Chapter 2

Walter's hands fumbled as he pulled out his phone. His voice stuttered. "Y-You're right. I-I'll make the call right away…"

But a few seconds later, he looked at the boy's swollen, distorted face and said, "W-With his face like that, I don't even know who he is…"

I looked up at him, feeling rather speechless. "Don't you know how to check? Which students were supposed to be here today? Just rule them out one by one based on who's absent and who's here. The remaining—"

Andy butted in, "Don't bother. I know who that is."

He walked over and crouched in front of me to stare at the boy's face. He spoke lightly, but the words seemed to ring in my eardrums.

"Isn't this Cory Sullivan? You don't even recognize your own son anymore, Mr. Sullivan? You were so worked up just now, so I thought you knew. Are you just reacting like this now because you're too scared to face the truth?"

My eyes went wide as I stared at him. Did this mean he attacked this boy because he thought it was Cory?

Andy seemed pretty satisfied with my stunned reaction. Noticing that I was still doing CPR, he continued, "Stop wasting your time. Haven't you realized that you've been doing it for 20 minutes now, and he's still not responding at all?

"That's because by the time you saved him, we'd already held him underwater for over ten minutes. It's too late to save him."

All the strength drained out of me. I collapsed onto the floor, my whole body trembling. In the end, it was still too late.

The last time, I'd failed to save Cory. This time, I failed to save this boy.

Staring fixedly at Andy, I growled, "Why did you do this? Aren't you scared of paying for what you've done!"

"Oh, no! I'm so scared!" Andy patted himself on the chest dramatically. "Who's going to make me pay? The law? But I'm only 11 years old. Minors in this country below the age of 13 rarely get criminally prosecuted."

He was so close to me that I could even smell the orange scent of his shampoo. Those words and that tone had been the nightmare that tormented me my entire previous life.

I looked at Andy's face, taking in the malice that poured out of his innocent-looking features. I could no longer suppress the hatred within me that had stewed for two lifetimes now.

Grabbing him by the hair, I dragged him toward the pool, wanting to press him in the water. "Even at this age, you're already so vicious. This time, I'm going to let you get a taste of—"

Greg smashed his car key into my head. The keychain sliced a long gash across my forehead. Once my grip loosened, he pulled Andy behind him.

"Have you lost your mind? What's done is done. Why are you taking it out on a kid, huh? My son is still so young. How could he have known that things could end up this badly? It was just an accident!"

"An accident, you say?" I felt all the blood in my body rush to my head. "Check the surveillance footage yourself! See how the three boys pressed that boy's head against the drain, then tell me whether you still think it's just an accident!"

Greg glanced at Andy, who looked visibly guilty, before slowly pulling out a debit card.

"So what do you want, then? Justice? Well, let me tell you something. In this world, justice favors those who have more money and a higher social status!"

He took a step forward and brandished the card at me, almost poking me in the nose with it. "Do you know who my son is? His mother, Lena Webster, is the only daughter of the chairman of Webster Group!

"As for your son, he's just the child of an ordinary middle-class family. So what if he's dead? Do you expect my son, the heir of a wealthy family, to pay for it with his life?"

Greg threw the card at my face.

"There's 100 thousand dollars in there. The PIN is six eights. Take the money, keep your mouth shut, and give your son a proper funeral. If you dare breathe a word of this to anyone else or call the police, then I guarantee that you and your wife won't even get to work as a janitor in this city!"

Andy peeked out from behind Greg and made a face at me. He didn't show any sign of fear, only smugness.

By now, Walter had wrapped his head around the situation as well.

He didn't want things to blow up either, so he muttered lowly in an attempt to convince me, "Mr. Sullivan, this is just an accident, yeah? Since the other family has decided to settle this matter in private, why don't we all just take a step back and reach a compromise?"

A compromise?

I looked down at the debit card on the floor, then at the boy's cold body. I wanted to laugh. They were reducing the death of a kid to a financial transaction, and they even spoke of it with such nonchalance.

My gaze fell once more on the birthmark behind the boy's ear. Suddenly, I remembered who he was.

If the death of my son, the child of an ordinary family, wasn't worth Andy paying for his crime with his life, then I was going to see how many lives they had to offer to make up for the death of this boy.

Andy was still blabbering away. "Look on the bright side, Mr. Sullivan. It's way better to have money in your hands. Since your son is dead, just have another one."

I slowly raised my head, my eyes settling on his arrogant face. "I'm afraid your mother's money won't be enough this time."

Andy haughtily lifted his chin, declaring, "Say whatever you want. Either way, nothing's going to happen to me. Dad told me that the juvenile justice laws will shield me from everything!"

I gently wiped the blood from the boy's face, my fingertips brushing over that star-shaped birthmark. I took off my jacket to cover him, wanting to preserve the last of his dignity.

"You think you have a shield, huh?" I smirked. "Then you'd better pray that everyone in this society abides by the law."

Greg frowned. "What do you mean by that?"

Ignoring him, I got my phone and sent a message. Then, I leaned down and whispered softly into the boy's ear. "Don't be afraid. Your mother will be here soon."

I also called the police.

Sensing that something was up, Greg barked at me, "What the hell do you think you're doing! I'm warning you. You'd better drop this. Let this be the end of it all! If you dare—"