Chapter 29
The draft Jessica had spent all day working on lay shredded on the floor.
Even though she tried hard to control her emotions, the fury inside her couldn’t be hidden.
Her harsh tone stunned Jacob into silence. After a while, he snapped out of it, and his anger only grew. He thought, ‘Mom already ignored me, and now she’s yelling at me over a stupid piece of paper?‘
In his memory, even though Jessica had always been strict, she’d never really yelled at him like this.
“I’m not leaving.” Jacob screamed, completely losing it. “Why should I leave? You’re my mom. You’re supposed to take care of me, and now you’re yelling at me.”
The more he yelled, the angrier he got. He reached for a nearby shelf and started grabbing whatever he could, throwing everything to the ground. “That’s what you get for ignoring me, for saying you don’t want me.”
His shouts were followed by the sound of things crashing to the floor.
He was still young, but when his temper flared up, he became stubborn and hot–headed. In no time, the ceramic decorations on the shelf were all shattered on the floor by him.
“Jacob.” Jessica’s eyes turned red as she watched him lose control. She thought, ‘Is this really the son I raised with all heart for six years?‘
Finally, Jacob stopped only when he couldn’t reach the higher shelves. Shards of broken pottery covered the office floor.
After getting it all out, Jacob screamed at Jessica again, “Maddie was right. You don’t love me at all. You’re just selfish.
“You were never strict with me for my own good–it was all just to make yourself look good in front of Dad and everyone else. You raised me just so you could brag about how great you are at parenting.”
Everything Madeline had quietly planted in his head came spilling out now.
Jacob kept yelling and crying at the same time, his voice growing more and more hoarse, “Jessica, you don’t deserve to be my mom. You don’t care if I’m happy or not.
“Maddie was right–kids like me should be able to do whatever we want when we’re little.”
For him, there was blame directed at Jessica, and there was also a sense of grievance from being held to strict standards.
Faced with his accusations, Jessica paled as she helplessly took a step back.
She thought, ‘If teaching him to be disciplined, exposing him to multiple languages early on counts as being too strict, then fine. I’m okay with it.
‘But is Jacob really unhappy as a child? Before Madeline came into our lives, I took him to Disneyland regularly. I even took him overseas to go diving and explore the ocean.’
Jacob wiped his tears with his arm. “You treat me so badly, and I still thought you were a good mom. Maddie’s one who truly cares about me. She always sneaks me off to have fun.
“But you’re always so petty and mean to her, trying to make her leave. Just because I like Maddie a little more, you abandoned me. I was in the hospital and you didn’t even care. You don’t even want me anymore.”
Jacob whimpered, and the words that slipped out of his mouth felt like knives, stabbing straight into Jessica’s heart.
“Jessi?” Gabriela could tell Jessica wasn’t doing well.
Jessica waved her off, signaling her not to get involved.
“I’m fine.” Jessica’s face was expressionless. She clenched her teeth and told Jacob coldly, “I can’t deal with you. I’ll have your dad come pick you up.”
With that, she didn’t care that Jacob was throwing another tantrum. She immediately called Brian back.
Brian had just gotten back to Atkinson Villa and met up with Madeline. He was about to ask her if Jacob had done anything unusual before leaving when Jessica called. He picked up right away.
“Come pick Jacob up,” Jessica said, her tone sounding relatively calm.
