Chapter 5

On the third day after Juliet was discharged from the hospital, she held up her body, which had not fully recovered yet, and sat at her desk assembling a model airplane.

It was the project she had prepared for half a month for the science and innovation contest, and even when she had been in the hospital, hurting so badly that she broke out in cold sweat, she had still been clutching the blueprints in her hand.

“Mom, only the tail wing is left.” A faint smile finally appeared on her pale little face as she carefully held the plane.

I was just about to praise her when the front door was shoved open with a bang.

Sinclair swaggered in with Margaret and Brooks.

Margaret carried a bag of discounted oranges, smiling so sweetly it felt fake.

“Samuel, Sinclair insisted that Juliet was out of the hospital and dragged us over to see her.”

I looked at them coldly and did not respond.

But Brooks was like a wild dog off its leash, shaking off Margaret and rushing straight toward Juliet’s half-open bedroom door.

“Big plane! I want to play!” His eyes lit up as he pounced and tried to snatch it by force.

Juliet was so scared that she hid backward, shielding the model in her arms with all her strength.

“No! This is for my competition!”

“Give it to me! I want it!” Brooks reached out and started yanking.

During the struggle, Brooks tripped over his own feet and fell onto his butt.

He froze for one second, then immediately howled at the top of his lungs.

“Mom! Uncle Sinclair! She hit me!”

Sinclair heard the commotion and rushed into the room with a dark face.

He did not ask what had happened at all, and he grabbed Juliet’s wrist and yanked her outward.

“What are you doing!” I rushed over like a madwoman to protect Juliet.

But it was still too late.

Sinclair had already snatched the model airplane into his hands.

He lowered his head and glanced at Brooks, who was throwing a tantrum and rolling on the floor, and to coax him, he gripped the body of the plane with both hands and snapped it hard without hesitation.

With a crack, a piercing sound of breaking rang out.

Juliet’s half-month of hard work and its precise structure were instantly broken into several pieces.

“Don’t cry, Brooks, I’ll let you play with it.”

Sinclair threw the wreckage into Brooks’s arms like he was throwing trash.

Brooks instantly stopped crying, grabbed the broken wing, and smashed it wildly against the floor while letting out shrill laughter.

I was so angry that my whole body trembled, and I pointed at the mess on the floor and roared.

“Sinclair, are you sick? That was Juliet’s competition project that she has to submit tomorrow!”

Sinclair patted his hands, his face full of impatience.

“What’s the big deal? It’s just some broken plastic toy, so can’t she make another one?”

“She has to submit it tomorrow! How do you expect her to make another one?”

“That’s your problem!” His brows were tightly knitted, and he glared at me as if he were completely justified.

“Brooks wanted to play with it, so what’s wrong with letting him play with it?”

“He doesn’t have a dad and is already pitiful enough, so isn’t it only natural for Juliet to give in a little when she’s older?”

“Is this how you usually teach your child to be selfish?”

Looking at this self-righteous man in front of me, I only found it absurd beyond belief.

I suddenly turned back to look at Juliet, afraid that after just having surgery, she would not be able to handle this kind of blow.

But Juliet did not cry.

She did not shed a single tear, and she did not even argue loudly.

She only stood there quietly, staring at the crushed parts on the floor, her eyes as hollow as a dry well.

Then she walked around Sinclair, went to the corner, and picked up the broom.

“Juliet…” My throat tightened.

Without saying a word, she lowered her head, swept the fragments little by little into the dustpan, then walked to the trash can and dumped them all inside.

After doing all this, she lifted her head and swept her gaze over Sinclair as if she were looking at a dead object, her childish voice cold enough to pierce bone.

“Mom, it’s okay. Trash belongs in the trash can anyway.”

Sinclair froze after being stabbed by that look, and he opened his mouth to curse, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Looking at Juliet’s thin yet determined back, the string in my heart that had been pulled tight for six years finally snapped completely.

Together with this rotten marriage, it was swept into the trash can.

I did not want to endure this for even one more second.

I was going to take my Juliet and leave this disgusting place.