Chapter 124
“What’s with all the noise?”
The low, cool voice halted mid-sentence the moment he saw Kelly, scalded and in tears. Carter strode forward, instinctively pushing Sharon aside.
“Kelly, are you okay?”
Sharon hadn’t slept all night. She hadn’t eaten a bite, her mind tied in knots over Theo. She was worn to the edge.
Carter’s shove came too fast-she lost her footing, stumbling back. Her lower back slammed into the edge of the table behind her. Only then did she manage to steady herself.
Kelly’s hand was already blistering from the burn, angry welts rising beneath her skin. 1
This time, she didn’t need to fake it. The pain pulled tears straight from her eyes.
“Carter,” she said, her voice trembling, “I don’t even know what I did to upset Sharon. She just threw the porridge at me…”
It was only then that Carter seemed to notice Sharon, pale-faced from the blow, her expression exhausted and drawn from the night.
He froze for a moment-just one beat-and then his face turned cold.
“Sharon, what kind of madness is this now?”
Sharon’s back throbbed where it had hit the table, a wave of dizziness washing over her. The pain was sharp enough that words got stuck in her throat.
Kelly’s tears streamed down, her voice soft and breaking. “Maybe… maybe Sharon still blames me for yesterday… I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I nearly hurt Theo…”
“I didn’t know the cake had nuts in it,” she whispered. “I thought… since Sharon wouldn’t touch anything Theo couldn’t eat… I never imagined…”
Then, without warning, she started to kneel before Sharon.
“Sharon, please hit me if you must. I’ll accept whatever punishment.”
Carter caught her, stopping her from going down.
“Kelly, what are you doing?” His voice was sharp.
Theo’s voice piped up too, alarmed. “Kelly, it’s not your fault! We didn’t know the cake had nuts either!”
He spoke quickly, tripping over his words. “We ordered the same dessert Mom had. Kelly didn’t pick it on purpose! If Mom hadn’t chosen the nut cake, I wouldn’t have eaten it by accident and had an allergic reaction!”
The dull pain in Sharon’s back had only just started to ease when she heard her son’s voice.
And just like that, her heart-already brittle and cold-cracked.
She stared at the child she had worried over, stayed up all night for, barely daring to sleep in case something went wrong.
Theo was staring at Kelly with anxious eyes, full of concern and care. Every bit of his attention was for her.
Then she turned to Carter. He was looking at Kelly, brows knit, lips pressed in a hard line.
No one asked if she was hurt. No one spared her a word.
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i
Sharon gave a silent, bitter laugh. Her eyes began to redden for no reason she could name.
Pathetic. She really was pathetic.
She closed her eyes. When she opened them again, tears still clung to her lashes, but her gaze was clear.
She didn’t look at any of them again. Without a word, she walked toward the door.
A hand caught her wrist.
Carter’s voice came from behind.
“Sharon, where are you going? Kelly didn’t mean to yesterday. Do you really have to keep going after her?”
“Let go,” she said, her voice colder than ice.
“She didn’t know,” he insisted. “She didn’t know what was on your table when she ordered.”
Theo chimed in too, his voice stubborn and small. “If someone has to be blamed… Mom, you knew I couldn’t eat nuts,
still ordered the cake. You’re the one who made the mistake.”
and
you
Sharon stopped walking. Slowly, she turned to face him.
“So,” she asked quietly, “you had an allergic reaction yesterday… and that was my fault?”
Theo’s eyes flickered. He hesitated, his voice a murmur.
“Anyway… it wasn’t Kelly’s fault.”
Sharon looked at Carter next.
“You think so too?”
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