Chapter 34: Why Couldn't Every Child Live Freely and Happily?
Shouko got discharged at noon. With Kyoya by her side, both of them planned to directly return to the villa. Mrs. Shimizu was called back to help prepared their food for lunch.
Visitors came and went through the doors of the lobby of the hospital. Shouko quietly sat at one corner, waiting for Kyoya who went to see the doctor for the last time. A man dressed in a black suit stood behind her, his eyes were sharp behind his glasses.
This treatment... Shouko still couldn't get used to it. Especially when she saw curious eyes were directed at her and the bodyguard behind her seat.
"Err... Mr. Bodyguard?" Shouko looked at the man behind her. She didn't know his name. With a guilty face, she added, "Could you stand quite far from me? I don't want to attract unnecessary attention."
The bodyguard pondered for a moment. His eyes scanned the lobby. This was not a place of danger. It was possible for him to retreat.
"Understood, Young Madam. I'll be here but not in front of your eyes," The bodyguard nodded. Within a second, he vanished from the place to a more secluded spot.
Shouko smiled in relief. She took out her phone from the pocket of her jacket. She intended to pass her time by playing with the phone. Kyoya said he won't be long so she would just wait for him here.
Her finger tapped on the icon of the messaging app installed on her phone. Ono had added Aunt Masako's number as well as hers into a group. Since Aunt Masako rarely went online, it would always turn into a two-person chat between her and Ono.
Currently, Ono was online. Apparently she had changed her username to a new one by combining her name with her new favorite character of animation on the television. Shouko had just informed her of what had happened yesterday.
Ono's excessive reaction came in an instant.
OnoNezuko: What did you say? YOU WERE IN AN ACCIDENT???
Shouko pursed her lips, knowing it was her fault for not telling her as soon as possible. Right at the moment she wanted to type a reply, a ringtone rang in the air. The photo of Ono's cheeky smile appeared on the screen.
Shouko sighed.
Here we go...
Shouko placed the phone quite far from her ear, pressed her other ear and accepted the call. A loud voice was booming from the speaker. Each of the words could be heard clearly without the need to switch on the loudspeaker.
"YUASA SHOUKO! YOU WERE IN AN ACCIDENT AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME???"
Shouko gritted her teeth, she whispered harshly to the phone, "Calm down! I'm still in the hospital! Do you want all the people here to hear you?"
Ono clicked her tongue in frustration. With a heavy heart, she conceded to her sister's request. "Alright! Alright! Quick! Tell me or I will yell again!"
Shouko slapped her forehead. It was really a mistake to tell Ono when she was still in a public place.
Then, Shouko began to rant, from the moment she went to the shopping district until she fainted after she saved Little Haruki. She kept her words brief and concise.
"So, I was pulled into the incident because of my carelessness," Shouko played with the hem of her cardigan. Her brows furrowed as her mood turned low.
"You... you said you acted on an impulse?" Ono was bewildered after a long period of time. She had kept her silent from the beginning, unable to keep her heart still. "Did you... feel anything at that time?"
Shouko blinked, didn't expect to hear Ono focused on that part.
"Yes..." She nodded gloomily even though her sister couldn't see her. Her grip on her cardigan tightened. "I didn't know why but... I just acted that way. I have made Kyoya worried sick. He was angry with me. I deserved it but... I've also told him that I didn't regret my action yesterday."
Ono held herself back from speaking what had popped inside her mind. This was too sudden. She was totally unprepared to hear this. In the end, she decided to ask.
"Why did you say you didn't regret it?" Ono asked in a low voice. Her heart was beating fast as she waited for Shouko's answer.
And, Shouko repeated the words she had said to Kyoya this morning after the Maeda family left her ward.
"Because, instead of meeting their happy family of three... I might encounter two parents who have lost their son."
It would be a painful scene.
Far away from the suburb rich with an exquisite view, a young lady who sat in her office in the city held back her sob once she heard the words.
"Yes, yes, you're right... What you did is right," Ono blinked back her tears, her eyes were stung. "Alright, I have a meeting soon. I'll talk to you later, okay? Take care, sister. Don't overexert yourself."
"Oh... okay," Shouko felt something was off from the way Ono spoke but she couldn't pinpoint what it was correctly. Afraid of delaying her sister any longer, Shouko quickly added, "You take care of yourself too. I'll call you back later."
"Alright. See you soon."
The call ended within a second.
Shouko stared at the phone screen. Her sister sounded so off before she said she had to hang up. It was really rare for Ono to sound that way.
Did she understand what she had said? Or... was there something else?
Shouko was playing with the hem of her cardigan and lost in her daze when her ears suddenly caught the sound of a woman's crying in pain. She turned her head in alarm. Her eyes widened when she saw the bodyguard who was hiding just now was currently holding onto a woman's shoulders. The woman was a familiar face.
She was the mother of the abused little boy from last night.
"What happened?" Shouko asked the bodyguard, she immediately stood up from her seat as her confused eyes landed on the two of them.
What was with this weird scene?
"This woman sneaked behind you, Young Madam," The bodyguard answered in a clipped tone. Behind the sunglasses, a pair of eyes were staring sharply at the woman in his hands. "She tried to harm you."
