Damien led Lucian forward with purposeful steps.
“How did you know I was in the hospital?” Celeste asked, her eyes showing a hint of caution as she watched them.
“A friend at the hospital told me you were admited for emergency treatment, so I brought Lucian to see you.” Damien’s face darkened. “Don’t you know your limits? Was there no security at the orphanage? Did it really have to be you–an outsider–who rushed in to save lives?”
His words hung in the air, thickening the tension around them.
“That’s no way to talk, Damien!” Annie quickly stood up, positioning herself between him and Celeste’s bedside as she grumbled, “Security hadn’t even arrived when Celeste got there. Was she supposed to stand there and let the kids trapped inside die in the fire?”
“All I’m saying is, she doesn’t have the training for a rescue. She almost got herself killed, and in the end, she just created more work for the first responders. Wouldn’t that have made everything worse?”
“Exactly!” Lucian cut in. “Mom, you’re already such a coward. Why’d you have to make things worse at a time like this?”
The moment the words left his mouth, a cold weight settled in Celeste’s chest.
She had come so close to dying, yet the first thing Damien and Lucian did when they saw her was scold her relentlessly, instead of showing any concern. How ridiculous!
And to think Lucian had actually called her a coward. This was how he saw her after all these
years.
“Coward? Your mother ran into a burning building to save lives, and you have the nerve to call her a coward?” Annie’s brow furrowed, her eyes flashing with anger. “How could you say that about your own mother, Lucian?”
Lucian glared at her. Maybe her intensity intimidated him, because he didn’t dare say another
word.
“Why are you taking this out on the boy?”
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