Chapter 154 Child Abuse
Chapter 154 Child Abuse
When Anne turned the child over, she found a large area of marks on his buttock.
Sam looked at the marks carefully and frowned. "No. Since I knew it was your baby, I made sure to look at him extra carefully. I'm sure that there was nothing there before."
Hearing this, Anne frowned more tightly. "So what are these marks on his body?"
'Could someone have intentionally done this?' she thought worriedly.
"Babies' skins are delicate, especially when they are just born. Sometimes if we don't hold the baby carefully and in the right way, marks would indeed appear. But..." Sam's words trailed off as he saw the look on Anne's face.
"Just tell me, please. I need to know for the sake of my own child." She had not been able to be with her baby when he was born. Now, she needed to find some answers on how he had been treated during her absence.
"Such a large area of marks as this is difficult to rule out as an accident," Sam admitted with a somber look on his face.
As Anne heard this, hatred surged up in her heart. Who else could it have been other than Cherry? Although she knew that Cherry was an awful woman, she had no idea that she was capable of hurting such a young child!
"And look, you can see a faint blue mark on his neck. It seems as if it's been there for a while now since it's now fading away, but you can still see it if you look carefully," he added as he gently raised the child's neck.
Taking a deep breath, Anne clasped her hands tightly. She wanted to strangle Cherry so badly now, and wanted to make her suffer tenfold for what she had done to her baby.
"What am I supposed to do? I'm willing to do anything for the child. I can't get kicked out now that my child is here. I know I have to endure it, but this is just too much!"
For the sake of her son, she agreed to live with a man she didn't love. Even so, she had her limits. If someone was intentionally hurting her baby, there was no way she could allow this.
"Don't worry. I'll help you." Patting her shoulder, Sam tried his best to comfort her.
Meanwhile, in Kevin's bedroom. Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
The enchanting chandelier overhead emitted a cold light.
Even though Cherry loved Kevin deeply, a shiver ran up her body every time she entered his bedroom.
"What do you need to tell me?" At this time, Kevin untied his pajamas and put on his home-wear. For the first time in a while, he didn't mind that Cherry was there. In fact, he was intending to have her around him right now in the hopes to make Anne jealous.
Cherry's eyes were glued on him. His perfect figure and handsome face made her heart beat quickly in her chest. Such an excellent man once belonged to her, but everything had changed ever since Anne came back. Now, she knew not to make mistakes. This time, she was intent on getting rid of Anne for good.
"Kevin, before Anne came back, the baby has always been healthy. In fact, he liked to sleep for hours on end! He was so quiet and lovely. But when Anne arrived, the baby started crying. Now, he even has a fever! I don't know, but from the way I see it, I think Anne has been hurting the baby. You know how vicious that woman can be. We need to protect you child and let Anne go."
Not once did Cherry stutter as she shared to him her lies. The worried look on her face was all too convincing.
For a while, Kevin was quiet, deep in thought. In his heart, he didn't believe her words. After all, he saw with his own eyes how much Anne loved the child to the bone. On top of that, he knew how much she didn't want to stay here, and yet she still did just so that she could be with her baby.
"That's her own son, Cherry. No matter how vicious she is, she won't hurt her own child," Kevin said flatly.
"I've lived with her before, you know," she retorted as she gritted her teeth. "I know that woman very well. She's nothing but cruel and conniving! She even broke her own bone to frame me! Aren't you worried having such a dangerous woman living with us under the same roof?"
Cherry's words seemed to have worked to shake his faith in Anne as he became hesitant. "Just stop talking, Cherry," he said.
"Why? You don't want to hear it because you know there's truth to what I'm saying, right? Maybe she even actually wanted to get your attention by making the baby cry. It may look like she's resisting you and pushing you away. But in reality, she's just trying to make you feel sorry for her!" Her overly excited voice made Kevin frown.
It was obvious to anyone that Anne hated him to the core. He felt that Cherry was wrong, but he didn't know where and how to overturn it. "Go back to your bedroom. I don't want to hear any more of this," he said with a resigned sigh.
However, she knew that she had succeeded in persuading him, even just a tiny bit. There was no way she was going to give up now. After thinking for a while, she walked up to him slowly. "I think we should go check on the child. I'm really worried about him."
Not being able to resist this reason, he went back to Anne's bedroom with Cherry.
The child on the bed was tightly wrapped in a blanket. His fair face looked particularly innocent and lovely in the contrast of the sky blue bed sheet and quilt, like a small cloud floating peacefully. As Kevin stared at the child quietly, he still couldn't stop thinking about Anne.
On the other hand, Anne noticed that Kevin was wearing a night robe earlier. Now, his clothes were different. Cherry had taken him away and there was a happier look on his face. It was easy to imagine what the two could have possibly done when they left.
The more she thought about it, the sadder Anne felt. The baby was still sick, and his father was still flirting with another woman. She quickly set aside her despair and shot Kevin a cold look.
