Chapter 8

I was so furious that I slammed my fist into a concrete column outside the hospital and cursed.

"What the hell are they thinking, hiding him at a time like this? Shouldn't that little monster be here begging the family for forgiveness? How many times does he have to cross the line before any of you understand how serious this is?!

"This isn't mischief. It isn't acting out. He's cruel, and what he did was a crime!"

Madison was already on the verge of falling apart. The moment I raised my voice, she burst into tears, drawing stares from everyone nearby.

I ignored her and hurried toward the operating room.

A crowd had gathered outside. I pushed my way through and found Andrew pleading desperately with the pregnant woman's family.

"He's just a child. He didn't understand what he was doing. Please, find it in your hearts to forgive him this once."

A man who appeared to be the woman's husband shoved Andrew hard in the chest.

"Listen to me, old man! You'd better pray my wife and baby make it, because if they don't, I'll make sure your family pays! You waited until you were old to have that precious son, didn't you? Then you'd better hide him for the rest of his life, because sooner or later, I'm going to find him!"

He lunged at Andrew again, but the people around him held him back.

They warned him that hitting an old man would only make things worse. If Andrew pressed assault charges, the entire situation would become even more complicated.

I knew this wasn't the time to talk about money. Anything I said would only make the family angrier, so I kept quiet.

I helped Andrew to his feet, led him to a nearby bench, and sat with him while we waited for news from the operating room.

It was only then, as I listened to the people around us talk, that I finally pieced together what had happened.

After Zoe and I moved out, Simon turned our old bedroom into a playroom.

Whenever he wasn't at school, he spent hours bouncing balls, running, and jumping around, sometimes until eleven or midnight.

The noise made life miserable for the neighbors downstairs.

They came up several times to ask the family to keep it down, explaining that a pregnant woman lived below them and needed rest.

At first, Andrew was polite. Each time, he smiled and promised they would be more considerate.

But after every complaint, the noise only got worse. Soon, it wasn't just bouncing and jumping. Someone started deliberately dragging chairs across the floor and banging objects against it.

The tension between the two families continued to build.

They nearly got into physical fights several times. Eventually the police were called. But since it was only a noise complaint, all the officers could do was issue a warning.

Simon faced no real consequences, which only made him more resentful of the neighbors downstairs.

So he responded by making even more noise.

It happened over the weekend. The husband downstairs wasn't home. His wife, who was more than eight months pregnant, was jolted awake by the noise. Furious, she went upstairs to confront them.

Andrew was in the playroom with Simon when the knock came.

He frowned and muttered, "It's probably those people downstairs again. They're so damn annoying. Now they think they can tell us what to do in our own home. If they want peace and quiet that badly, they should move somewhere without upstairs neighbors."

Andrew headed for the door, still grumbling under his breath, but Simon rushed past him and got there first. The moment he opened it, he started arguing with the pregnant woman.

There was no reasoning with a child like Simon.

Maybe she said something harsh that set him off, or maybe his resentment toward her had been building for so long that he was just looking for an excuse.

Either way, he suddenly shoved her backward toward the stairs.