Next to her, Sean shouted in hurt. "Brother Finley, even if you don’t like my baby, you shouldn’t throw him in front of everyone! He is Aster’s son, too. How can you be so heartless?"
While saying this, he tried again to take the baby. "Aster, let go. I care about you. I was willing to stay hidden near you. But I can’t watch my child face danger like this."
"How could Brother Finley do that? Just because I have no power, he thinks he can kill Nikolai before all these people?"
His crying sounded heartbreaking.
Aster, scared, held him and the screaming baby tight. "Sean, look at me. Nikolai is our treasure. I won’t let anyone bring him harm. I love you, I love our baby. I will stand before you both, even if it costs me everything."
"Stay calm. I will give you an explanation. I’ll make him drop to his knees and speak sorry to you now. Any promise you ask for, I will agree to it."
Each sentence hit like a cold cut.
She wanted me to kneel and beg the mistress, to hand them confidence?
Then what were all my vows?
Were they just a joke?
Inside my thoughts, again and again, rose the memory of those young, bright eyes.
"Finley, I love you. I will stand by you forever. If anyone tries to bully you, I will fight them back."
Aster grabbed my shirt and, with one strong yank, dragged me down in front of Sean.
"Kneel.”
“Kneel and say sorry to Sean and Nikolai."
"You will promise on your deceased mother that if you ever once more act jealous or bring them harm in any form, may your mother after death be boiled in oil and suffer endlessly, never knowing calm!"
I looked at her, completely stunned.
My mother treated her like a real daughter when she was still alive.
She once knelt at my mother’s grave, calling her "Mom" with deep feeling, yet now, just for the man she cheated with, she cursed my mother so harshly.
I wiped my tears, straightened my back. "Aster, I will never kneel to your mistress and say sorry. Unless I die."
Aster narrowed her eyes. With a wave of her hand, bodyguards came forward and pushed down on my shoulders.
A hard kick struck my leg and made me drop to my knees before Sean.
Before they shoved my head lower, voices broke out around us.
"Wow, the once proud heir of the Lawson family kneels to a third party. Shame on him."
"Yeah. Better off dead, living like this is a stain. Old Benjamin Lawson, in his tomb, would jump with anger."