Chapter 19
Outside the intelligence center’s secure gate, Jason stood with his son, facing two armed guards. From a distance I watched and a wave of anger rose inside me.
“Mom!”
Timothy spotted me right away. He wriggled free from Jason’s hold and ran straight into my
arms.
Three years had passed. He now reached my waist, no longer the tiny boy I remembered. He flung himself against my leg and his tears soaked my tactical pants in an instant.
He lifted his tear-streaked face, voice shaking. “Mom, I’m so sorry. I was just a child before. I followed Yuna and helped her hurt you. Now I’m bigger. I know what really happened. I was wrong. Please forgive me…”
His crying pulled at something inside me. He was my son, ‘my own blood and seeing him like this reached a softness I did not like to admit. I reached out, almost to smooth his hair.
But the moment my fingertips were about to touch his soft hair, the memory of betrayal suddenly flashed through my mind. He had once treated me like trash, called Yuna his mother, helped her curse and humiliate me, even wished I would die.
My hand froze and then slowly withdrew.
Jason seized the moment and pulled a stack of drawings from his coat. “Scarlet, look. These are Timmy’s family pictures from the past few years. Whenever he missed his mom, he would draw. He’s made hundreds without even realizing it.”
I flipped through the pages. Crayon figures of three people holding hands, smiling bright; watercolor scenes of a family around a dinner table; one drawing even showed Jason holding Timmy beside me in a wedding dress.
Each picture had a date in the lower right corner-three full years, without missing a single day.
My fingertips trembled. The memory of my son as a toddler, babbling “Mommy” in my arms, flashed in my mind. This boy was so obedient and sweet before Yuna returned.
It was a shame that, because of her, my well-behaved son had completely changed.
Seeing the mix of love and hurt in my eyes, Timothy hurried forward and grabbed the edge of my coat, tears welling up. “I really missed you, Mom. Please don’t leave again, okay?”
Jason’s eyes filled with tears. His voice was rough with pleading. “Scarlet, Timmy and I truly realize we were wrong.”
“We swear we will never hurt you again in for the rest of our lives.”
“Scarlet, I beg you, please come home with us. Let’s start over, be family again. We’ll be a happy family.”
They looked at me with the same hopeful gaze, like a loving husband and a devoted son.
If only they had shown this sorry and shame three years ago, I might have forgiven them. But after everything that had happened in those years, they no longer held any claim on me.
Family was precious, yes. But what was more precious was myself. I would not give up my new life for them.
Chapter 18
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1:55 pm pppp.
I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the last trace of doubt fade.
When I opened them, my voice was calm. “Jason, Timothy, don’t you remember? You were the ones who kept saying Yuna and you were a family.”
“From that day on, there was no going back. Don’t come to me with empty words. No one will wait around for your apology.”
Their faces turned pale. They tried to explain, but I raised a hand to stop them.
I didn’t have time to argue with them any further, so I cut straight to the point and asked Jason, “I came to ask you, how did you find this place?”
His eyes darted away, looking guilty.
I added coldly, “If you don’t want me to hate you more, tell the truth.”
Maybe he was afraid of making things worse. After a pause, he finally admitted the truth. “When the gun went off that day, I secretly attached a tracker to the muzzle.”
Ah, so that was how it was. No wonder he had found us so easily.
It was also my fault that I had never checked that weapon again, so I didn’t even notice.
I pulled my sidearm from its holster and inspected it. Inside the barrel was a tiny, pinhole tracking device. I pried it out and crushed it under my heel without hesitation.
When I looked up, my eyes were hard and serious. “You will not reveal a single thing about this place. Do you understand?”
Jason nodded miserably, his voice low. “I never meant to use it as a threat. I only wanted to bring you home.”
Timothy looked up at me through his tears. “Mom, will you come home with us?”
I didn’t spare them another glance. My answer was cold. “Absolutely not.”
“Leave this place within three days, or I will come and take your lives myself. You know I am not joking.”
As I walked toward the gate I heard Timothy sob and ask his father, “Dad, does Mom really not want us anymore?”
Jason kept repeating words of comfort. “She will come back. She’s just angry. She’ll come back, I promise.”
He said it again and again, maybe trying to convince the child, maybe trying to convince himself.
1:55 pm