Chapter 9: Slap

*Chapter Warning: Trigger warning, includes a bit of child abuse and strong language*

There he was, the cute little nine year old kid, holding his small cheek, which now had an imprint of five long fingers, lying on the floor, as if his whole world had just turned upside down.

He was not sure what had happened. He had just seen his sister getting out of the bed and the next moment he was flying out, like someone had punched him in the gut. One slap from that warrior like lady was strong enough to make him tumble down on the floor.

He tried holding back his tears but his flesh was stinging so much that he could not help it. It was an involuntary action and he bawled loudly. It was not as much the physical pain as much it was hurt his heart felt. This lady before him was responsible for his mother's death. If only he had his mother right now to console him, but there was no one. Even sister Emma was helpless and he knew it perfectly. He so wished his sister would come and pick him up in her embrace.

"Shut up you son of a b*tch! If you so utter even a sound, I will send you to your mother in hell, do you understand?" Audrey yelled at the kid. Chris instantly muffled his sobs, he knew from the fierce eyes of this lady that she was serious. His life was in danger. He whimpered a bit and crawled back towards the bed, trying to be as far away as possible.

Kim Su Won clutched her fists. Why was she so powerless? What was the use of having the status of whatever number miss she was of this family? This situation reminded her of back home where she used to stand like this, her tears dropping, her annoyed mom getting more irritated by the second and her sister Kim Su Jin standing on the side in fear. It was exactly the same.

"M-Mother…," she uttered. Wasn't it enough that the wench was scolding her, why did she have to hit the kid without any fault?

"Oh, so you remember you have a mother? If you did, why did you have to something like that? Do you have any idea what people outside are saying? I am a heartless mother who does not care about her kid! Is that it? Did you want me to feel humiliation at this level? Is this what I get for giving you loving home with all the luxuries?" Audrey Lazarus clenched her teeth and spoke with very convincing humiliated tone. Her voice has choked as if her daughter had hurt her heart so much. If someone was to hear from outside, they would place all the blame on the kid.

For God's sake, this body was just twelve years old! Why did parents not understand that their definition of so-called love was so twisted?

And they had a knack of making the kids feel guilty. Even at the age of twenty four, Kim Su Won felt bad inside and almost scolded Emmeline Whittemore for having jumped into the lake, even when she was not sure if that was what she had really done.

"I-I am sorry mother," she sniffled. All her previous life, she had only apologized to her parents for no fault of her and that behavior was coming out here too.

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"What sorry? You keep doing this again and again and again! People will ultimately blame me for not bringing you up properly. No one will find fault with you! My luck must have been pretty bad to have given me such daughter. They say daughters are the flowers of the house and look at mine. When will I be able to wake up without any worries in my life?" Audrey Lazarus was pretty good at acting pitiful.

"You…," everyone heard a male voice outside.

It clicked immediately to Kim Su Won. Emmeline's mother must have known this man was standing outside. As she had suspected, Duke Harold Whittemore was also a beautified persona of her own dad from her previous life. Aged like a fine wine, this man had silver hair slicked at the back and parted on the side and blue eyes. He had a silver moustache sitting cleanly right beneath his nose. He was tall and lean, unlike her dad who had a pot belly. It seemed this man here liked to keep fit.

"Dear," Audrey almost flew in her husband's arms.

Duke Whittemore patted his wife, "Emmeline, can't you heed to your mother's teachings? She is putting so much effort in raising three children despite having so many responsibilities as the Duchess. Do you think it is easy to manage everything?"

"I-I am sorry father, I promise nothing like this will happen again," Emmeline tried to keep herself composed in front of the duke. A lady should not cry but her past and present had merged so much that she was having involuntary reactions.

Interestingly, just like her original dad, Duke Whittemore's face softened as soon as he saw the girl's tears. He did love his children, but perhaps did not have enough time from his duties as the duke to look after them. Or he just could not bear anyone crying in front of them.

"Alright, alright. You… what's your name?" he asked Anna.

"Master, my name is Anna," Anna replied shaking for she had no idea if this would be the last sentence she would ever speak.

"Bring your miss some water. Dear, let's go. Emmeline has already apologized, we will just keep an eye on her, okay? Don't hurt yourself over a young kid, alright?" he spoke softly to both the ladies, stunning everyone.. This was exactly same as her dad too.

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