Half an hour later, my son finally floated to the surface, and when I broke through the crowd to reach him, I saw his swollen, pale face. He had stopped breathing from drowning.
I rushed him to the hospital for emergency treatment, while my wife continued flirting with her first love, picking out a swimsuit for her next competition.
At the hospital entrance, I finally broke down in front of Kendra's father. "Lester’s gone. The five-year agreement is almost up. Please, let me go. I don’t want anything."
——
Kendra's father, full of shame, helped me to my feet, his voice trembling as he tried to comfort me.
"Lester inherited Kendra’s swimming talent. He’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much. He’ll pull through—"
Before he could finish, the emergency room lights went out, and the doctor came out, shaking his head in regret.
"I’m sorry. The child was brought in too late. He had no heartbeat by the time he arrived. We did everything we could."
"And during the rescue, we found something unusual. His stomach was full of water, and there were marks on his ankles. Are you sure he fell into the water by accident?"
I stared at the doctor in disbelief, unable to process his words. "What did you say?"