m a doctor!"

Jake, Claire’s son, stood proudly next to the bag where I kept Leo’s emergency kit. He held the orange, biohazard container of insulin vials. One of the needles was plunged into a vial, and another was stuck into his own leg. The floor was sticky with the broken glass of three more vials.

Harry stopped dead. His eyes darted from his unconscious son, Leo, to his mistress’s son, Jake, who was now crying in confusion.

Claire screamed in panic. "Jake! What did you do? Harry, look! He's hurt himself! He might have injected himself with something!" she shrieked, hysteria mounting.

Harry looked at me, then at the destroyed insulin, then back at the small, frightened child in Claire’s arms. The decision was instantaneous and brutal.

"I have to go," he said, his voice flat, devoid of emotion.

Shock paralyzed me. "What? No, Harry," I whispered, holding my fading son tightly. "Leo is unconscious! He needs immediate glucose and an IV! You can’t leave!"

Harry met my eyes, a frantic, desperate look mixed with a terrible sort of resignation. "I'm sorry, Darcy. But... Jake doesn't know what he injected. It could be lethal. He's just a child. I have to take him to the emergency room right now."

"And Leo? Is he not a child? Not yours?" I choked out.

A moment of hesitation flickered through his eyes before his eyes darkened again as he said, "Leo will be fine, Darcy. Just give him correction and wait for me to come back. He will be alright."

And with that, he turned, scooped up Jake and Claire, and rushed out the door, the sound of the car engine roaring to life a moment later.

The black SUV sped down the driveway, leaving me kneeling on the grass, clutching my dying son, watching his other child and his other woman disappear in a cloud of dust.

He asked me to give correction to Leo, knowing quite well that his loving child, Jake, had already destroyed everything.

What was I supposed to do now? Wait for him to come back? Was he actually coming back for us or was it just another excuse?

"Leo," I begged, tears streaming down my face. "Please, hold on. Mama will save you." My hands trembled as I realized how less the weight my words carried at the moment.

I walked like a ghost as I grabbed my phone, booked a cab and rushed Leo to his regular hospital. The drive was a complete blur, with my hands holding Leo's firmly and whispering prayers.

My heart bled as the doctors took Leo into the emergency ward. Leo struggled for breath for a long time before the monitor finally became plane and the doctors looked at me with a pair of eyes, filled with sympathy and remorse.

"We are sorry. But—"

"No..." I cut them off, my legs shivering. I was not ready to face the harsh reality of my life. Leo, my son, he was all good a moment ago. He could not leave me.

"D-Do something, doctor. Please!" I cried, but I knew how silly it was. No one could bring Leo back. No one was going to call me Mamma again. No one.

I wept at the door of Leo's ward until my tears dried up, until my heart was hollowed out and I felt nothing. No remorse at all.

I walked inside. Leo lay on his sickbed, his eyes closed. I looked down at him, and for a split moment, I felt it was good he was gone. He would not have to suffer anymore.

He would not have to spend his life waiting for Harry just to look at him, the way he looked at Jake.

Harry never liked Leo, and he put no effort into hiding his disdain for him.

"Jake is fit and healthy, unlike you, sickly and weak."

"Jake praises all the cakes I bake for him, unlike you who has to feed sugar-free, ruining my recipe."

"I can't always check your sugar level in the trip. You stay at home. I'm taking Jake with me."

Every time, I watched my son shed silent tears from getting humiliated by his own father, my heart bled.

But, it wouldn't anymore. Leo was gone. For good. No one could hurt him anymore. Not even Harry.

"You will be happy watching our son like this, Harry," I whispered, stroking Leo's hair for the last time. "He will not irritate you anymore."