Chapter 1039
Baber was knocked down by the force of the door swinging open, landing flat on the floor and bursting into tears.
“What are you up to, you little rascal? Snooping around, are you?” Xenia accused him loudly.
Baber, frightened and looking wronged, stammered, “I wasn’t peeping…”
He hadn’t been. He just didn’t know what was going on and was too scared to step outside, so he peeked through a small crack in the door.
Xenia was in a foul mood. She already found this unprofitable kid annoying, and now that she had no outlet for her simmering anger, she decided to take it out on Baber.
She gave Baber a vicious kick, then snapped at him, “You’re nothing but trouble! Ever since we adopted you, everything’s been going wrong. We should’ve never taken you in. You’re a disaster!”
Baber doubled over in pain, clutching his stomach.
He’d been enduring this kind of abuse almost daily. Whenever Xenia was in a bad mood, she’d take it out on him. In the past, she was careless and hit him whenever she felt like it.
But when her son started showing concern for Baber, she became more cautious and started hitting him in places hidden by clothes to avoid detection.
Now, with no more concern from her son, Xenia treated him with absolute disregard.
Today, when his mom left the house, he thought he could finally breathe without any fear of a beating.
But then his grandmother started abusing him again.
This house was terrifying. Everyone in it was terrifying.
He wanted to leave and go back to the orphanage in his own country, where he was always hungry and cold. It would still be better than here.
Seeing Baber still crying, Xenia became even angrier. She picked him up and slapped him hard, “Stop crying! You are nothing but trouble! Do you know that you got your mom arrested by the police? If you cry again, I’ll kill you!”
Xenia vented her anger on the child, beating him until he was on the verge of passing out, with no intention of stopping.
She decided she might as well just kill him. Now that her daughter was arrested by the police, there was no way she could marry into the Blanchet family after getting out of jail. And with this kid around, no good man would want her.
Just then, the doorbell rang. Xenia finally let go of Baber, closed the bedroom door, and went to answer the door.
As she opened the door, sure enough, her son was there. Xenia threw herself into his arms as tears began streaming down her face.
“Byran! You’re finally here! Did you know? Your sister was arrested because of that Ellinor. You must find a way to save her!”
Byran stood stiffly at the door. He was being tightly embraced by his mother but was still motionless. He had complicated feelings towards his mother.
As a son, he couldn’t ignore his mother’s tears, but he knew his sister’s actions were related to his mother.
He didn’t understand why his closest, most beloved sister and mother could be such people.
They were cold, ruthless, and hypocritical.
Why was he the son of such a woman?
His mood was getting worse. Byran snapped out of it, pushed his mother away, and said, “Enough! This is all sister’s own doing. Mom, wake up and stop making more mistakes.”
Xenia looked stunned after being pushed away by her own son. “Byran! What did you just say? Are you saying your sister brought this on herself? She’s your sister and she’s always been the kindest to you. How can you side with outsiders and treat your sister like this? Byran, you mustn’t do anything foolish.”
