A Son's Death: Nothing More Between Us

I arrived at an extremely famous law firm in order to look for a lawyer and inquire about bullying cases in high schools.

Benji couldn't just die for nothing. I mustn't let those bastards get away from murdering Benji scot-free. Soon, they'd definitely target other children.

Before I left the firm, I heard someone calling out my name.

"Eleanor Miller? Is that you?"

Raphael Westwood smiled brightly at me. He was just as cheerful and handsome as I remembered him to be.

I shot him a small smile. For some reason, I felt a little awkward to be facing Raphael. After all, he had once pursued me back in our university days.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing at the firm? Is there anything I can help you with?"

Raphael handed me a glass of lemon water. He seemed to sense my hesitation, for he added with a smile, "I'm a business partner of this firm. You can always talk to me if you're facing any problems."

I raised my head, clearly shocked. Raphael's smile—kind and gentle as usual—greeted me at that moment.

Two hours flew by since we started chatting. Raphael had an in-depth understanding of the entire incident. However, he didn't show any sympathy toward me.

His lack of reaction made me relax slightly, as though I had been speaking with a professional and ethical lawyer all this time.

At that moment, my phone rang. It was a WhatsApp message from Joshua.

"Look at the time! Why aren't you home yet?"

I just stared at the message for two seconds. For the first time ever, I didn't respond to Joshua's message at all. Instead, I turned off my phone.

Raphael just glanced at me without asking anything.

By the time we left the café, it was already raining outside. Raphael opened his umbrella and offered to drive me home.

When I was about to turn him down politely, a figure dashed toward us at that moment.

"Eleanor, I called you over a dozen times! How dare you turn off your phone and disappear on me!"

Joshua was so pissed that his complexion had gone stark white. That was when he noticed Raphael in all of his glory. A cold chuckle escaped from Joshua's lips right away.

"Ah, so you were dating another man, huh? No wonder you never bothered keeping an eye on our kid!"

"Our kid? You still have the gall to mention 'our kid'?"

Those two words triggered me instantly. I could vividly recall Benji's face, which was etched with helplessness and despair, during his dying moments.

Joshua began berating me angrily. "You're a mother, yet you always return home late at night! Your son loiters on the streets as well, just like you! Why don't you look at how Rosalind raises her son and learn from her?"

"Oh? Since Rosalind is such an expert at raising kids, then you should become her husband and her son's father! Oh, right! You're already playing the role of a father to her kid!"

I was practically growling out the last sentence through clenched teeth.

Joshua was momentarily stunned, but he began chastising me even more. "Eleanor, don't be so petty! Kenny doesn't have a father figure in his life anymore, so he treats me like his closest family member! What's wrong with that?"

I raised my head and took a deep breath in order to suppress the burning sensation in my eyes. I no longer wanted to waste my breath on that bastard of a husband.

"Have you signed the divorce papers, Joshua?"

Then, I looked at Raphael before introducing him to Joshua. "This is Mr. Raphael Westwood. He's in charge of my divorce case… as well as Benji's bullying case."

Joshua's eyelid began twitching out of anger. "What do you mean by that? Are you planning to throw our son into jail?"

Raphael could no longer hold himself back. "Mr. Tucker, based on my understanding of this situation, the victim has always been your son. He passed away three days ago."

"What are you talking about? Kenny is a sweet boy! How could he bully my son?" Joshua retorted instinctively.

As always, he prioritized his first love's son. He couldn't accept the fact that the so-called sweet boy, whom he had loved and pampered from a young age, would be the one bullying others.

Joshua then turned to glare at me. "Did you tell him that? How could you slander Kenny? Kenny's the one who got beaten up to the point of hospitalization! To think that you'd still believe that brat's side of the story!

"I must've been too lenient to your son in the past for him to turn out like this! All he does is bully Kenny! Where did you hide him this time, Eleanor? He must've gone into hiding because he knows he's screwed up big time, right?

"I swear, this time I'll definitely whoop his ass!"

I calmly watched Joshua venting his anger on the spot. It was as though I was staring at a stubborn mule.

On one hand, he called Kenneth by his nickname—Kenny. On the other hand, he referred to Benji as my son instead of his. Based on the terms used, I could already tell which child was his favorite.

Ever since Rosalind showed up as a teacher at school, I knew that Joshua was a goner and that my family was doomed.

Rosalind and Kenneth could always capture Joshua's heart without lifting a finger. Their every move tugged at Joshua's heartstrings and influenced his mood greatly.

Benji and I were just a huge eyesore to him. He had always wanted to kick us to the curb for a very long time.

My demeanor was so calm that Joshua finally registered the second half of Raphael's sentence once he was done venting his anger.

"What did you say just now? My son died three days ago?"

Raphael mocked ruthlessly, "Oh? You're finally starting to worry about your own son?"

Anger took over Joshua's features instantly. "No matter how big of a jerk my son is, you shouldn't jinx him like that! You bastard!"

After that, Joshua threw a heavy punch at Raphael, only for the latter to grab his wrist. Then, Raphael shoved Joshua's wrist away.

Joshua was about to continue lashing out at Raphael when I rushed up to him, clearly unable to withstand his behavior any longer. Then, I slapped Joshua across the face.

"Benji really is dead! He died in the school's toilet cubicle three days ago! Your beloved Kenny was the one who bashed his skull in! Yet, you snatched the ambulance that I called away!

"Benji bled so much to the point that he was no longer bleeding by the time we reached the hospital! You aren't fit to remain as Benji's father, you bastard!"

I chewed Joshua out hysterically in one go that I could barely breathe after that. My eyes were burning so much because of my unshed tears.

Joshua looked stunned. His eyes had gone as wide as dinner plates in disbelief.

"So… What you said… is real? Benji's really—"