Chapter 4

Upon hearing his cold words, Raine’s heart plunged into the depths.

She hugged Zach tightly as she watched the butler unroll the whip and snap it.

“No!”

She trembled and bent down to use her body to shield the attack.

The loud snap of the whip kept echoing in the villa. It hurt so much that Raine spasmed, but she refused to step away from Zach.

Her clothes were torn to shreds, and terrifyingly red gashes were left all over her body.

Even so, she bit down on her lips tight. She could taste blood in her mouth, and she groaned in pain.

Blood dripped down, and her vision started turning black.

When the final whip landed, she had spent all her strength and collapsed on the floor.

Before she fainted, the last thing she saw was Luke picking up John and leaving with Helen.

After an unknown amount of time passed, Raine opened her eyes and saw the snow-white ceiling in the hospital.

When she remembered what had happened before she fainted, her mind instantly cleared, and she grabbed a nurse’s hand.

“Where’s my son? Is he okay?”

“Your son’s fine. He’s simply resting from exhaustion. You’re covered in wounds, though. It’s better if you lay down and rest.”

Raine forced her way to her son while enduring the pain. She had heard him calling out to her in her dreams, and her heart was filled with anguish.

As she held Zach’s hand, her voice was filled with regret.

“Zach, I failed to protect you properly, and that’s why you got so badly hurt. I promise that I won’t let you get hurt like this anymore. I’ll definitely leave with you.”

At that moment, Luke walked in with a stormy look on his face.

“Leave? Do you intend to get a divorce again? Zach is blind and young.

“You should be more considerate to him and behave. Stop throwing a tantrum.”

He spoke in such a matter-of-fact manner that anger burned in Raine’s heart.

While staring at Zach’s forehead wound and remembering his blinded eyes, she found the entire situation ridiculous.

She wanted to shoot a snide remark back and ask him exactly who was the culprit behind Zach’s condition.

The words were already at the tip of her tongue, but she simply swallowed it.

If he learned that they knew the truth, he was not going to let them leave so easily.

Besides, as long as Helen was still around, both Raine and Zach would keep getting bullied. They would never get the opportunity to see better days.

Hence, for the sake of Zach’s future, Raine could only suppress her rage. “Of course, I know what Zach needs right now. I don’t intend to get a divorce.”

Of course, she did not mention that she planned to turn him into a widower and also lose his son.

Luke did not think much of her words. When he saw the stained gauze on her back, his voice turned gentler.

“It’s good that you know. Since I promised to take care of you two for life, I won’t go back on my word.”

But Raine knew that no matter what he said, he would forever be biased toward Helen and John.

That was why she simply treated his words as a gust of wind and never responded.

Luke thought that she had heard him and left after putting down the ointment in his hands. “This ointment is for external injuries. Remember to put it on Zach every day so that he doesn’t get a scar.”

After watching him leave, a bitter smile rose on Raine’s lips.

Physical wounds would slowly heal, but what about the wounds of the heart?

Having lost his sight, Zach’s entire life had been ruined. How was anyone supposed to make it up for that?

No one could answer those questions.

Luke never visited again over the course of the next few days.

The nurse who came for the rounds would occasionally tell Raine hospital gossip, though.

“I heard that the one who booked the VIP ward is the president of Jefferson Corporation. His son is pretty handsome, but he’s a handful.

“He sticks to his father every day and asks for stories and racecars. He even wants to be fed.

“Somehow, his father agrees to his every request.

“The boy’s mother is pretty and gentle too. It’s no wonder why she managed to have Mr. Jefferson’s heart so tightly in her hands.

“I heard that Mr. Jefferson would immediately leave to buy whatever snack or jewelry she wants. He dotes on her so much.”

Raine simply listened quietly. She felt nothing.

She simply tucked the sleeping Zach in and tiptoed out of the ward to grab his medicine.

Since she was worried that something would happen to her, she ran all the way to the pharmacy and back. She even ended up panting from it.

Yet at the moment she reached the door, she heard Zach crying.

Raine’s heart sank. She shoved the door open to see John holding an IV needle while stabbing Zach’s hand until it was a bloody mess.

Her mind went blank, and she lost all her rationality. She rushed over and slapped John before shoving him away.

Then, she hugged Zach and wiped away the blood on his hands as her heart ached with pity and regret.

Zach’s cries filled the corridor. The noise quickly lured Luke and Helen over.

When he saw them, John cried and ran over to accuse them of bullying him. “Luke, Mom, I was playing with Zach, but after Raine saw us, she slapped me!”

Luke pulled a long face, and he glared at Raine.

Without even bothering to think, he called the bodyguards over and said coldly, “I’ve already warned you last time.

“Since you refuse to listen, I’m going to teach you a lesson. Since you dared hit a child, you’ll get what you did to him back tenfold!”