"I made him wait for me for five years. I won’t let him and his child wait any longer. Lester inherited your inferior genes and isn’t worthy of being my heir!"
I struggled in the water, my mind racing. The fear of being pulled under by the floodwaters from my childhood came rushing back. The more I fought, the weaker I became, until I almost gave up entirely.
"Lester, don’t be afraid, Dad is here for you," I whispered to myself, even as I felt myself sinking deeper.
The moment before I hit the bottom of the pool, Kendra finally jumped in and pulled me out. Her anger is was still evident, but there was worry in her eyes now.
"Joseph, stop pretending. Wake up," she said, her voice sharp.
I slowly opened my eyes under her gentle slaps, and for the first time, I couldn’t hold it in. I slapped her hard across the face.
"Joseph, you’re sick! How dare you hit me? This is how you treat your wife?"
I sneered, cold fury in my voice.
"Have you forgotten that I can’t swim at all?"
"And didn’t you want Lester to apologize to Russell? Fine, let him go down to the underground to find him."
"Lester is dead!"
At these words, Kendra’s face froze for a moment, her expression turning to disgust and contempt. She yanked her hand away and let me fall to the ground.
Standing over me, she looked down with a sneer.
"Joseph, you’re more cruel than I thought. You cursed your own child to die."
"You’re just afraid that if Russell’s child is born, I won’t train Lester anymore, and it’ll mess with your interests. So, you hid him with my father."
"I won’t let you succeed."
With that, she wiped her hands on her clothes, as though touching me had been a disgusting act.
"If it weren’t for you, my child with Russell would be five years old by now. Joseph, you stole his credit and his place. Now I’m just letting things return to their proper state, and that’s already being polite to you."
After saying that, she embraced Russell and walked away. I stood frozen, watching her retreating figure, my heart aching so deeply I could hardly breathe.
It all began when Kendra's old injury flared up, preventing her from continuing her competitions and leading to the loss of all her funds due to a breach of contract. Desperate, Father Glover searched everywhere for a solution and discovered that only a retired genius doctor could heal her. But despite his constant pleas, the doctor refused to help.