After Sheryl heard the words uttered by Shirley, she began to boil with rage. Her eyes started to inspect the bruises on Shirley's arm. She found it hard to fathom that Melissa was capable of exerting brutality on a little kid! 'Shirley has done nothing wrong! And even if she did, she didn't deserve this harsh treatment! I cannot believe my eyes.' Sheryl wanted to scream.
At this moment, Sheryl's contempt toward Melissa reached its peak. The mere thought of Melissa filled her with distaste. Until today, she had tolerated everything. Only rarely she had fought back. But she never expected Melissa would behave so atrociously to Shirley. 'No matter what, you are not allowed to harm my kids, ' she thought to herself with resolution.
As a mother, the thought of her kids being in pain tortured her mind.
Now her gaze shifted back to Shirley and Clark. Slowly, she sat on the edge of the bed and caressed Clark who had his head buried into his arms. She tried to come up with something soothing, but words failed her.
Clark, who rarely cried, now looked like a lonely beast licking its wound in a dark night.
"Clark, would you please lift your head and look at Mom? Aren't you a strong boy?" Sheryl asked in an encouraging voice. Her voice was like warm spring wind which intended to calm her son.
Yet he remained silent. All he wanted to do was bury his head deeper and deeper.
He loved his mother more than anyone, which was why he didn't what her to see him in this condition. He was aware she would tear up if she saw his tear stained eyes.
Clark was akin to a beaten sapling and depression wandered around him. After realizing her words weren't helping him, Sheryl felt herself go out of control. An urge to slap Melissa across the face overtook her. 'Today Melissa crossed all the limits. She showed us her true face! Shame on her!' thought Sherly.
At the same time, she wanted to hide her rage in front of her kids. No matter what, she wanted to set a good example for them. After concealing her true emotions, she gently pulled them into her arms. She hoped this silent hug would comfort them.
After soothing them
was outside, she became a different person. The smile was wiped off her face.
The happy woman who had gazed at her kids was gone. Her eyes were bereft of any tenderness. Anger oozed out of her body.
With a closed fist, she stood frozen. Her mobile phone rang and brought her back to reality. In this sullen mood, she had no desire to speak to anyone. She was about to reject but changed her mind when she noticed her husband's name on the screen.
"Hi, Charles!"
"Sher, how are the kids? Are they feeling better now?" Charles asked anxiously over the phone.
Sheryl didn't expect that Charles would learn about this incident so soon. She was waiting for the right opportunity to tell him. But since he had already known it, she had no reason to hide anything.
In fact, there was a part of her that wanted to know how her husband would deal with it.
"They were feeling pretty bad, but then I put them to sleep. Now they are fine."
"Okay, I just wanted to check on them. We will discuss this when I reach home," he replied and they hung up. Charles was only a few minutes away from home. Yet his heart wouldn't rest until he was certain they were doing fine. Now that he had an answer from her, his worries slightly dissipated.
Each time he thought about Melissa, his whole body shivered with fury. He had warned her, but she paid no heed to it. Determinedly, he made up his mind to teach her a lesson soon.