The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 865 The Unexpected Child

Being the kind of mother that she had always been, Peggy frowned in discontent at her daughter and complained, "Sue, I'm not getting younger. Neither are you. You should at least have a plan to get married to a man who will amount to Anthony so that I won't have to worry about money anymore. Don't you want the same?"

Even though it seemed like she was a part of her mother's whole narrative, Sue knew that what really mattered to her mother's never ending tale was money. As heart breaking as it was, the poor lady knew that if her mother were made to choose over her own daughter's happiness and money, Peggy would definitely choose fortune in a heartbeat. "Mom, do you never hear yourself talk? Do you have even the slightest idea what you're talking about?" Sue asked in utter disbelief. The young lady wasn't numb to her mother's nature; she knew that Peggy was a person who had no boundaries, but even a person without limit would still have at least some kind of breaking point -- although the chance of that ever happening was low. The words of the single woman's mother never failed to make her wonder if there would be an end to all of her mother's demands. Her mother's persistence in getting her way for the things she could not afford was still astounding and unbelievable to Sue because she knew that it was not out of her mother's knowledge that the tuition fee of the school she wanted her grandson to attend was expensive, but she was still willing to manipulate and bend Sheryl for the sake of her future grandson. "Of course, I know what I'm talking about," Peggy confidently responded as if whatever she demanded was what she deserved. With the same tone of displeasure, the head of the household once again demanded, "Stop looking at me like you're mad at me. You know well that everyone should go for the best and my grandson is not going to be an exception to that. If he doesn't get into the best school, he is going to lose his face value and fall out of the competition with his peers. I will never allow that to happen. You're his aunt so I trust that you'll do whatever it takes. If you're not up to it we can always still ask for help from Sheryl, if not from Anthony, or anyone at all who has the fortune to aid our needs. I'm sure someone will be willing to help."

"Wake up. This is not some fantasy; this is real life," Sheryl refuted without hesitation. "To tell you the truth, I'm never going to pay to make your unimaginable dream of getting your dearest grandson enrolled into a prestigious school come true. I'm not even going to ask Sheryl for help. I'm not going to give you even a cent from my money!" exclaimed Sue, who was already running out of patience for her stubborn mother.

"How dare you!" Peggy exclaimed even louder, battling her daughter's anger. She was enraged at her daughter's resistance and disobedience. For years, the standard scenario was that Sue would fold to anything her mother asked of her and the young lady wouldn't even dare put up a fight. Peggy always had things her way and that was why she was so furious; right now, nothing was going the way she wanted it because she seemed to have lost power and control over her puppet of a daughter. "If you don't pay the loan, I will sell you for whatever I can get for you! I heard that many widowed men are willing to pay for a wife. If you won't join in my plan with you, I will execute my plans without you."

When Sue heard that her mother was willing to go as far as selling her own daughter's body for money, she found herself helpless and hopeless. How could a mother have the heart to profit out of her child? It was all ridiculous to the maiden.

"I don't care what you say," said Sue, standing firm on her words. "I'm never gonna pay for you anyway -- your debt, your money. I owe you nothing and I will never help you."

Allen, who was eavesdropping from the other side of the door throughout the whole conversation, sprung into the room to reprimand his sister. Enraged by his sister's resistance, he came forward and threatened Sue, "You will pay whether or not you like it."

The battered woman scoffed and said, "What if I say I don't want to?" Sue already had her mind made up; she didn't want anything to do with her greedy family, where everyone was nothing but selfish and evil With her ties from them cut off, the woman now had nothing to fear because she knew she had nothing left to lose. The only thing that the berated woman was worried about was her final words of goodbye to everyone in that household, which was not something she was reluctant to do.

"I'll beat you to death," Allen threatened once more. He ran towards Sue, pushed her down with full force, and threw kicks after the other at his very own sister's body. "If you're not going to budge, then I'll beat you up until you do," the merciless man exclaimed.

Sue could not help but stay down and cooperate with gravity. She was lying on her side feeling sharp pains in her belly. What hurt her the most was that the one who was mistreating her was her biological brother and the one who stood by to watch and do nothing was her very own mother -- both from the same bloodline and both very much apathetic to her humanity. It took several kicks before Peggy intervened and said, "Alright, that's enough. Don't forget, we need her alive. She's our paycheck."

The abusive man shot the poor, worn out woman one last glare. He warned her one last time, "You better remember who you are and what you should be doing. If I ever hear you refusing to obey mom again, I'll surely have no second thoughts taking your worthless life."

Once Allen was able to storm out of the room, the evil witch decided to continue the conversation as if nothing had happened. "Alright, princess. Get up."

She then heaved a sigh and once again faked affection for her daughter. "I don't like seeing you like this. If you just agreed to pay, then you wouldn't have to suffer. Do you see my point?

I know you think it's right to blame me for treating you unfairly, but you should know that you are a woman and that's just how society goes; we live to favor men." Peggy was just spewing nonsense until she could get anything from her daughter -- she was waiting for a response or even a counter-argument from the woman she once bore. However, Sue's body remained lifeless on the floor. This was when the manipulative mother realized that something was wrong.

She kneeled down to examine Sue, whose abdomen was pressed against both of her hands. Her daughter's face was pale with body dripping full of sweat as if she had just taken a shower.

