Chapter 671
The moment the blade sliced through his skin, crimson blood welled up and spilled onto the white sheets, a startling stain in the quiet room.
Tammie had expected searing pain.
But surprisingly, there was none.
Instead of pain, he felt an indescribable sense of release.
He had been an unwelcome presence from the day he was born. His mother had never liked him, never cared for him, and wouldn’t even let him call her “Mom.” The way she looked at him wasn’t how a mother looked at a child. It was how you looked at a piece of trash. Disgusting trash. She never hit or yelled at him, but her indifference, her loathing gaze, and her icy demeanor were enough to crush a small child.
At first, Tammie thought all mothers were like that. It wasn’t until he started school and saw other children with their parents that he realized how gentle a mother could be.
As for his father, his memory was even hazier.
But he would never forget that night. His mother left with her suitcase in hand. No matter how he knelt on the floor, crying and begging, she remained unmoved, callously prying his small fingers from the hem of her coat.
Just as the car she got into pulled away, a deafening crash echoed from outside, like a clap of thunder.
His father had jumped from the top of their apartment building.
Those memories were a relentless nightmare that tormented him day and night. From that moment on, he developed a deep-seated hatred for women who were irresponsible toward their families and children. He believed his mother had killed his father, that she was the cause of his miserable life.
At eight years old, because of one irresponsible woman, he became an orphan with nowhere to go.
That was why, the moment he heard Caitlin was divorced, the moment Ann told him Caitlin had had an abortion and cheated, he had instantly categorized her as the kind of person he despised most. He couldn’t understand why there were so many unfaithful women in the world, women disloyal to their marriages, their love, their families.
This fear had made him terrified of marriage and relationships. He was afraid his own child would become another version of him.
He had thought Caitlin was just like his mother.
But now, it seemed things were not as he had imagined. Someone as sinister as Ann would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.
Did he have regrets?
Of course, he did. He regretted blindly trusting Ann, but even more, he regretted hurting the people who had genuinely cared for him. Keira, Caitlin… they had treated him like family.
So, this was what he deserved. This was his retribution.
As his consciousness began to fade, he thought he saw his mother walking toward him. She looked young again, and the disgust and loathing in her eyes were gone, replaced by a loving tenderness. Even her voice was gentle.
She whispered, “Tam, I’ve come to take you home p>
*Tam p>
Tammie’s eyes filled with warmth. He had never heard his mother call him that. In fact, he couldn’t remember her ever saying a single word to him. To think that, at the edge of death, he could see her coming for him p>
“Mom,” he whispered to the figure approaching him, a faint smile on his lips. “Mom, promise me… in the next life, if you’re not going to love me, please don’t bring me into this world p>
People who grow up starved for love often pour the love they wished they had onto others. That was why he had trusted Ann so completely, why he had doted on her. He saw in her the younger version of himself.
Back then, he had been just like her. A guest in someone else’s home. Homeless. Although his relatives were kind, it was never easy living under another’s roof. Stuart was dealing with his own crisis, and Keira was too overwhelmed to look after him properly. He bounced from one relative’s house to another. It was fine on most days, but whenever a couple fought, even breathing too loudly felt like a mistake. He learned to read people’s expressions from a young age.
When Keira kicked Ann out of the Templeton family, he saw that same lost, homeless child he once was.
So he had offered her an umbrella, shielding her from the storm.
He never thought he could have been so wrong about someone.
Benedict’s room was next to Tammie’s.
“Ah p>
He jolted awake from a nightmare, drenched in sweat. His heart was pounding.
He couldn’t remember the dream’s content, but an unspeakable sense of dread clung to him, refusing to dissipate.
He let out a heavy breath, but the panic remained.
*Click p>
He fumbled for the switch on his nightstand, and the room was instantly bathed in bright light. He felt a little better. He went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, which finally banished the lingering fear.
But when he lay back down, sleep wouldn’t come. He tossed and turned, feeling
as if something was wrong.
He picked up his phone. It was four in the morning. He’d only been asleep for less than two hours.
Benedict rubbed his temples, and his thoughts drifted to Tammie.
It was almost an unconscious reflex. If he couldn’t sleep, could Tammie?
Maybe he should get up and have a drink with him, keep him from stewing in his own dark thoughts.
With that, Benedict gave up on sleep, threw on a jacket, and went to knock on the adjacent door.
*Knock, knock, knock p>
“Tammie, are you asleep p>
There was no response.
Benedict frowned slightly. *He’s that sound asleep?* That didn’t seem right. He remembered when they were roommates in college, Tammie was an incredibly light sleeper. The slightest noise would wake him which was why he’d eventually rented an off-campus apartment for a while.
But today, after several knocks, there was still no answer.
A knot of anxiety tightened in Benedict’s stomach. Tammie had always been sensitive. He might look fine on the surface, but inside, he could be shattered.
Growing more anxious, Benedict began knocking more urgently.