Chapter 4
That night, Julian locked Liam in a dog cage in the basement.
In the middle of the night, my son developed a high fever.
I anxiously stayed by his side, desperately trying to cool him by fanning with my hands.
His small face burned red as he mumbled something. When I leaned closer, I could see his lips
clearly forming the word “Mom,” and my heart shattered.
I hated Julian for his callousness, hated Audrey for her vicious cruelty.
But most of all, I hated myself.
If only I’d been stronger, would my son have been spared so much suffering?
I held Liam as tears streamed down my face:
“Mommy’s so sorry, baby. I’m so, so sorry…”
Liam seemed to sense my presence; his tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly.
I cradled him tightly as we sat in the darkness.
Could tomorrow just never come? Then my Liam wouldn’t have to endure any more torture.
Once he finally fell asleep, I drifted into Julian’s room.
He was sleeping. To my shock, he was clutching an old photo of us together. In the picture, we were both eighteen, oblivious to the hardships that lay ahead, smiling with genuine happiness.
I tried to enter Julian’s dreams to tell him I was dead, to beg him to stop tormenting our son, but despite trying all night, I couldn’t break through.
Helpless, I watched the sun rise as Julian had servants drag Liam into that empty room.
佛
The livestream began, camera focused on Julian and Audrey.
As viewer numbers climbed, Audrey finally managed to squeeze out some tears, sobbing for the
camera:
“Vivian, please come back.”
“Julian’s family thinks Liam is illegitimate. They want to whip him as punishment. Julian and I tried to stop them, but they won’t listen.”
“Only if you return and explain everything yourself will they leave Liam alone!”
How disgusting!
To avoid blame, they’d pinned everything on Julian’s family.
Such shamelessness!
Julian held the nearly collapsed Liam, staring directly into the camera:
“Honey, I know you’re still upset.”
“But can you really let Liam get beaten? Come back now. Once you explain everything to the family,
we can all live happily together.”
They were clearly trying to force me to appear.
I knelt helplessly beside Liam:
“I’m already dead… please, just leave my son alone.”
In the livestream, comments flooded in attacking me:
[What’s wrong with this woman? She abandoned her own kid?]
[Whatever issues you have with your husband, you shouldn’t let your child suffer for it.]
[She obviously doesn’t care about her son, or she wouldn’t let him bear the stigma of being illegitimate.]
After waiting a long time with no sign of me, viewers began trying to track down my information.
Julian grew impatient. He glanced at the servant holding the whip, who immediately stepped forward and forcibly strapped Liam to a bench:
“We’ve given you enough time. Since Vivian refuses to explain herself, this child will be treated as illegitimate.”
He raised the whip high. I threw myself over my son’s tiny body, but to no effect.
The first lash tore open the flesh on Liam’s back. His gasping breaths echoed in my ears as my own heart felt like it was being ripped apart.
Julian turned around, frowning, and quietly warned the man:
“What the hell are you doing? I told you to just pretend. Why are you hitting him so hard?”
The man with the whip broke into a cold sweat, glancing at Audrey for guidance.
Audrey immediately understood, gently taking Julian’s arm:
“Julian, this is the only way it’ll work. Don’t you want Vivian to come back?”
Julian hesitated: “But he’s just a child…”
Audrey moved to block his view:
“Don’t worry, he won’t really hurt Liam.”
Julian believed her and turned back to the camera:
“Honey, I’m begging you. For our son’s sake, please come back now.”
The servant slammed the second lash across Liam’s body.
I watched in despair, feeling like my soul was being torn apart.
Just then, someone in the comments asked: [What’s your wife’s name again? I think I found some recent information about her.]
Audrey’s face paled:
“It’s probably fake. Don’t believe it, Julian. Let’s wait a little longer. Vivian loves her child–she’ll appear soon.”
But Julian, usually so compliant with her, pushed her aside:
“I can’t wait anymore. I need to know where Vivian is right now.”
“Vivian, Vivian, her name is Vivian!” he repeated my name to the livestream multiple times.
Many viewers urged the commenter to reveal what they knew about me.
Soon, one comment rose to the top:
[Vivian is already dead. They issued her death certificate in our district recently.]
When Julian read those words, his pupils contracted, and he knocked over the water glass in front of
him.
