Strikeback

Chapter 2

I’ve always had asthma, but I managed it with medication.

This time, it flared up again because Jasper was smoking at home.

I suspect it was because Victoria called him that night, saying her pet dog was sick, and I forced him to stay home.

He sat in the living room and smoked all night.

With my mind in turmoil and my body weak, I rushed to the hospital.

But I never expected to see a familiar pair at the pet clinic near the hospital entrance.

Victoria was gently stroking the head of a little Teddy dog on the counter, looking distressed.

“Jasper, look at Andy. Changing his bandage hurts so much. It breaks my heart,” she said.

Jasper, looking equally pained, patted Victoria’s shoulder and softly reassured her, “It’s okay, it’s just a little scratch on his ear. The bandage will help him heal.”

Seeing them so meticulously tending to a dog made an intense wave of anger surge within me.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists as I rushed in.

“Jasper! You don’t have time to pick up our son, but you have time to take care of a dog?” I shouted.

Both of them looked up at me, and a deep anger immediately clouded Jasper’s face. “Olivia Miller, are you crazy? It wouldn’t kill you to pick up our son. How dare you follow me here?” he retorted.

Victoria, leaning on Jasper’s shoulder with a falsely innocent expression, looked at met with provocative eyes.

“Olivia, don’t be mad. My little Andy bumped into the table leg. That’s why I called Jasper to come over…”

My chest heaved with fury.

If murder were legal, I’d take the large scissors from the counter and stab these two filthy beings.

My son had died, and Jasper hadn’t even bothered to ask about it.

Yet here he was, fussing over his childhood sweetheart’s dog.

In their eyes, my precious son was worth less than a dog!

And to top it off, I heard Victoria call the dog “Andy“—the same nickname as my son.

I understood her intentions immediately.

I didn’t believe Jasper didn’t understand it!

Unable to hold back any longer, I slapped Victoria hard.

“Victoria Hallow! You shameless bitch! You like picking up trash that others discard? Here, have it!”

My slap left Victoria stunned and Jasper utterly shocked.

After all, in his eyes, I had always been the meek, obedient follower who never dared to talk back for the past ten years.

After a long pause, Jasper finally wrapped Victoria in his arms, looking at me with disbelief and anger.

“Olivia, are you out of your mind?! It’s just about not picking up our son. Do you have to come here and hit people? You’re being unreasonable and crazy!”

He grabbed my arm forcefully.

“Apologize to Victoria! Or you won’t leave here today!” he demanded.

I turned to reach for the large scissors on the counter.

Fortunately, the quick–witted vet moved them out of my reach.

“Ma’am, calm down. Please, calm down. Don’t let anger control you. It’s not worth it,” the vet pleaded, pale–faced, trying to calm me down..

I forced myself to suppress the anger, glaring at Jasper with murderous intent. He looked frightened, stepping back several paces under my gaze.

Suddenly, the situation felt absurd to me.

Calming myself, I sneered at the pair of them.

“Fine, I’ll apologize. I’m sorry for hitting you,” I said.

Jasper’s face relaxed slightly, probably out of guilt.

“You know, Victoria only has this little Teddy that she has raised for five years. She can’t stand any accidents to the puppy. I was afraid she’d be too upset if anything happened. to the dog, so I rushed over to help. By the way, is our son mad at me? I’ll buy him an Ultraman toy when I get home. He’ll forgive me.

Our son had been dead for days, drowned, and he hadn’t bothered to call or text once.

Now, here he was, pretending to be a caring father. I spat mentally at his hypocrisy.

The one who died was my beloved son, whom I had nurtured for five years!

I looked at him with extreme anger.

“No need.”

After saying that, I turned around and was about to walk out.

Jasper looked at me suspiciously and reached out to grab my arm.

“What do you mean by no need? I am Andrew’s father after all. Okay, at most I will spend more time with him from now on. Stop overreacting.”

I couldn’t bear to waste another word on this scumbag. Shaking off his hand, I said, “Jasper, let’s get divorced.”

Ignoring the astonishment on his face, I walked out resolutely.

After blood tests, nebulization, and an IV drip, followed by a prescription for a bunch of medication, I finally dragged myself home late in the day.

As soon as I walked in, something felt off.

The front door was wide open, and there were sounds of movement upstairs.

A sudden chill gripped my heart. Had a burglar broken in?

I was about to call the police when a toy suddenly fell down narrowly missing my head.

Then, a scream came from my son’s room.

“Ah–!”

Victoria appeared in the corridor, not looking the least bit surprised to see me.

Instead, her face was filled with blatant provocation.

“Olivia, you’re back. I was tidying up the room and accidentally knocked over a toy. Did it hit you?”

I looked at her standing there as if she were the mistress of this house, and I was utterly dumbfounded.

I reached out and picked up the Transformer from the floor.

That was my son’s favorite toy.

I ran upstairs in a rage and grabbed Victoria.

“Who told you to touch my son’s room? Who gave you the right to throw things? What are you trying to do, Victoria Hallow?!”

Victoria struggled against my grip and lifted her chin defiantly.

“Who else could it be? Of course it was Jasper who asked me to clean up. I told him my place was too noisy for Andy’s recovery. He immediately offered me a room here, saying

I could choose any room in the villa. So, I chose the one with the best sunlight for my little Andy!”

These shameless creatures planned to give my son’s room to a dog!

I was furious beyond words.

“Victoria Hallow, you little whore! I will kill you today!”

After saying that, I grabbed her hair and was about to slam her head toward the wall!

“That’s enough! Olivia, stop it!”

Jasper suddenly appeared at the door and rushed upstairs in just a few steps!