Chapter 425 Child Abuse
At this very moment, in a remote mountain village, a dirty child could be seen squatting in a thatched hut with a blackened face. He was in the midst of fanning a fire and preparing dinner. The kid’s name was Tim.
His beautiful ebony eyes lacked the child-like innocence a kid should have and in its place was a look of tenacity uncharacteristic of someone his age.
This was a child who was forced to take on the responsibility of caring for his family too early.
Methodically, Tim fanned the fire before washing the pot and started cooking the food.
After a while, a strong smell of food wafted out of the hut.
On a table in the humble kitchen, there was only a plate of fried bacon.
Tim laid the table with eating utensils and was about to bring his grandma to the table when a shirtless man sauntered in.
Raphael bent over and took a sniff of the food. “Oh? We’re eating meat today?”
Then, he moved a chair into position with his leg, sat down and immediately started eating.
“Tastes good!”
Tim quickly took the plate away and glared at the man defensively. “Grandma hasn’t eaten yet. This is for Grandma!”
Raphael lifted his eyes to look at the child. “Tim, put it down. I’m starving. I haven’t eaten for the whole day.”
Tim held on tight to the food.
Raphael got angry and scolded sharply, “Put it down! You trying to go against me or something?”
“You can’t eat until Grandma has eaten!”
Tim knitted his brows without the slightest inclination of giving up the food.
“D*mn it! You b*stard. How dare you use this tone with me. Give it to me!”
Raphael cursed angrily and made a move to snatch the food from him.
“If you’re hungry, just eat the pickled vegetables!” Tim was furious as well.
“Why should I? Why should I eat pickles when you can eat meat? Do you have a death wish?”
Seeing how Tim was unwilling to let go of the plate, Raphael grabbed it with one hand and kicked the boy roughly.
No matter how strong a child can be, Tim was definitely no match for an adult.
He was sent flying backward before landing on the floor and hitting his elbow.
Raphael put the plate of food back on the table and cursed as he ate.
“You grew up eating my food. How dare you keep the meat from me? Everything in this home belongs to me!”
Tim’s eyes were red with tears as he shouted at the man, “Those things were bought with the money I earned!”
“So what? We’re the ones who raised you. It is your duty to earn money to repay us.”
Raphael suddenly stopped and glared at Tim. “Hey, have you gotten your pay already?”
Putting his guard up and shrinking back to a corner, Tim roared, “No!”
“You’d better give it to me or I’ll beat you up!”
Raphael was a gambling addict who would often snatch Tim’s money to gamble. Realizing that the kid must have received his pay, Raphael started demanding the money.
“I don’t have any money!” Tim glared at him furiously.
This money is to pay for Grandma’s medical bill. I can’t let this jerk snatch it away again.
Just then, an old lady with a walking stick came over. Leaning heavily on her stick, Mary trembled with anger when she saw her son bullying Tim again.
“You… you… treacherous son! How can you bully Tim again?”
“Mom, I’m not bullying him. He’s the bully here! He won’t let me eat meat. We have raised him in vain!” Raphael shouted angrily at the top of his voice.
“You scoundrel! I was the one who raise Tim. You never did care about him. You only ever kept pushing him around.”
Seeing Tim’s bleeding elbow, Mary was heartbroken.
She held Tim in her arms. “Tim is bleeding! You’re a beast for bullying a child who is just a few years old!”
Turning to look at the boy, she said, “Come, Tim, let me stop the bleeding for you.”
“You, dying old hag! If I’m a beast, then the two of you aren’t human either! After all, you’re the ones hogging all the good food for yourselves and treating me like an outsider! It’s a good thing I came back early, or I’d have nothing to eat!”
“You…”
With anger surging through her veins, Mary nearly fainted. Quickly, Tim held her and steadied her.
“Grandma, are you all right?”
Tim was very worried about the old lady.
“I’m fine, dear, I’m okay.”
Mary tried her best to tamp down her raging emotions. With her heart aching, she stopped Tim’s bleeding gently.
“Tim, I’m sorry I didn’t protect you well.”
Her words and actions moved Tim deeply, and he raised his hand to wipe away her tears.
“It’s okay, Grandma. I’ll protect myself. I’m fine. It’s just a scratch. Come on, let’s have our meal!
