Chapter 5

After getting their orders, the bodyguards yanked Raine up and pinned her against the wall.

She glared at Luke with indignance and sorrow as she tried her best to defend herself.

“I only hit him because he stabbed Zach’s hand while I wasn’t around! Look at all the wounds on his hand—”

Slap!

The loud smack interrupted Raine’s words.

Pain coursed through her body, and half her face instantly became swollen. A trail of blood flowed down the corner of her mouth.

The bodyguard hitting her used all his strength and slapped her left cheek as well.

The slaps kept coming, and the burning pain was like a raging sea crashing into her body.

When the bodyguards were done and let go, Raine fell on the floor, seeing stars.

She was in such pain that she practically could not breathe, but she still crawled over to Zach, who had started crying from fright. She spoke to him in a hoarse, broken voice and held his hand gently.

“Don’t be scared, Zach. I’m here. I’ll protect you.”

Luke watched the scene coldly. When he turned to Helen again, his gaze turned gentle. He wiped away her tears and bent down to pick up the sobbing John as he comforted Helen gently.

“Don’t be scared, Helen. As long as I’m here, you won’t suffer.”

Helen held his hand and looked at Raine as she put on a very deliberate sympathetic expression.

“I don’t mind going through a bit of hardship with John, but Zach lost his sight at such a young age, and he’s already so pitiful.

“But Raine isn’t teaching him properly. I pity him as a mother too. Luke, you’re his father. You should be telling Raine to exercise tact when she speaks and acts.

“She can’t be a bad influence on Zach.”

Upon hearing her words and remembering all the recent events, he stared at Raine holding Zach tightly, he said coldly, “Helen is right. With you around, Zach’s life will be ruined.

“Since you can’t be a good mother, stay away from Zach. From today onwards, I’ll take care of him.

“Reflect on your actions in the basement. Once you’ve reflected upon yourself, I’ll let you out.”

Then, Luke told the bodyguards to grab Zach so that he could take the boy with him.

The moment Raine heard that, she regained a bit of clarity in her mind.

She opened her bloodshot eyes wide and did her best to shield Zach.

She was already on the verge of a mental breakdown, so when she spoke, her voice was full of anguish and determination. “You’re not taking Zach with you! He’s my son!

“You’ve never allowed him to call you his father, and he has never acknowledged you as his father! You have no right to teach him, much less take him from me!”

Her accusations made Luke’s expression even darker as he burned in anger.

“He’s a Jefferson, and half my blood flows in his veins. How could I not have the right to teach him? Raine, you’ve gone mad with jealousy!”

While he snapped at her, he motioned the bodyguards to get on with it.

As they tried pulling her away, Raine felt as if her arms were about to be dislocated, and her body was soon covered in bruises.

When the bodyguards saw that she would rather die than let go, they exchanged glances and went to pull Zach.

He could not see anything and kept crying out that he did not want to leave Raine. He raised his thin arms up to fight back.

But he was no match for the adults.

As she watched her son taken away, Raine felt as if her heart had been cut into shreds, and grief filled her every being.

Tears flowed out of her eyes and spilled on her bloody wounds as she kept begging.

“I’m sorry! I’m wrong! Please give Zach back to me!

“He’s my life! I can’t live without him! Please!”

But Luke did not relent. He did not even spare her a single glance and simply left with the crying Zach.

The bodyguards picked up the disheveled, pathetic Raine, dragged her into the car, and brought her back into the villa’s basement.

She could only watch as the door fell shut before her, and she hugged herself feebly. But there was nothing in her arms.

All she could do was bawl in despair and grief. Her cries echoed in the endless darkness without end.