Chapter 7
If Aaron insisted on protecting Dylan, I’d be even more resolute. The Martinez Family’s current head, Raymond, would inevitably yield.
But now he begged to die in his grandson’s place, leaving me utterly at a loss.
Raymond steadied me from behind, his sharp gaze sweeping the room before snapping, “Are you all corpses?
Letting Aaron cause this chaos!
Get him out of here now.”
Bodyguards sprang into action, two hauling Aaron away.
Seeing my hesitation, Raymond seized the iron rod from me. “I’m the father. Vengeance is mine. Eliza- beth, step back-spare yourself this ugliness.”
Dylan and Amy’s last refuge vanished. Trembling, they watched Raymond advance with the rod, terror flooding their eyes.
“Uncle Raymond, I’m your blood nephew! Kill me, and how will you face Aaron? How face my father in the afterlife? How face our ancestors?”
Raymond raised the rod, voice icy. “Not your concern.’
The rod whistled toward Dylan’s skull. He wet himself in panic.
At the critical moment, I grabbed Raymond’s arm.
He turned to me.
I drew a steadying breath. “Death’s too merciful. Shatter their limbs, cast them from The Martinez Fam- ily. Let them taste true suffering.”
Raymond frowned. “Elizabeth, ignore his ramblings. I care nothing for posthumous judgments—only your and our child’s justice.”
“Raymond, death isn’t the worst fate. They’ve known only luxury since birth. Breaking their limbs,”
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“forcing them to live as cripples beneath even commoners-that’s true punishment.”
After a pause, Raymond flung the rod to a bodyguard. “Do as my wife commands.”
The rod crashed relentlessly on Dylan and Amy’s limbs. Their screams tore through the air.
Coldly observing, I traced our child’s tombstone.
“Baby, we’ve avenged you. If your anger’s eased, return to us soon, yes?”
Raymond’s large hand enveloped mine. “He will, Elizabeth. Our baby will return.”
Later, fearing memories would torment me, Raymond moved us from Martinez Family Manor. He took me traveling whenever possible.
Though unspoken, we knew the child’s loss would forever scar us.
Three years later, I conceived again. From the moment he learned, Raymond acted like a besieged gen- eral, hiring bodyguards and nannies until not a fly could near me.
After five months, he stopped office work, staying by my side daily. As my belly swelled, my feet grew severely swollen.
Raymond sighed anxiously every night while soothing me, too worried to sleep as he watched my growing belly.
I smoothed the furrow between his brows with my fingers and teased, “Raymond, you’re showing clas- sic signs of prenatal anxiety. Should we visit the doctor tomorrow?”
His palm rested gently on my abdomen. “Elizabeth, I’m terrified. Nothing can happen to this child.”
My hand covered his. “It won’t. This time, he’ll come to us safely.”
Soon after, I gave birth to a healthy boy, finally easing the grief that had haunted Raymond and me since our loss.
We hosted the Infant Celebration at Philadelphia’s most luxurious hotel.
As Raymond and I stepped out of the car with our baby, a man in tattered clothes with a twisted gait lunged toward us.
Bodyguards intercepted him before he got close.
Assuming he was a beggar, I nearly instructed staff to give him food and supplies on this joyous day-
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Chapter 7
until he spoke, revealing himself as Dylan Martinez.
“Uncle! Aunt! You have a new child now… please let me return to the Martinez Family.”
“I’ve truly learned my lesson. Please take me back.”
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After Dylan and Amy Martinez, suffered limb injuries without timely treatment, both developed severe disabilities.
Years of hardship had reduced him to a beggar’s existence.
Countless sleepless nights were filled with regret for trusting Amy’s advice to jilt Elizabeth at the altar.
Amy herself had married a fifty-something loner two years prior, abandoning him completely.
Physical disability and destitution drove him repeatedly toward suicidal thoughts.
Only one hope sustained him: that Raymond and Elizabeth might show mercy if they had another child.
Now that day had come.
Raymond’s voice turned aretic. “Sparing your life was mercy enough. Returning to the Martinez Fami- ly? Never.”
He ordered bodyguards to throw Dylan out.
This final rejection shattered Dylan’s last hope. Within days, he took his own life in a rented room.
Raymond and I were playing with the baby when the news reached us.
After a weighted silence, Raymond quietly arranged for Dylan’s ashes to be collected.
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