Chapter 16
"You dare hit me!"
Just as her palm was about to land on Jack's angry, defiant little face, an ice-cold hand clamped around her wrist like an iron vise!
Nearly crushing her bones!
Vivian screamed in pain again, feeling her wrist throb with agony. She whipped her head around to find Elizabeth had returned without anyone noticing, standing right behind her. Those eyes were cold as a winter wasteland, radiating undisguised killing intent.
"Vivian, do you have a death wish?" Elizabeth's voice wasn't loud, but each word pierced like an ice pick, making Vivian's entire body tremble.
"I... I didn't mean to—he hit me first!" Vivian scrambled to explain, tears streaming down her face from the pain.
Elizabeth released her wrist with such force that Vivian staggered backward several steps, nearly falling.
Without sparing Vivian another glance, Elizabeth immediately bent down and gathered the visibly terrified Jack into her arms, gently patting his back. "It's okay, Jack. I'm here now."
Jack wrapped his arms tightly around her neck, burying his small face in her shoulder, his body still trembling.
Feeling the child's fear, the rage in Elizabeth's chest erupted like a volcano.
She handed Jack to Nia, whose face had gone pale, gesturing for her to take the boy upstairs.
Then she turned, advancing step by step toward Vivian, who was rubbing her wrist with a mix of shock and fear.
"Elizabeth! What are you doing?! Dad! Mom!" Vivian backed away as Elizabeth's savage glare sent terror through her, her voice rising to a shriek.
But Elizabeth gave her no chance to cry for help. She lunged forward, grabbed a fistful of Vivian's hair, forcing her head back, and with her other hand, showed no mercy.
The sharp crack of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the living room!
Elizabeth put her full strength into it. After several slaps, Vivian's cheeks swelled instantly, her lip split open, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth. Her ears rang, vision darkening.
"Help!" Vivian had no power to fight back, only able to let out pig-like squeals.
The commotion finally drew Charles and Sophie from the study.
"Stop it! Elizabeth, what the hell are you doing!" Charles burst in, shocked and furious at the sight of Vivian's face beaten to a pulp.
Sophie shrieked and rushed forward. "Elizabeth! How could you hit Vivian so hard! She's your sister!"
Elizabeth released the dazed Vivian like discarding trash.
She fixed Charles and Sophie with a cold stare, her voice still laced with violence. "Sister? I don't have a sister vicious enough to terrorize and assault a three-year-old child!"
She pointed at Jack, still held in Nia's arms, his face marked with lingering terror. "Vivian just dared to publicly attack Jacob's son. If anything happens to him under the Windsor Family's roof, which one of you will take responsibility?"
That last sentence was like ice water dumped over their heads, instantly sobering the enraged Charles.
He jerked his gaze toward Vivian's swollen face, then to Jack, who'd clearly been bullied. His expression turned deathly pale.
Ignoring Sophie's attempts to stop him, he strode to Vivian in a few quick steps and—in her disbelieving eyes—raised his hand.
A resounding slap landed hard on Vivian's already swollen cheek!
"You worthless piece of shit! What did I warn you? I told you to keep your head down! You dared go after Jack?! Are you trying to get our entire family killed?!" Charles's whole body shook with rage as he jabbed his finger at Vivian's nose.
The blow, combined with her previous injuries, sent Vivian crumpling to the floor. She couldn't even cry anymore—only infinite grievance and resentment remained.
Sophie moved to help her daughter, but Charles's murderous glare froze her in place.
Elizabeth watched this circus with cold detachment, her heart unmoved.
She straightened her slightly disheveled sleeves, her tone indifferent. "Keep her in line. If there's a next time, I won't wait for Jacob to handle it. I'll deal with her myself."
With that, she turned and headed upstairs without another word, taking Jack from Nia's arms and soothing him in soft tones.
The living room drama ended messily. Though Sophie ached for Vivian, under Charles's killing stare, she didn't dare say more. Tears streaming, she could only drag her swollen-faced, vacant-eyed daughter back to her room.
Upstairs in Elizabeth's bedroom, the atmosphere was warm.
The faint scent of fresh-baked cake still lingered in the air.
Elizabeth settled the frightened Jack onto the plush sofa, then retrieved the plate of just-finished mini cakes.
The cake wasn't perfect—slightly lopsided, the frosting unevenly spread, betraying clumsy but genuine effort.
"Jack, look, the cake's ready." Elizabeth's voice dropped to the softest register as she scooped up a small piece with a spoon and brought it to Jack's lips. "Try it. Do you like it?"
Guilt gnawed at her. She'd known Vivian meant trouble, yet she'd still let Jack get hurt on her watch.
Jack's long lashes were still damp with unshed tears, his little face pale.
He glanced at Elizabeth, then at the piece of cake emanating that tempting sweet aroma. After a moment's hesitation, he opened his small mouth and ate the cake.
Sweet. Soft. Carrying the scent of cream—a warmth he'd never experienced before, the warmth that came from a mother.
He chewed slowly, the terror in his eyes gradually replaced by innocent contentment.
Watching him eat the cake bit by bit, Elizabeth felt the violence in her chest slowly subside.
She patiently fed him spoonful after spoonful, occasionally using her fingertip to wipe away the cream at the corner of his mouth.
When Elizabeth brought the spoon to his lips yet again, Jack didn't immediately eat. Instead, he lifted his head, his small mouth moving slightly. An extremely soft syllable, light as a feather, drifted out, "Mom... ma..."
Elizabeth's hand froze mid-air, the cake on the spoon nearly falling.
Her heart clenched—sour and swollen, almost suffocating her.
The word "mother" was too heavy for her, too much of a luxury.
In her previous life, that child she'd never met, declared dead before birth—she hadn't even heard a single cry.
In this life, carrying the weight of blood vengeance, her heart like forged iron, she'd long since stopped daring to hope for any emotional ties.
But now, this silent, sensitive, fragile child was calling her mother?
She looked into Jack's eyes, filled with pure, unfiltered dependence, and a complex surge of emotion instantly shattered the defenses around her heart.
She set down the spoon and reached out with slightly trembling hands, pulling Jack into a tight embrace, as if trying to fuse this tiny, warm body into her own flesh and blood.
She didn't correct him.
"I'm here," she whispered back.