CHAPTER 80: TERRIBLE TRUTH

She was watching the dog playing at her backyard but anyone who sees her wouldn't be able to tell her current emotion. 

She's neither sad nor happy but her eyes say that her attention was not fully on the dog. 

She heaved a deep sigh as soon as she reminisced a certain memory in the past.

Flashback:

"I hate him, grandmother, I don't like papa anymore." The little boy was sobbing nonstop.

"Come here sweetheart." Suzette carried the boy and sat him on her lap. "Now tell me, what did he do for you to hate him?"

"Papa… He… he killed my Makish." His tears were like a river. 

"What?"

"My Makish is gone now, grandma…" He won't stop crying.

"Shhh… calm down sweetheart. Don't worry, when papa comes home, I'll make sure to scold him for what he did, okay?" 

She was trying to comfort the little kid but to no avail. He doesn't want to be consoled. 

"What will I tell her if she learns about Makish? She will surely hate me now!"

"No, sweetheart, that will never happen. Our little princess may get angry but she won't hate you, that's for sure."

"A-are you telling the truth?" He looked at the old woman hopefully.

She smiled. "Of course, our little princess will surely understand. But don't tell her yet, okay?"

"Ehm." He nodded obediently.

That night, Suzette rebuked the man as soon as he came home from work. The fact that he shot the dog in front of the little kid greatly alarmed the old woman. 

"What do you think you're doing? How could you kill an innocent dog in front of your son?! Do you really want him to grow up coldheartedly just like you?"

"I'm just training him early to be strong!" He yelled."

"No, that's not how you do it." The old woman was totally upset. "That's not the right way to train up a child to become strong. You are doing the opposite! You are making him a monster!"

"And what is it to you if he becomes a monster? That's actually better than to grow up and be a coward."

"Barry!" Now she's beyond mad. "How did you become such a rotten guy? I never raised you to be such a wicked man!"

"Then you should evaluate your parenting method then." Barry spoke full of sarcasm. "Look like you created a monster yourself without your notice."

"No, I'm pretty sure that you did it to yourself." She replied. "I won't let you have Marcus. He will stay with me."

"No! He is my son so he will come with me."

"Over my dead body!" She challenged the man.

Barry couldn't say a word since the woman holds the most power at the moment. And he's just a mere worker, an adopted son who was not loved by his adopted parents.

He knew he couldn't beat the old woman so that very moment, he swore to himself that by all means, he must destroy the woman who ruined his life.

"Do you think you can threaten me just because you are the current chairwoman of a big company?" He sneered in contempt. Huh! Let's see."

"Barry, you should know ----"

"You can have my son… for now… But I will assure you, the grandson that you adore so much will surely be the one who will soon destroy you." He cursed before leaving the old woman. 

Her heart suddenly felt uneased due to his words and especially how he treats her. He looks like a real monster ready to rip the hell out of her. 

And since that day, her family was in uproar….

**End of Flashback**

"Barry, what have you done?" The old woman muttered softly as soon as she snapped back to reality. Then she suddenly remembered Jade who came and entrusted the dog to her yesterday. She almost teared up when she was explaining what happened between her and Marcus the day she brought the dog home. 

"I'm sorry to hear what happened to you but please understand my grandson for now. Since the day that his first dog died, he developed a fear to take in a new pet and I didn't expect it to turn into a traumatic experience. That dog was very precious to him but his father shot it in front of him and since that moment on, he never dared to lay his eyes on any dogs. It's not that he hates such a cute creature, it's just that he's afraid."

"I didn't know he has such a traumatic experience. If I have known, then I should have not brought the dog home." Guilt filled her.

"Don't worry, he will come home soon. He just need to calm himself down." She comforted the young girl.

"Thank you, grandmother. And I'm sorry for troubling you."

"Don't worry, he's in good hands."

SHE SIGHED FRUSTRATED.

'Ah, poor Jade. You definitely have a lot of things to know about your husband.' She was talking to herself when her phone suddenly rang. Tess from the orphanage? She creased her brows but she answered it anyway.

"Any problem at the orphanage?" She asked since the old woman never calls her unless it has something to do with the orphanage--- A problem they couldn't solve on their own to be exact.

"What should we do?" Suzette can hear the anxiousness in her tone. 

"Why? What's wrong?"

"It's Jade. She came here…"

"Did something bad happen to her?" Suzette suddenly got worried.

"No, nothing bad happened to her, thank God. However, she came asking me about her past!"

"What?" She suddenly stood up, her face was suddenly covered with anxiety. "A-and what did you say to her?"

"I told her that I don't know much about her."

"Did she buy that? Did she ask any of her past records?"

"I was relieved that she didn't. But based on her determination to know the truth, I'm sure she'll come back to search for that."

"Then let's just cross the bridge once we get there. For now, keep her real identity as a secret. We need to make sure she'll be ready for the massive blow sooner or later. She needs to believe us and not the other way around, got it?"

"Y-yes, madam." Mother Tess replied before hanging up. 

Omo! The thing that she fears the most has come. What will she do now that the woman was trying to dig about her past? Will she be able to handle the horrible truth?