"Fine," Lizzy turned to Kadee, saying, "It's all my fault. I misunderstood and passed on the wrong information. If you want to blame someone, blame me! I'm the one who let Mom down, who let my brother down..."
Tomas, who had been suppressing his emotions, forcefully pushed me away.
"That's enough!"
He dragged me back home before I could react.
His fist came down hard on me, not giving me a moment to catch my breath, followed by a swift kick.
With a dull thud, I almost heard the sound of my bones breaking.
Tomas' face turned ashen, his expression fierce.
He yanked my hair viciously, questioning me coldly, "Claire, why would you do this? That was my wife and your nephew! How could you be so heartless!"
I struggled to speak, tasting the metallic tang of blood in my throat.
"Tomas, it wasn't me, I swear it wasn't me..."
Tomas flung me aside, and I fell to the ground, my body sliding until it hit the corner of the wall.
"Claire, if I had known this day would come, I would have drowned you in the river when you were born!"
The door slammed shut forcefully, casting the room into darkness.
My body ached all over as if I had been run over by a truck. I gasped for air, my vision starting to blur.
Suddenly, a faint light shone from the direction of the door.
Even the dim light stung my eyes.
I struggled to open my eyes to see who was approaching.
Lizzy hurried towards me, her voice trembling.
"Auntie! Are you okay? Does it hurt..."
"Auntie, it's all my fault, I got it wrong, blame me..."
As Lizzy spoke, she slapped herself twice.
I, who always doted on her, now looked at her with coldness in my eyes.
"Do... do you truly not know that your mother is allergic to... walnuts?
"Then why didn't you admit your mistake in front of them? Why blame me for everything?"
I coughed violently, almost coughing up blood from my throat.
Despite this, I kept my gaze fixed on her, trying to read something from her face.
Unfortunately, in the pitch-black environment, I couldn't see anything. I missed the fleeting look of schadenfreude on her face.
Lizzy shook her head vigorously.
"Auntie, I'm just a twelve-year-old child, I really didn't know!"
She reached out to hold my hand, but I jerked it away.
"Auntie! Auntie, I'm truly sorry!"
Lizzy covered her face with her hands, trying to stifle her sobs, her shoulders shaking.
"Auntie, if I didn't say this! Dad and Grandma would definitely kill me!