Room for You
Chapter 58

Chapter 58

For a child this small to be left alone in a crowd, Jared could have beenkidnapped by some ruffian working for a syndicate and no one wouldhave noticed at all.

The amusement park was not too far away from here. Elliot drove overand pulled up outside the parking lot. At present, there weren't a lot ofpeople at the amusement park entrance and only Francis stood there,waiting with Erica and Naomi in tow. When Erica heard that Jared hadbeen found, she started to become evasive and

immediately denied having anything to do with his going missing

The mysterious car was gleaming under the lights as it rolled to a stop.Then, the door swung open as Anastasia stepped out of the car withJared in her arms. Francis practically flew over to them and hurried tocrush Jared against his chest, his tears streaming down his face as guiltate away at him. “Oh, my darling grandson. You gave me a fright!”However, in the midst of this joyous reunion, Anastasia’s murderousgaze was fixed on Erica. The rage that boiled within her was urging herto look for an outlet; otherwise, she might combust on the spot.

At the sight of the baleful look on Anastasia’s face, a wary Erica tooktwo steps backward and demanded, “Why are you looking at me likethat, Anastasia?”

It was when she saw how uneasy and evasive Erica was that Anastasia’sanger renewed. She raised a hand and brought it down hard acrossErica's face, the slap resounding in the crisp evening air.

"Ow!" Erica shrieked, her eyes wide in bewilderment. “You just slappedme! You're out of your mind, Anastasia!” She darted behind Naomi forcover while whining, “Mom, she just slapped me!”

Naomi instantly wrapped her arms protectively around her daughter asshe turned to snap, “How dare you strike my daughter, Anastasia!”

“If you can't take care of my son, Erica, then don't offer to do it! Don'tthink 1 don’t know what you were planning to do,” Anastasia seethed asshe glowered at Erica mutinously.

“You little wench! Do you have proof that Erica lost your son onpurpose?” Naomi countered defensively, shielding her daughter.Francis knew that he bore the bigger responsibility in this, so he walkedup to the

women and interjected in a pained voice, “Anastasia, it was my fault.Don't blame Erica.”

Fueled by intense anger, Anastasia maintained her gaze on Erica as shewarned darkly, “Stay away from my son! If you so much as get close tohim or try to hurt him, I'll kill you where you stand!”

“Don't go around making baseless claims, Anastasia,” Erica retorted,refusing to admit to her misdeed

To the side, he felt his heart twist when he saw his two daughterssnapping at each other. He turned to Anastasia and cajoled, “Anastasia,it was my fault. It really was. I promise I won't let Jared out of my sightanymore.”

Jared, on the other hand, pouted. "Mommy, don't be mad. I shouldn'thave walked away on my own.”

Anastasia's rage was quelled by the sound of Jared's voice. Whatmattered most was that her son had returned safely, so she swallowedher anger and turned to remove Jared out of Francis’ arms. “Dad,thanks for helping tonight. I'm sure Jared is badly shocked too. I'll takehim home now and you should get back and call it a day.”

Having said that, she cast Elliot a brief look and turned to saunter backto his car.

Meanwhile, Erica kept her eyes on Anastasia and it was only then thatshe noticed the man next to Anastasia. Her eyes widened in surprisewhen she registered the man’s features in the dim lighting. Why doesthis man look like Anastasia’s son? Could he be the kid's father?

By the time Erica tried to get a second glimpse of the man, he hadturned away from her and all she saw was the elusive silhouette of hisback.

When Elliot's car drove away, Francis let out a sigh of relief and said toNaomi and Erica, “Come on, let's head home.”

He couldn't bring himself to blame Erica for what had happened toJared. After all, she had no experience in babysitting whatsoever, andwhile she had been careless, it didn't necessarily mean she was at fault.Naomi, however, was belligerent that her daughter had to sufferAnastasia's wrath. She didn’t do anything wrong, so why was she theone to be slapped?

However, only Erica knew that she had truly intended to abandon Jaredat a place that was somewhere crowded. In fact, she had so viciouslywished that the boy would

be kidnapped. Alas, the universe was against her, for it brought thechild back in one piece. More importantly, she wanted to know whothat mysterious man was. It had taken her all but one look to discernthat he had the innate grace of nobility, and he definitely wasn't justsome average Joe.

Meanwhile, Elliot had stopped outside the apartment community whereAnastasia lived. When he saw that there was a pharmacy next to it, heheaded in without a word, leaving her baffled as she stared after himwith Jared in her arms.

Not long after that, Elliot came back with a carrier bag of something.Being extremely grateful for his help this evening, Anastasia said,“Thank you so much for what you've done tonight, President Presgrave.It's getting late, and you should be going back.”

Elliot looked at her and offered, “I'll walk with you to your apartment.”Anastasia spun on her heels and headed into the elevator with Elliot inher wake. They made their way up the building, and upon arriving ather apartment, she opened the door and turned on the lights. The littleone shuffled over to the couch and sat down on it, looking like a sadpuppy waiting to be lectured.

“Mommy, I was wrong. Please don’t be mad anymore.”

“I'm not angry, just... flustered. I was too flustered and I lashed out,” sheconfessed. She knew that her son saw the violent confrontation she hadwith Erica

Suddenly, Elliot reached out to grab Anastasia by the wrist and pulledher into a sitting position on the couch. She gaped at him, but beforeshe could ask, the man crouched down in front of her. His large handclasped her left calf, and it was only then that she noticed the bloodygash that measured up to about two inches in length on her leg.

Given how she had not tended to it in time, the blood had crusted over,even though the wound was still there.