“Our family’s reputation?” I repeated softly, my voice devoid of emotion.
More and more onlookers gathered, pointing and whispering about us.
“She just gave birth and she ran off with someone. How shameless!”
“Exactly! And she took someone else’s child too! She didn’t even leave the baby!”
“How could a woman be like that?”
I showed no reaction to the whispers around me, but Blake straightened his back.
“Hear what everyone’s saying?”
“You’ve completely ruined our family’s reputation! Now, hurry up and come home with me!”
He said, reaching out to grab my hand.
I recoiled, meeting Blake’s gaze, and asked him, word by word:
“Throwing your wife, who just gave birth, and your newborn son, who’s wailing for food, into a cow shed crawling with spiders. Giving the precious, nourishing tonic to another woman who’s completely unrelated.”
My voice was calm, yet it struck like a hammer, pounding at everyone’s hearts.
“Blake, is this what you call ‘your family’s reputation’?”
Blake’s face instantly turned a deep shade of crimson.
He opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a single word.
The people around us were also stunned, their accusing gazes now turning to Blake.
“Who does that? Not taking good care of his own wife after she gives birth? That affects her for life!”
“Exactly! She gives birth to your child, and you feed the good stuff to another woman. How heartless!”
11:05 AM
<
His face was flushed green then white with rage. In a fit of anger, he reached out, trying to snatch the baby from my arms.
“What nonsense are you spouting! Give me the child and come home with me!”
Liam stepped forward, blocking him, and stared at Blake coldly. “Blake, don’t make me use force again.”
I stepped back, still holding my baby, avoiding Blake’s outstretched hand.
I looked at his furious, exasperated face, and the last shred of lingering affection in my heart was swept away, just like the cobwebs in that cow shed.
“Home?” I chuckled, the sound thick with mockery. “Which home? The cow shed that can’t even keep out the wind and rain, or the house that belongs to Ashley, where I’m not allowed to step foot?”
“You!” Blake was speechless, completely cornered by my words.
“I merely did what you wanted me to do all along.” I lowered my gaze, looking at my son’s peaceful sleeping face. “Didn’t you always feel I was in the way, that I was occupying Ashley’s spot? Well, now I’ve vacated it.”