"Anne. Even if you hate me and want me to leave the Fu Family, why did you have to hurt the baby? You just came back for a few days and the child ended up getting sick! You should be better towards your son. I'm just worried because he's also Kevin's son.
'The audacity of this woman!' Anne thought as she laughed to herself. She knew what a shameless woman Cherry could be. But she would not tolerate this kind of behavior, especially since it involved her child's safety and well-being.
"Oh, is that so? I'd actually like you ask you something, Cherry. How did the marks on the baby's neck get there? There's also a big bruise on his buttocks. Do you mind explaining yourself?" Anne asked coldly.
All of a sudden, Cherry's face changed. Fear flashed across her face, but she regained her composure before anyone could raise any suspicion. "What are you talking about? You're the one who's been lashing out at everybody like a mad dog. Isn't it also possible that you're that one who has hurt your own child? For all we know, you beat the poor, defenseless baby just so that you can frame me!"
"You--!" These accusing words made Anne overflow with anger. Fortunately, before she could make a move, Sam grabbed onto her shoulder.
"That's enough. You talk too much!" Kevin's voice suddenly interrupted with a viciousness that made Cherry tremble in fear.
Softly, Cherry called out his name pleadingly.
Raising his hand, he stopped her from speaking another word. Rubbing his temples, he stared long and hard at Sam.
Maybe it was because Sam had such a nice, close relationship with Anne, especially when he was checking over the baby. With this in mind, even though he was the one who had asked him to come over, Kevin couldn't help but feel that Sam was meddling in his family affairs.
"Cherry has a point, Anne. Everything was fine with the baby until you came along. I honestly didn't think that you could be such a cruel woman. Because of this, I have decided that Cherry will take care of the baby from now on."
Kevin's words were like sharp knives stabbing into Anne's heart. It was beyond her expectation that he would think so lowly of her, that she could hurt her own child for her own selfish goals.
Her chest clenched tightly with pain. After a second, she suddenly flashed a cold and bitter smile. The sight of the look on her face made Kevin regret what he had said, thinking that maybe he was wrong after all. However, he was unwilling to take back his words.
'Of course this bastard would think that. I'm always the bad woman in his eyes, aren't I?' At this point, she didn't care what Kevin thought of her. She had grown use to it. But this time, this was her own flesh and blood they were talking about.
"I don't care what you think of me or what you think I've done in the past. But this child is mine. There's no way I'll let Cherry touch my baby again!"
"Anne, please have a little more heart. The baby will be safer with me. I know you just want to drive me out, but Kevin really does have a point," Cherry said beseechingly.
Then she buried her small head into Kevin's arms. "You know how good I am to the baby. Please don't kick me out. I will get along with Anne as long as you like."
Maybe it was because Anne had always been cold towards him, or perhaps Cherry was just so good at playing out her little role. Whatever the reason, Kevin was undoubtedly convinced with Cherry's words. "I've made up my mind, Anne. Try and reflect on your actions. We'll talk about the baby later."
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Anne's eyes turned red with tears. Tensing up again, she leaned forward to try and give these two a piece of her mind. However, Sam stopped her once again before she was able to do anything rash.
"Miss Cherry, you can take care of the baby. But don't stop me from checking on his condition just because Anne is a friend of mine, okay?" Sam said gently.
At this time, Cherry mustered an awkward smile, "What are you talking about? If it's the baby's health we're talking about, of course I won't object. All I want is for the baby to recover. Wouldn't you agree, Kevin?"
At that moment, Kevin walked over and carefully lifted up the baby. Slowly, he handed the small child over to Cherry. On the other hand, Anne was filled with too much resentment to speak.
Seeing Kevin hand over her baby to another woman made her feel so weak.
As soon as the two of them left, she heaved a heavy sigh. "They took him away. They took him from me again. I need my baby with me," she said to Sam in a trembling voice.
"Of course. Just wait, okay? He'll be with you again a few days from now. I'll make sure of it."
"Okay."
This night was destined to be another sleepless night for Anne.
The warm, morning sunshine poured into the room, shining over her slender body.
Her head leaned against the headboard as she stared out blankly into nothingness.
All of a sudden, there was a soft knock on the door. Before she could react, the door opened, and in came Cherry's figure.
"I was worried that you miss the baby, so I thought maybe you'd like to see him. Look, how well this little one is sleeping." Closely behind her followed Kevin. Since he was with her, there was a sweet smile on her lips. Seeing this made a sharp pain shoot up at Anne's heart.
"Well, Kevin. You should go to work now. Everything's okay. Baby and I will be waiting for you to come back," Cherry smiled gently. With a nod, Kevin turned around and left without a word.
As soon as the door closed, the smile on her face completely disappeared in an instant. "Look, I will let you leave the Fu Family completely."
"Don't think I've forgotten how you blamed me for the bruises on my son. But still, Kevin didn't ask me to leave here."
"Humph! This is just the beginning. And yes, I did hurt this annoying little thing before. You should be thankful I didn't just kill him altogether. But this time, I'll make sure that I take care of this brat so that you can never see him again!"