The Farming Saint in the Starry Wasteland (Elizabeth Schofield) novel Chapter 528

r 528 Fault Lines at Arune

Chapter 528 Fault Lines at Home

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Deborah bent down and took her grandson’s other hand, her voice soft with practiced patience. “There we go, sweetheart No more crying. Come with me, we’ll wash your face and put something cool over your eyes, otherwise you’ll be heading to school tomorrow with swollen eyes.”

The old woman led the still–sniffling boy toward the bathroom, her steps a little unsteady, deliberately steering clear of the war zone the living room had become.

Oscar rose to his feet, back still turned to Cyndi. He stood there for a few seconds, his shoulders sagging, then walked to the study

without a word.

The door clicked shut behind him, followed by the unmistakable sound of a lock turning,

Silence settled over the living room once more, dense and airless. Time stretched strangely inside it, each passing second dragging longer than the last.

Cyndi remained curled where she sat, face buried against her knees, shoulders trembling faintly.

No sound of crying, just the barest, most tightly controlled rise and fall of her breath, nearly impossible to detect.

After what felt like forever, the bathroom faucet cut off.

The door opened, and Deborah emerged with Calum, whose face had been washed clean but whose eyes still looked red and puff

The boy hesitated when he saw his mother still sitting in the same stiff, frozen position. His small hand tightened around his grandmother’s fingers.

Deborah glanced at her daughter–in–law, then at the mess scattered across the floor, then at the closed study door. She said nothing, only let out a silent sigh.

She bent down and began picking up the strawberries one by one.

Some had burst on impact, crimson flesh crushed into the pale carpet, staining it in dark smears that looked almost like spilled

wine.

She carefully set aside the ones still intact, then returned with a damp cloth and knelt to scrub at the stains.

Calum let go of his grandmother’s hand and crept over to Cyndi. He squatted down beside her, hesitated, then tugged gently at t

sleeve.

“Mom…” His small voice wavered carefully around the remnants of tears. “Please don’t be mad anymore. I won’t eat the strawberries, I promise… I don’t want them anymore.”

The child’s voice slipped through her like a needle through stretched fabric.

Cyndi flinched hard. Slowly, she lifted her head.

There were no tears on her face, but her eyes were bloodshot, hollowed out by exhaustion. The polished composure she wore si effortlessly at work, all the immaculate appearance and controlled precision, had completely fallen away. What remained was simply a woman crushed beneath fatigue and confusion.

She looked at her son’s frightened little face so close to hers, at the way his hand instinctively recoiled the moment she moved.

Chapter 328 Fault Lines at Hiune

Something lightened viciously around her chest.

“Calum…” Her voice came out scraps raw, barely recognizable. “I’m not… I’m not had at you.”

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She wanted to reach out, to tousle his hair, to pull him into her arms the way she used to. But her arms felt too heavy to lift

Her body and mind both felt drained, leaving behind nothing but a hollow, cold sher

Deborah had finished cleaning most of the stains from the carpet. She carried over the small bowl of strawberries that had survived the disaster and set it on the coffee table.

Deborah glanced at her distraught daughter–in–law, then toward the still–closed study door before spearing quietly. “Cyndi, the floor’s cold. You should get up.” She paused. “Oscar’s upset right now. Maybe he said things too harshly, but this fighting it can’t keep going like this.”

Cyndi didn’t seem to hear her.

Her gaze remained fixed on the strawberries.

The berries had been rinsed and carefully rearranged. Under the living room lights, they gleamed with fresh moisture, bright as polished rubies.

“Deborah,” she said, her voice still hoarse but eerily calm now, “do those strawberries really help with mental power?”

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