Chapter 2

I closed my eyes as memories of the past resurfaced in my mind.

Lucas had been a bully since he was young. He'd often push Noah on purpose and make him fall for no reason. Once, Lucas made Noah fall so hard that the latter's arm sprained. Lucas then went to Jasper while crying his eyes out, claiming that Noah had tripped on his own.

Whenever any cash went missing in the house, Lucas would sneak the empty wallet into Noah's bag. Lucas would then innocently ask Jasper to search Noah's bag.

Jasper never believed a word Noah said. His reprimands toward Noah only grew harsher each time.

To Jasper, any attempts by Noah to explain himself were nothing more than deceptive lies.

Once, I even caught Lucas spitting in the soup I was making. I'd only had a look of upset on my face. But he'd started flailing on the floor, claiming that his stepmother was going to hurt him.

Jasper had come to the kitchen and slapped me across the face without even understanding the situation.

I'd tolerated everything thus far, all because of the promise Jasper had made me back then.

"I'll continue providing Noah the best treatment for his condition as long as you're a good stepmother to Lucas," Jasper had said.

Noah had a hereditary heart disease, which was why he needed constant but very expensive medication.

I'd swallowed down all my grievances so that Noah could be continuously treated.

I'd never imagined that my tolerance would result in Jasper's complete disregard for Noah's life.

The school bell rang loudly, pulling me back to the present.

Yvonne gracefully walked to the podium onstage at this moment. She looked like a heavenly angel as all the spotlights focused on her.

She smiled at the reporters and cameras pointed at her from below the stage, then said, "We're going to have a public lecture unlike ever before today. We will be using a genuine, burnt cadaver to demonstrate the latest 3D anatomy imaging technology."

After a brief pause, Yvonne turned to look at Jasper. Her eyes brimmed with affection for him. "Thank you for providing us with such precious curriculum material, Captain Lincoln. And thank you, Ms. Rayne, for donating your son Noah's body to science."

Gasps of shock rang out through the audience, followed by applause.

Jasper came to my side and whispered a warning in my ear. "If you dare cause us any trouble today, I'll make sure you leave the place without your son's body."

I didn't answer. Instead, I continued watching Yvonne's demonstration in silence.

Yvonne held up a bottle of antiseptic and went to the operating table. She turned to face the cameras and said professionally, "This cadaver is highly carbonized and has also been exposed to certain contaminants. To ensure precision during dissection, we have to first clean the outermost layer of the cadaver."

Yvonne then opened up the bottle and poured all its contents on the charred corpse. White smoke wafted up from the cadaver the moment the antiseptic came into contact with it, followed by an eerie sizzling noise.

It sounded like one final round of torture for the deceased.

Yvonne looked up and met my gaze from where I sat amidst the crowd. A cruel smile surfaced on her lips.

She began, "Look, Summer. It seems to be in so much pain. But then again, this cadaver was donated to science. Even trash has to undergo sanitization before it's cremated, right? I suppose this can be considered a final cleansing?"

Jasper burst into laughter. He happily went onstage and shot Yvonne a look of admiration before saying into the microphone, "So true! Something as filthy as this cadaver needs to be properly cleansed with antiseptic! How else could it ever be part of Ms. Schmidt's demonstration?"

The audience chuckled in agreement. Some of them even shot me sympathetic looks.

But of course, I laughed in response as well.

Jasper's brow knitted together. "What the hell are you laughing about?"

"I just think it's not unusual for mindless beasts to do something befitting of their nature," I drawled out.

"Are you calling Yvonne a mindless beast?" Jasper hissed angrily.

I did not respond and instead gestured for him to pay attention to Yvonne's demonstration.