At the end of the hallway, by the bathroom, Leah was shoved to the ground.
She was sobbing, gasping for breath.
Jacob was hitting her head with a stick, yelling. “Stop calling him Dad! He’s not your dad!”
Like he hadn’t given full vent to his anger, he even kicked Leah’s stomach twice.
Leah screamed in pain, trying to get away, but a boy behind her held her back.
“Bitch! You deserve this!”
“My mom says your mom ruined our happy life!”
Leah flailed her hands in resistance, out of breath from crying. “You’re lying!”
I rushed over and grabbed Leah, pulling her close.
The boys, probably noticing the fierce look on my face, ran off in all directions.
Holding Leah, I could feel her shaking all over.
I instantly called for an ambulance.
“Everything’s okay. Sweetie, I’m here,” I whispered to Leah, trying to calm her down.
When the ambulance showed up, other parents were all nosy about what was going on.
I sprinted with Leah in my arms towards the ambulance.
As we rushed by. Antonio was grinning, playing with Jacob with building blocks, and Sophia was there, dabbing sweat off his forehead.
When he heard the commotion, he looked up in confusion and got up to come over.
“What happened? What’s wrong with Leah?” he stopped me and asked.
Sophia tugged on his hand.
“Don’t get involved. You said you’d spend the day with Jacob.
“I told him you’d be with him all day, and he was so excited.”
Antonio hesitated.
I took Leah into the ambulance.
She had fainted, and the doctors began administering first aid on the way to the hospital.
When a female doctor lifted Leah’s dress to check her, she gasped in shock, “Who would hurt such a little kid like this?!”
I burst into tears right after hearing that, covering my mouth with my hand
Leah was shaking uncontrollably, and the doctor urgently told me. “Madam, please move to the back. We need to start the emergency treatment.”
It took three hours to get Leah stable.
My mother also dashed to the hospital.
Upon seeing Leah, she started to sob. “Who did this to Leah? I’m going to the police!”
“I’ll make sure they go to jail.” I promised my mom.
Leah, who had been put on an IV drip, slowly opened her eyes and looked at me, confused. “Mom, why didn’t Dad protect me?”
I kissed her forehead and said, “I’m sorry,
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