Chapter 5

Donovan Moretti stepped forward and violently shoved Brenda Davis aside.

“Mr. Thorne… why are you here?”

The blood I’d lost soaked through the sheets, and my stomach was red and purple from the beating, swollen to a horrifying size.

Ethan looked at me, his eyes bloodshot, then whipped his head around and roared.

“Who gave you the nerve to touch my woman and my child?!”

Sophia, her face streaked with tears, tugged at Ethan’s sleeve.

“Ethan, please don’t blame my mom. If you’re going to punish anyone, punish me. It’s all my fault, I couldn’t stop her…”

Sophia cried breathlessly, then suddenly changed her tone.

“But Ellie always hits and scolds me, saying I’m a vixen and not good enough for you… When my mom came to visit, she even hit my mom! I don’t know what I did wrong, why does Ellie hate me so much?!”

As she spoke, she rolled up her sleeve, revealing a few faint old scars on her arm.

“These are all from when Ellie used to hit me. I never dared to tell you, afraid it would make things difficult for you. My mom was just so upset, she lost her head for a moment, she really didn’t mean it…”

Ethan’s eyes instantly turned bone-chillingly cold. He stared at me intently, his voice filled with disappointment.

“Eleanor Moretti, I thought you were just spoiled, but I never imagined you were so vicious!”

Those words were like an ice pick plunging into my heart! And with them, my last shred of hope for him shattered into dust!

Ethan’s gaze hardened.

“It seems I’ve pampered you too much, allowing you to become so lawless! You need to learn a lesson and remember your place! Whatever Sophia wants to do to punish you, you’ll take it!”

I stared at him, unable to believe it.

“Ethan, are you blind?! They were trying to kill our baby!”

Seeing this, Sophia sobbed softly.

“Ethan, Ellie is just too distraught…”

I lay in a pool of blood, my heart filled with despair.

“Dad… Silas… where are you…?”

As the last tear slipped from my eye, I stopped struggling.

“BOOM—!”

A sudden thunderous crash erupted from outside the door! The main door was blasted to splinters, wood shrapnel flying everywhere!

My father, Donovan, burst in, covered in blood. His eyes swept over Sophia and a stunned Ethan.

When they finally landed on my barely-breathing form, they instantly turned scarlet.

“Looks like my fish have fresh bait again!”

My brother, Silas, strolled in behind him, his eyes fixated on Sophia.

“That face… if you took it off to make a lampshade, it would be absolutely perfect!”