"You wretch! Do you think you could take my child away from me? Return him back to me!"
The woman roared with a hideous expression on her face. She was struggling to be let free from the bodyguard's arms but the man's strength couldn't be compared to hers. Her face reddened under such anger and pressure.
Shouko was stunned.
This woman... did his child has been taken away by the welfare council?
"Return him back to me! Who are you to meddle in my family's affair!"
The woman's mad screams attracted the attention from the patients and visitors who were in the lobby. Most of them paused what they were doing before as their curious eyes went to the woman, the bodyguard and Shouko who stood facing her.
"Woo... my husband has left me and now my child is taken away from me... woo... what did I do wrong?"
Seeing all of the eyes were directed to them, the woman had purposefully faked her tears as she no longer struggled from the bodyguard's tight grip. She wailed and wailed, painting a sorry picture for herself.
"Woo.... my child... my child is gone... This woman is ruthless... She dared to separate us... Woo..."
Seeing the scene in front of her, a trace of coldness flashed in Shouko's eyes.
This woman was mad!
"Wooo... my child... my child... You think just because you're rich, you could do anything to us? Woo..."
Tears and snot smeared the woman's face, gathering sympathy from the onlookers especially when they heard the words she said as she played her one-actor drama.
"How cruel... Her child is separated from her?"
"She must be so heartbroken..."
"That rich young lady caused that?"
As the whispers spread inside the lobby, most of them looked at Shouko with pure disgust. In their eyes, Shouko was someone who used her wealth to do a cruel thing by separating the mother and son pair.
Shouko smiled coldly. People had always thought she was soft and fragile from her outer appearance but, they didn't know how resolute and firm she was when needed.
"Has the welfare council investigated your history of abusing your own child?"
Once the words fell, the woman stopped wailing. She stared wide-eyed at Shouko who stood before her.
"You! Don't you slander me!" The woman quickly reacted. Her sad expression changed to a vicious one in a second. "Do you think you could easily fabricate everything?!"
Shouko narrowed her eyes. The image of the little boy crying in fear was still clear in her mind before it was replaced by the happy Little Haruki whom she saved.
Both of them lived an entirely different life.
One lived in constant fear while the other one was blessed with loving parents.
Why couldn't every child live freely and happily?
"The bruises on your son's skin are the evidence," Shouko answered in a firm voice, she refused to give this woman any face. The crowd was still watching them intently. "It'd be better for your son to be separated from you."
"You... you wretch! Don't meddle in our affairs!"
The woman's face contorted in anger. She once again tried to escape from the bodyguard's tight grip. Her feet pounded on the floor resulting in nasty sound.
"You don't have the right to take my son away from me! So what if I taught him a lesson? He is my son so it is my say on how I want to educate him! Such a useless son! All he knows is making me lose money! Why did he have to be born with a weak body?"
The woman had unintentionally put herself on the bad spot after trying to defame Shouko. The people who had judged her after hearing the woman's initial words lowered their heads in embarrassment. Some of them quickly left the area.
Shouko sighed inwardly seeing their reaction and the woman's hideous expression.
People were so easy to judge someone they didn't know. Why did they couldn't give that person the benefit of the doubt first?
Shouko looked at the bodyguard. The man showed no intention of letting the woman go.
"Release..."
"Throw her out."
An icy cold voice sounded from her side all of a sudden, startling Shouko. She looked up and saw Kyoya's side profile.
His dark eyes were frosted with layers of eyes.
"You're the one who called the council?"
The woman shouted again. She was terrified by the way the tall man was looking at her but she won't admit defeat this time!
Kyoya was too lazy to deal with her. He placed his arm around Shouko's shoulders, bringing her closer to him. He wanted to leave this lunatic woman as soon as possible.
The bodyguard dragged the woman away as Kyoya led Shouko to the sliding doors of the hospital lobby. The crowd before them dispersed to two sides, allowing them to walk toward the doors.
"Wretch! Scum! Give my son back! Give my son back to me!!!"
The woman continued to vent her anger even while she was being dragged away by the bodyguard. Her harsh words echoed loudly in the lobby.
Shouko pursed her lips, thinking for a moment before she paused her step.
Kyoya looked at her, his brows rose in confusion. "What's wrong?"
Shouko turned her body slightly, her eyes landed on the shouting woman.
The woman stopped yelling when she met Shouko's eyes. Her bloodshot eyes were staring back at her.
"Your son is better off without a mother like you," Shouko said in a low voice yet the weight they carried was enough to oppress the woman. The air around her turned heavy. "You're not entitled to lead him to hell even though you're his birth mother."
Once she finished her words, Shouko turned her back to the woman. She silently urged Kyoya to quickly leave this place. Her mood went downturn within a short time due to the woman's appearance.
The man who stood by her side didn't speak. He tightly secured her close to him as his mind was repeating her words.
They were... the same words she spoke before.
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The author has something to share:
Hello! I'm sorry for the late updates.
I have two good news. First, my hand has recovered so far even though I still have to be careful. I could start writing properly again.
Second, I've taken some time to read this book from the beginning and by doing so, I realized some parts were in a rush. I'd work hard to ensure the flow goes smoothly without the feeling of everything is cramping up.
Feel free to share your views with me 💗
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