Chapter 4

Olivia's face instantly turned ugly.

Lucas quickly came forward to hold her back, gently persuading, "Olivia, don't be angry. Gabriel just woke up and is emotionally unstable."

Olivia shook him off, pointing at my nose and scolding, "Gabriel Gray, have you had enough? What kind of madness are you spouting?!"

"Lucas has already contacted the kidnappers. They said they received the money and released Leo long ago!"

"Where did you take Leo? What kind of father are you? You can't even watch your own child!"

I looked at her in disbelief.

She didn't believe our son was dead.

I stared at her with wide eyes, my lips trembling slightly, "The kidnappers killed him because you didn't transfer the money immediately..."

Olivia let out a cold laugh, "Gabriel Gray, I know you hate me for choosing Snowball, but how can you make up such lies just to make me feel guilty!"

"How could Leo possibly be dead? The kidnappers just wanted money!"

"You must have lost him and are too afraid to admit it, so you made up this nonsense to trick me!"

"Hurry up and find Leo! Stop being so unreasonable!"

With that, she left holding the dog and pulling Lucas along, without looking back.

I shouted and threw everything I could reach onto the floor. The sudden movement caused my freshly sutured wounds to burst open, blood soaking the sheets.

I collapsed to the ground, my chest aching violently.

On the day I was discharged, Olivia came to pick me up.

I sat in a wheelchair as she pushed me out of the hospital.

She didn't mention Leo again.

Lucas told her I had accepted the fact that I had "lost" our son, but the shock was too great and I needed time to recover.

She believed it.

After returning home, I started having nightmares every night, often waking up crying.

In my dreams, I always saw Leo dying before my eyes.

That night, I was again awakened by a nightmare and went to the kitchen for water.

As soon as I turned on the light, I saw a dog's body by the sink. I went over and found it was Lucas's Snowball!

Before I could react, Lucas cried out behind me.

"Gabriel, you actually... you actually killed Snowball!"

The sound drew Olivia, who immediately pinned the blame on me without asking what happened.

She looked at me with disgust and scolded harshly, "Gabriel Gray, how could you be so vicious?! Even if Leo's disappearance broke your heart, Snowball was innocent!"

"Besides, it was your failure as a father. How can you make an innocent dog bear the consequences of your own mistakes?!"

I shouted back with red eyes, "So Leo deserved to bear it all, to the point of death?!"

Olivia looked at me with disappointment, "You've really gone mad, completely mad! I've told you Leo just went missing. Why do you keep cursing him dead?!"

I didn't want to argue anymore. I rushed out of the house, ignoring Olivia's angry shouts behind me.

I ran to the hospital barefoot, my soles already bloody and raw.

At the entrance to the morgue, I couldn't take another step forward. I crouched down covering my face, sobbing.

Olivia caught up behind me. She roughly pulled me up from the ground, her scolding raining down on me.

"Gabriel Gray, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Running to a place like this in the middle of the night, are you sick?!"

"I haven't even settled the score with you for killing Snowball, and you ran away because you feel guilty!"

I looked at Olivia's contorted expression, the anger in my heart finally erupting. I lunged forward and grabbed her throat.

The next second, I was violently kicked away by her, my head hitting the wall.

My broken leg couldn't support me and I fell to the ground, blood dripping down.

I looked up to meet Olivia's bloodshot eyes. She pointed at me, "Gabriel Gray, wasn't killing Snowball enough? Now you want to kill me too?!"

I laughed, laughing so hard tears streamed down, laughing until the wounds on my chest ached sharply.

I wiped the blood from my face and struggled to stand up on shaky legs, the pain like walking on knife edges.

But it was nothing compared to the pain in my heart.

"Didn't you say Leo just went missing?"

"He's lying in there right now. Do you dare to go in with me and see?!"

"See what your choice has done to your five-year-old son?!"