Chapter 92: I Understood Everything

Chapter 92: I Understood Everything

Ivy

“She’s his girlfriend. He loves her.”

Julia’s voice was steady even though her body was not. She still had one arm around my waist, holding me upright like she was afraid I would disappear into the floor if she let go.

“What do you think my son is going to do if he wakes up and finds out you chased his girlfriend away? What would you tell him?”

Anton pointed at me like I was evidence in a trial.

“Your son had a cardiac arrest before the age of twenty-six,” he said.

His tone was cold, clinical, almost frustrated with how catastrophic the words were.

“Every appearance of his has been canceled. The doctors said the muscles in his heart have weakened. There is a high chance he may never throw another punch. Millions of dollars are on the line. Endorsements! Everything is hanging by a thread, Julia! All because he decided to fall in love with that.” He jabbed the air in my direction and I flinched.

So… this was what he thought about me. I always knew he didn't like me. But this? This was an eye-opener. He saw me as trash that Leo picked up. And now, that trash has destroyed him.

“I warned Leo. I told him this girl was the wrong choice. But he was blinded. You’re his mother. The least you can do is stand by your son when he needs you the most. And make the right decisions for him when not able to do so for himself. Not this!”

If Julia had not been holding me, I would have slid straight down. My knees had nothing left. The hallway smelled like disinfectant and the sharp sound of machines that kept people alive.

I could still hear the distant beeping coming from behind Leo’s closed door. Every beep felt like a countdown I was not allowed to participate in.

Julia’s arm tightened.

“You said it yourself. He’s my son.” Her voice dropped into something colder than I had ever heard from her. “I do not need a trainer to lecture me on how to take care of my own child. Don’t forget your place, Anthony.”

Poppy appeared at my other side and gently guided me toward a row of stiff waiting chairs. She helped me sit the way you help someone who has just been in an accident. Then she crouched in front of me and wiped my face with the sleeve of her sweater.

“Don’t worry,” she whispered. “Leo is a very strong man. He’s going to come out of this okay.” She tried for a smile. “Your face is all puffy and red. You’re like a walking beet now.”

The joke was weak and soft and exactly what I needed. I almost laughed. Almost.

Anton was not finished.

“Solomon doesn’t want her here,” he said after a moment. “He was very clear. You better get her out, or find a good enough excuse to give him when he arrives.”

Julia did not even look at him. “You mind your business. I’ll mind mine.”

I stared at my hands. They were still shaking. “Where’s Marcel?” I asked quietly. “He’s not here?”

“He told me he was here earlier,” Poppy answered. “They wouldn’t let him through. Solomon’s orders. Dad had to leave. But he's praying for Leo.”

Of course. Solomon’s orders. Everything in this family seemed to run on Solomon’s orders.

I looked down at the floor. The tiles were too clean. “I’m sorry,” I said. The words tasted like ash. “I didn’t know. I had no idea that Leo saw Andy and me.”

The confession left my mouth before I could stop it. Shame flooded me so fast I felt dizzy.

Maddie pounced immediately. “See?!” Her voice rang down the hallway. “She admits it. I told you all she was the reason for this.”

Julia turned to me. The disappointment in her eyes was quiet and devastating.

“So you don’t love my Leo?” she asked calmly. Too calmly. “Andy is the one you love?”

The question was just there. I felt every pair of eyes on me. Anton’s. Maddie’s. Poppy’s. Even the nurse at the far end of the corridor who was pretending not to listen.

“I love Leo,” I said. My voice cracked but I forced it out. “Andy and I just kissed. I wasn’t thinking straight. I never wanted to hurt Leo. I would never hurt him. Not on purpose. Not ever.”

“Get out.”

The voice came like thunder.

I sprang up from the chair so fast it scraped backward. Solomon was marching toward me. His face was carved from fury. His eyes were pure rage. One hand was already raised in the air like he was about to strike.

