Chapter 102
David listened to her words, and the last trace of warmth in his eyes vanished.
"David, I'm talking to you. Are you even listening?" Ashley saw his silence and got angrier. "I watched you grow up. I've always treated you like my own son. But look at you now—more and more disrespectful! You know Lucas has a temper. Why can't you just let things slide with him?"
Like her own son?
David laughed bitterly to himself.
Even his adoption hadn't been out of her so-called "compassion."
He'd just been a playmate Lucas wanted. A convenient accessory.
Ashley noticed he still wasn't speaking, just watching her with this strange, searching look that made her inexplicably uneasy.
"Why are you staring at me like that? Am I wrong?"
David spoke slowly, deliberately. "Mom, I've been wanting to ask you something."
"What?"
"Back then, when you took me from my parents—was that done legally?"
Ashley's face changed instantly.
"What... what are you implying?" Her voice shot up. "David, have you lost your mind? What kind of nonsense is this?"
"It's not nonsense." David looked at her, his eyes terrifyingly calm. "I just want to know—did you 'find' me, or did you 'buy' me?"
Ashley reacted like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "I fed you, clothed you, raised you all these years, gave you a life most people can only dream of! Now you've gotten too big for your britches and you're turning on me? Without me, you'd still be rotting in some backwater nowhere! What right do you have to question me?"
Just then, the door opened quietly.
Juliana walked in, holding Matthew's hand. She'd planned to bring the child to visit David and drop off some light food, but she hadn't expected to walk into this.
Matthew flinched at Ashley's hysterical outburst, instinctively hiding behind Juliana.
Juliana pulled the child protectively behind her, her brow furrowing.
Seeing Juliana only made Ashley angrier. She redirected all her rage at her. "You again! Ever since you came back, the Sharp family hasn't had a moment's peace! Now even David's being corrupted by you!"
Juliana ignored the tirade. She simply looked at David's pale face on the bed and set the insulated food container on the bedside table.
"Ashley, David is injured and needs rest. If you actually care about him, you shouldn't be yelling in here and disturbing his recovery."
"I'm disciplining my son. That's none of your business." Ashley snapped.
"The injury on his face happened because of an argument between you and Mr. Sharp. He's the victim here." Juliana met Ashley's eyes directly. "Instead of caring about his condition or comforting him, you're in here blaming him. Don't you think that's too much?"
"You..." Ashley choked, unable to respond.
She looked at Juliana's calm expression, then at David's cold eyes on the bed. A feeling of betrayal and isolation rose in her chest.
"Fine. Just fine!" Ashley trembled with fury. She pointed at David, then at Juliana. "Both of you—just wait!"
With that, she spun around and stormed out without looking back.
The air still carried traces of Ashley's anger.
Juliana walked to the bedside. "Are you okay?"
David tried to smile, but the movement pulled at his wound and he sucked in a sharp breath.
"Thanks," he said.
Those two words—so light, yet impossibly heavy.
This was the first time anyone had stood up for him when a member of the Sharp family was chewing him out.
And that person was Juliana—someone he'd been so guarded against, someone he'd even helped Ashley investigate.
The irony wasn't lost on him.
"Thanks, but... I need to be alone."
Juliana understood. Right now, David was like an injured wolf that needed to lick its wounds in solitude. She glanced back at Matthew and Damian. Both boys were looking at David with worried eyes.
"Then... how about letting Matty and Dami stay with you for a bit?" Juliana suggested, looking at the two children. "They're worried about you too."
David hesitated, looking at the two small figures.
He wanted to refuse, but meeting their innocent gazes, the words stuck in his throat.
Juliana poured some porridge from the container into a bowl and placed it on the bedside table.
"Mommy will be right back. You two be good and keep Uncle David company, okay?"
Both boys nodded.
Juliana left the room, closing the door gently behind her.
Matthew carefully approached the bed, holding out his toy robot to David.
"Uncle David, you can play with this. It helps distract you so it doesn't hurt as much."
Damian came over too, setting cookies on the bedside table. "Uncle David, you should eat something. The doctor said eating well helps you heal faster."
David looked at the two children in front of him. One sweet and thoughtful, the other mature and caring.
There was no calculation in their eyes, no pretense. Just pure concern.
"Thanks," he said softly, his voice much gentler than before.
Seeing him accept the gift, Matthew's face lit up with a small smile.
……
Meanwhile, Ashley returned to her own hospital room, trembling with rage. Before she could even sit down, her phone buzzed. A message from Logan.
[David knows you 'bought' him all those years ago.]
All color drained from Ashley's face. She stared at the words on her screen.
"That bastard!" she cursed, immediately calling Logan.
"What the hell did you say to him?!"
Logan's casual voice came through. "I didn't say much. Just chatted. The guy's smart—he pieced it together himself."
Ashley took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. What mattered wasn't what Logan said, but how David had reacted.
"Did he... did he mention his parents?"
Logan laughed lightly. "So what if he did? He didn't say anything about reconnecting with them. You should've seen him—he was furious. Looked ready to tear them apart with his bare hands."
Hearing that, Ashley's tension eased.
She knew it. David had been raised at her side since childhood. Even knowing the truth, he'd only hate the parents who sold him, not her.
She'd given David the good life. He should be grateful.