Chapter 3

Owen came up and hugged me, swearing:

“Cassie, I promise I’ll get justice for our son, but Claudia is still young and doesn’t understand…”

Before he could finish, I shoved him away.

“What do you mean? If she’s so clueless, why doesn’t she jump herself?”

With that, I grabbed a chair and slammed it violently against the door.

The wooden door rattled and groaned, shaking the entire house.

“ Claudia, get out here, or I’ll smash this door down!”

How dare she kill someone and get away with it?

Even if it wasn't my child who died today, I would still fight for justice for him!

Seeing how hard I was hitting it, Claudia yelled from inside:

“Stop smashing! If you keep going, I’ll jump!”

I was panting from the effort. I turned, rushed to the kitchen, and grabbed a knife, hacking it into the door.

The blade bit deep into the wood, stuck fast.

“Jump then! If you don’t, I’m coming in there and I’ll kill you myself!”

Claudia couldn’t stand the pressure. She opened the door, a look of impatience on her face.

“Who did you throw down?”

She tilted her head, swaying casually.

“Your son, who else?”

I slapped her across the face.

*Smack!* Her head snapped to the side.

Claudia’s eyes immediately filled with tears. She clutched her cheek, disbelief warring on her face.

“How dare you hit me? My own mom doesn’t even hit me, you bitch—”

I slapped her again.

“It’s because your mom *doesn’t* hit you that you turned into an animal!”

Then, I grabbed her collar, snarling through gritted teeth.

“I’m asking you one more time. Who did you throw down?”

Claudia quieted down, still clutching her face.

“It was your son, but I didn’t mean to. I just wanted to see what would happen if he fell.”

“I didn’t think he’d actually die.”

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