The way she'd thrown herself under Grandma's cane without hesitation, shielding Noel behind her—it made every word of comfort she'd offered me moments ago feel like a cruel joke.
"Grandma! It was my idea, and I did it for the family! Don't hurt innocent people!"
Evelyn froze, her gaze instinctively drifting toward me.
When she saw the white bandages on my arm soaking through with fresh blood, her expression twisted with frustrated anger.
"You wretched girl! He just had over a hundred acupuncture needles yesterday—can't you see the wounds all over his body?"
Panic and regret flickered in Greta's eyes. She started to rush toward me—
But Noel collapsed behind her.
She whipped around in alarm, and despite her own injuries, wrapped her arms around him to help him leave.
Grandma Evelyn planted herself in her path.
"You're not going anywhere! You just gave birth—do you have a death wish?"
"Your husband is still in there! Do you even want this family anymore?"
Hesitation clouded Greta's eyes.
"I do! But you hurt Noel—I can't just abandon him! Bob... he has you. He'll be fine!"
Once upon a time, she would have moved mountains for me like that.