“I know it now.”
In a few short minutes, Sebastian’s composed himself back to his old, cold and calculating self. He
stood up and left with purposeful strides.
Frederick watched him, fingers clenched tightly around his cane.
Soon after, Tim Holt, Frederick’s butler, entered. Upon observing the strange look on his master’s face,
he inquired with concern. “Is everything all right? How is Mr. Sebastian? How did the girl know what
was going on? Even we didn’t.” He fired off one question after another.
The most pertinent question, however, he saved for last.
Frederick’s expression turned icy. “I do not know. Perhaps, Sebastian’s killing of the dog was not the
first murder she had witnessed.”
“What do you mean by that?” Tim pressed, intrigued.
“When Rufus Wand brought his wife over, Sebastian was just ten years old. It was at that age when he
killed that dog. After that, Rufus seldom let his daughter visit us.”
“So, when Mr. Sebastian accidentally murdered at age eleven, the girl shouldn’t have seen it. How
could this be?” the butler reasoned, intent on solving this mystery.
Rufus Wand was Sasha’s father. During that unfortunate incident when Sasha caught a glimpse of
Sebastian’s illness taking over, it had scarred her, which was why they do not visit as they used to.
Rufus did not explicitly state his reasons for the reduced frequency of visits, but it was not subtle to the
average observer.
Sebastian was eleven when he started his treatments.
But how on earth did the girl know about what happened there? The timeline doesn’t add up.
The only people who knew about this were Tim, Mr. Hayes Sr., and the doctor. To tie up loose ends,
Frederick had the doctor taken care of.
So how did she know?
How was it possible that the sweet, obedient boy turned into one with deceit and rebellion in his heart?
Had he neglected his son?
Frederick cast an eye towards the door through which Sebastian had departed with uncharacteristic
ferocity.
In a ward at the People’s Hospital in town, the three children stood staring at their mother with a heavily
bandaged head. Tears ran freely down their cheeks.
“This is all Daddy’s fault. Why couldn’t he rescue Mommy earlier? I told him she was in danger,” Matteo
cried.
Ian stood silently. But underneath his grievous appearance, for the first time, he felt disappointment
towards their father who couldn’t even protect one woman.
“Guys, I think we should get another daddy,” Vivian sobbed. “He can’t even protect Mommy. Let’s go to
Uncle Solomon, okay?”
Her brothers stared at her in disbelief.
At this moment, Luke entered with Sasha’s medication. His knees buckled when he heard Vivian’s
proposal.
“Children, let us all calm down. This incident happened so quickly; it caught your father completely
unaware. If he had known, he would have done everything in his power to prevent that from happening
and keep your mother safe.”
“Would he really?” Matteo asked.
“Of course, Mr. Matteo. Do you remember who rescued you when you were kidnapped?”
Luke liked Matteo because he was the smartest child, and also because he was the easiest to lead into
conforming among the three.
Sure enough, at those words, Matteo began to doubt his earlier assertion.
“And you, Mr. Ian,” Luke continued, taking advantage of the moment. “You’ve seen it with your own
eyes how your father treats your mother. When your mother took you away to Yartran, who appeared
when she was being bullied?”
Ian was embarrassed as well. He said nothing.
Luke turned to Vivian.
Of course, she did not mean what she said about changing her father. Solomon was no relation of hers;
she spoke figuratively.
But it was the intensity of her speech that struck Luke the most; it was a huge contrast to her simple
mind. When he approached her, Vivian ran to her mother and clung on to her.
“Don’t try to change my mind. I don’t like him! It was because of him that Mommy keeps getting hurt
over and over again. Uncle Solomon would never allow that. I want him!”
She spoke so loudly that Luke covered the space between them in two strides and clasped her mouth
shut.
“Alright, young lady. Say no more, we will go to Uncle Solomon right now, okay?” He was mortified that
Sebastian, who was at the doctor’s office, would come back and hear her.
With Vivian in his arms, Luke marched out of the ward. Her brothers followed suit.
When Sebastian returned to the ward, having obtained the latest updates from the doctor, there was no
one in there except the unconscious Sasha.
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