It was then that worry struck the guilty woman. She began to fear that she had gotten herself into trouble, knowing that she could be behind bars for the abuse she caused if anything serious were to happen to Sue. In panic, she asked, "What... What's wrong with you?"

Again, she received no response from the woman lying on the floor. Sue had lost the strength to utter even a single world. The pain that she was feeling was killing her.

With her heart beating fast, Peggy fell pale. The old woman knew that she could be in huge trouble. She could barely gather and construct her words, "I'm... I'm warning you, Sue. Don't you dare act like you're seriously injured; I know you are not as hurt as you project yourself to be. It was just a couple of kicks, so get up. You can't be that hurt, can you?

You... You better get up now, or else I'll beat you up as well!" The mother's empty threats once again fell on deaf ears. No matter what she said, Sue still looked like she was dead. It was then that Peggy got nervous that she couldn't help but give into being scared. "Allen! Allen!" the woman called out.

"What?" Allen responded, approaching the room. He reluctantly reported to his mother and impatiently asked, "Why are you shouting so loudly? What's wrong with that bitch now?"

"Allen, look at her. Does she look like she's dead or dying?" Peggy asked. Her voice was shaking just from the thought of Sue dying.

Allen then felt the same kind of anxiety as his mother. "What... What just happened? I didn't even go all out. Why is she hurting like that?"

As much as he abused the woman, Allen was right -- he did not use his full strength against her. For all the times he had beaten up Sue, he had learned to what extent the force he applied should be as to not seriously injure the woman. He knew that it was definitely not supposed to turn out this way.

"Hello, stop acting. Get up now!" Allen shouted as he poked Sue.

"My... M-My... Bel... Belly..." Sue forced the words out of her mouth, squeezing any strength she had left out of her throat while battling the pain she felt on her abdomen. "Send me... to the hospital..." pleaded the poor woman.

"Hospital?" Peggy asked in utter disbelief. It took the mother a while to gather what she should do, but when she got her senses back together she immediately catered to her daughter. "Yes, okay. Allen, quickly, help her up and hail a taxi to take us to the hospital, now!"

The duo rushed to the hospital, with their hearts beating and their consciences driving them insane. They meant to hurt the woman they had treated like a slave, but not the point that her life was threatened. After a thorough examination of what had happened in the case of the beaten up patient, the doctor reported that it was not entirely the trauma that made the young woman experience agonizing pain - it turned out, Sue was pregnant. It made sense that the worn out woman was feeling pain from her belly; she was housing a child inside. Peggy and Allen were stunned when they heard what the doctor had to say.

"Mom, how could this be? How is she pregnant?" Allen asked. Perplexed, he added, "Who... Who is the father of the child she's carrying?"

"How would I know?" Peggy replied sharply, clearly annoyed and tensed. "Look at what you've done! You were too harsh this time! Did you really believe that she wouldn't pay so that you wanted to take her life?"

The man looked at his mother in embarrassment until he could come up with an excuse, "I... I couldn't have known she is pregnant."

Peggy, who was now genuinely concerned, was not in the mood to argue with her son. Instead, she ran to Sue who was lying still on the hospital bed. The mother found that the doctor was finally speaking to a conscious woman, reminding her of all the things she should do as a pregnant woman. "Your baby is in an unstable state. If you had come here a few minutes later than you did, the baby would have been gone. Please, take time to rest until the baby stabilizes. Do take care of your body if you want to keep the baby. Avoid falling again, or else the result may be irreversible," the doctor carefully instructed. "Thank you, doctor," Sue replied, glad to finally see a face that was there to take care of her. She showed her sincere gratitude to the doctor who saved her baby.

"There is one more thing I need to ask you about. Please, be honest..." the doctors said. The medic took notice of the injuries all over Sue's body and after that he took notice of the woman who brought the pregnant woman to the hospital. He hesitated for a brief moment and then asked, "You really don't seem like you just slipped and fell. Is there any need for me to get in touch with the police for you?" "There's no need for that. Really, it's unnecessary," said the mother of the pregnant woman, replying on the behalf of the patient. Terrified to suffer the consequences under the law, Peggy stopped doctor and said, "It's just an accident."

The doctor, whose suspicion was only growing heavier, asked the old woman, "Who are you?"

"I am the mother of the patient," Peggy replied with an innocent smile. "I can assure that this was all a mere accident, doctor. Thank you so much for your concern, help, and kindness but there is really no need to trouble the police for this matter."

Still unconvinced, the doctor paid no attention to the guardian and instead turned to the patient, waiting for her decision.

Sue, who knew well that the intervening of the police would only aggravate the situation, forced a wry smile. She knew that there was nothing that the police could do for her; it was not like Peggy was going to be sentenced to jail for life. At best, her evil mother would only be behind bars for a few weeks, which was enough time for her to plot harsher things to do to Sue.

The soon-to-be mother thought it through and finally shook her head gently. "Thank you, doctor, but there is no need to call the authorities."

Since this was the decision of the patient, the doctor pushed no further into it even though he had his own theories regarding the matter. Out of respect, he had no further mentions of the police and reminded the pregnant woman to take care before leaving the room.