I did not think. I just covered my face with both arms and waited for the hit.

It never came.

When I slowly lowered my hands I found Julia standing directly in front of me, her back to my chest, shielding me with her own body.

“Solomon,” she said. She stared him down without flinching. “Some things never change, I see.”

He dropped his hand. Then he pointed past her, straight at me. “Get that thing out of my sight,” he roared. “My son is in this condition because of her.”

“It’s not her fault.” Julia’s voice rose to match his. “Ivy would never wish this on Leo. And why are two grown men fighting a little girl over something that was more your fault than hers?”

Solomon’s eyes narrowed. “What are you going on about?”

“Don’t act clueless now, Solomon.” Julia took one step closer to him. “You poisoned his mind. You controlled him. You took his love and his admiration for you and turned it into a leash you tied around his neck. You manipulated every choice he made. Including the ones that led him here.”

He ignored every word. He simply pointed at me again. “Get that girl out of my sight. Now. While I’m still calm.”

Poppy’s hand found mine and squeezed. Under her breath, so quiet I almost missed it, she muttered, “What an asshole.”

Julia tilted her head. “Or what, Solomon? What are you going to do about it? Are you going to hit her?”

I had never seen this version of Julia. I had never seen her raise her voice. I had never seen her eyes go wild and challenging like this.

She stood there, IV pole forgotten, body still weak from whatever had put her in the hospital earlier, and she stared down the man who used to be her husband like she was ready to burn the entire building down to protect me.

Solomon’s jaw flexed.

“If you insist on staying with her,” he said, “then you can leave with her. And take Marcel’s daughter with you too. No Douglas will ever step foot near my boy again.”

“I’m not going anywhere.” Julia’s voice did not shake. “I am Leo’s mother. You do not have the right to chase me away from my own son.”

Solomon’s face twisted into something uglier.

“Where were you when he needed you, Julia?” The words were pure venom. “Where were you when he was struggling to breathe today? I’ll answer that for you. You were with your new family. Your new husband. So get the fuck out! You will not be missed. None of you will be missed. Leo only needs his father. We’ve always had each other. We’ve done just fine without you.”

A single tear slipped down Julia’s cheek. She did not wipe it away.

“When you pushed Leo into professional boxing,” she said, quieter now but somehow more cutting, “I warned you. I told you I wasn’t comfortable with the risks involved. I told you I didn’t like what it was doing to his body and his mind. And what did you say? You said it was good for him. You said it would help him manage the rage and the grief. Look at the result of that choice, Solomon.” She pointed at the closed door of Leo’s room. “You did this. You did this to your own son—”

She never finished the sentence.

Solomon’s hand came up so fast I barely saw it. The backhand cracked across Julia’s face with a sound that echoed down the hallway. The force of it threw her sideways.

She hit the floor hard. The IV pole clattered. Someone gasped. I think it was me.

I dropped to my knees beside her immediately. My hands hovered over her, terrified to touch her in case I made something worse.

Her cheek was already blooming red. Her eyes were glassy with shock and pain. The most terrifying part was Anton.

He simply stood there. Watching.

No surprise. No protest. No movement to help. Like this was nothing new. Like he had seen Solomon’s hand fly before and had long ago decided it was not his problem. Or even a problem.

Solomon looked down at his ex-wife on the floor and spoke as if he were discussing the weather.

“Seems like you’ve spent too much time with the Douglases. You’ve forgotten who the hell you’re talking to.” He roared. “I don't mind putting you back in line.”

I stared at Julia’s face. At the red mark spreading across her skin. At the way she still tried to push herself up even though her arms were shaking.

And something inside my chest finally clicked into place. This was why she left.

This was why she walked away from the mansion and the cars and the money and the name. This was why Leo’s parents were not together.

This was the violence that lived under all the expensive clothes and the controlled public smiles. This was the leash Solomon had tried to put around his own son’s neck.

I understood now.

I understood everything.