Side Chick Era... Over

Loving Mom 5

Sharon turned her head and saw Theo standing behind Carter. Though he was speaking to her, his gaze remained fixed on Kelly, worry written plainly across his face.

Since forever, even the slightest sign of trouble from Kelly would send both Carter and Theo into a frenzy of concern.

There was a time when the four of them went to a park together. No one could tell if it was a heatstroke or some sudden onset of illness, but Kelly suddenly looked as if she were about to collapse. Both Carter and Theo rushed toward her at once.

In his panic, Carter even pushed Sharon to the ground. And yet, no one noticed.

The cruelest part? Later, when Carter saw her injured and bandaged hand, he actually asked her how she’d gotten hurt.

The memory shattered as Kelly’s fragile voice broke into her thoughts. “Theo, I just lost my balance. It had nothing to do with your mother.”

Kelly shook her head at Theo, tears sliding down her cheeks in pitiful silence. “It’s my body… it’s just too weak…”

Theo pouted, lips pushing forward. “But I saw it. I saw Mommy push you.”

He turned to Sharon then, his little face serious. “Mommy, you always told me that when someone makes a mistake, they should admit it and fix it. You’re a grown-up… you wouldn’t go back on your word, would you?”

Sharon had put everything into caring for Theo’s health. But when it came to his studies, she had hardly needed to lift a finger.

At only five years old, Theo was already fluent in three languages and possessed an extraordinary gift for speech. More than once, he had left grown adults speechless.

Carter’s mother often said the boy’s brilliance reminded her of Carter when he was young.

And now, this little boy was using that sharp mind… against her, for Kelly’s sake.

As his mother, as an adult, she knew she had to set the right example. If she couldn’t live by her own words, how could she ask a child to?

Sharon looked at her husband and son, both standing beside Kelly. In that moment, she felt that they looked more like a family than she ever had with them.

She had long since stopped hoping for anything from this father and son, but still, Theo’s words pricked at her heart.

Lowering her gaze to meet his eyes, Sharon said softly, “You’re right. I did tell you that if we do something wrong, we should apologize. But—”

She paused, her voice calm and deliberate.

didn’t do anything wrong.

the past, she would’ve yielded. She always did

she didn’t.

spoke without thinking, “But I saw you

didn’t argue. Instead, she

does that

you said

you that we shouldn’t bully others. But that doesn’t mean we should let others bully us. If someone

Theo was still only five. He hadn’t expected her

then, John’s voice came from the side. “Theo, that’s not how you speak to your

toward the sound, surprised. As if they had only now noticed John standing

Theo blinked. “Mr. Westin?”

“Why are you

— was someone Carter had met many times. He’d heard

grown up without

school, he had lost even them, and was

around that time Sharon’s mother discovered his musical talent and took him under

been a withdrawn, melancholy child who ignored everyone around him. It took Sharon three years to get through to him, for him to accept her as a

Carter couldn’t explain, he’d disliked this man from the

that Sharon

word carried weight, each one slicing

stripped away Carter and Kelly’s carefully constructed facade with

his face hardened. “Sharon, come home

“No.

grew cold, laced with threat. “Sharon, I’ll say

it meant he was furious. If she didn’t yield now, it wouldn’t end with a simple

action. He

head to toe. She had knelt at his feet, soaked and shivering, begging him with tears streaming down

at her, cold and arrogant, and asked, “Do you

like rain, and in the end, she could only agree to

had a way of forcing her