My Son Died, He Saved His Adopted Daughter

Chapter 2

Julia lost consciousness.

When she woke up, her ankle was fractured and swollen to the size of a grapefruit.

Looking at the empty home, once filled with her son’s laughter, she was overwhelmed by grief.

She numbly dialed a number.

"Regarding the Global Medical Alliance offer... I've decided to accept it. I'll go to Centralis to help civilians in war-torn regions."

A gentle male voice came through at the other end.

"Dr. Foster, welcome to Doctors Without Borders! Your flight is in five days. We look forward to meeting you then!"

Julia hung up and tilted her head back, wiping away her tears.

Ethan’s body was still at the chemical plant; she had to bring him back and give him a proper burial.

At the villa gate, she saw Victor gently opening the car door for Chloe, helping her out himself.

"...Victor."

Julia’s heart ached sharply as she said in a hoarse voice, "Do you even know? Our Ethan is dead."

Victor’s brow furrowed as he met her reddened eyes, his tone cold.

"Julia, what are you talking about? Have you lost your mind? Tell me how much money you want and I’ll transfer it. Don’t make a scene and ruin Chloe’s mood right now."

"Make a scene? You think I’m just making things up? Ethan is dead! It’s real! I’m not making this up!"

Julia screamed, filled with endless hatred and rage.

"It was you who only cared about Chloe—you cut the chain and made Ethan fall into the acid pool! Then the surviving kidnappers cut him open, piece by piece! It’s you—you killed my Ethan!"

Chloe seemed frightened by Julia’s manic state and hid behind Victor.

With red eyes, she sobbed like a frightened rabbit, "Uncle Victor, is that really true?"

Victor gently wiped away her tears, soothing her softly.

When he turned to Julia, his eyes were filled with suppressed anger.

"Julia, just because I saved Chloe first and didn’t save you and our son, you’re making up this kind of joke to create drama? Enough. Go home and look at yourself. Stop embarrassing me out here."

"Victor, I’m not lying! If you don’t believe me, come back with me—his body is still at the chemical plant!"

Julia grabbed his arm desperately, tears streaming down her face.

Looking at her pleading, almost pitiful eyes, Victor paused as an inexplicable pain struck his heart.

After a moment's hesitation, he finally agreed to go with her and see for himself.

But inside the chemical plant, aside from two broken chains, there were no remains of Ethan.

Not even a trace of blood was found.

Julia froze in place, as if her blood had been frozen solid in an instant.

"Where is Ethan’s body?" Victor’s voice rang out beside her, laced with mockery and scorn.

"Julia, enough of this nonsense—go home! How can there be such a vicious mother in this world, fabricating lies out of jealousy and even cursing her own son to death?"

Victor ignored her and left with Chloe.

Julia remained standing there, stunned and alone.

Looking at the clean, bloodless ground, she knelt down and searched everywhere in desperation, but even after digging through all the factory waste, she found not a single trace of her son’s remains.

How could this be? How could there be nothing?

She had seen Ethan being butchered right here with her own eyes!

Julia collapsed onto the floor, her last bit of sanity finally snapping.

She clutched the chains that had bound her son and wailed in agony.

After an eternity of weeping, she stood up with hollow eyes and walked toward the river to end it all.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed with a notification.

She opened it, and the image of a child's bloody corpse seared her eyes.

Despite the heavy blurring, she knew instantly it was her poor Ethan!

Chloe's avatar flashed on the screen:

Chloe: Mrs. Julia, I know where Ethan's body is.

When Julia finally found Chloe, the girl was operating a machine that was humming and spitting out dog food.

There were smears of fresh blood around the machine's intake.

But Julia didn't notice.

Her eyes were fixed on Chloe, filled with a primal urge to tear her apart.

"Chloe! Why do you have that photo? Did you kill my son?"

Julia tried to lunge at her.

A Rottweiler bared its fangs and barked ferociously.

Holding the leash, Chloe laughed hysterically at the terrified Julia.

"So what if I hired those guys to kill the little brat? I didn't just kill him. I turned him into dog food!"

Julia's eyes widened in horror at the machine still spitting out pellets.

She watched the dog start to eat, her heart shattering into a million pieces.

"No! Don't eat my Ethan! Don’t eat my Ethan! Give him back to me!"

Chloe gave a devilish grin.

"You want the little brat? Fine! Strip naked and run around the Hayes Group building. Then I'll give you what's left of him! Otherwise, I'll feed every last bit to my dog!"