It Should Have Been Like This (The Revised Version)

Chapter 78: The Fierce Defender

They continued to go through a lot of negative comments, bringing down the commenters with a fire that both amazed and fascinated me. It made me feel better.

I received a call from Nic, and Ferris answered it. "Swine, what do you want?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What the…! I said to visit her, not steal her phone… wait, she took her phone?!" I heard Nic scream in the background, and I gulped, knowing I was screwed. "Argh! That's not important right now. Please tell her to check on Zayne. I don't know what he was thinking, but he uploaded a video online!"

"He did what?!" I exclaimed, snatching the phone from Ferris and pressing it to my ear. "Hello, Nic? What are you talking about?"

"Zayne used your social media accounts and mine to upload a video about an hour ago. Can you please check on him to make sure he's alright? After what he said, he shouldn't be left alone," Nic said, his voice laced with worry. I was already on my feet, heading towards the door, my mind casting out every other thought. I dropped the call, my focus solely on reaching his room to see if he was okay. My first fear was that he had hurt himself or that he was crying because of what he had witnessed earlier.

It's my fault.

The guilt was a heavy weight in my chest, a leaden knot that tightened with every breath. Why did I keep showing my children my bad side? Why did I keep ruining their happiness? All I've ever wanted was for them to enjoy their childhood, to experience the carefree joy that I had missed. I knew their intelligence and maturity had already stolen away some of that innocence, but I still clung to the hope that they could be normal, that they could have a childhood filled with laughter and wonder. Yet, I was the one who kept shattering their peace, the one who kept dragging them into the darkness of my own struggles.

They were right. I did love and care for my children. They were my everything, the reason I breathed, the reason I fought. But that didn't make me a good mother. I had flaws, deep, gaping flaws, and the biggest one was letting them see me at my lowest, letting them witness the cracks in my facade. What if it affected them in the future? What if their past, shaped by my failures, had a bigger impact than I could imagine? What would I do then? How would I live with myself, knowing I had poisoned their childhood with my own pain?

The weight of these thoughts pressed down on me as I pushed open the door to his shared bedroom. My heart pounded against my ribs, a frantic drumbeat of fear and guilt. Zayne was already facing me, as if he had been waiting. He rotated his chair, a wide, forced smile stretched across his face. But the telltale signs of tears—the damp lashes, the flushed cheeks—betrayed the bravado of his smile. A sharp pang of pain shot through me, and I clenched my fists at my sides, my teeth grinding together.

"You don't have to worry, Mom. I already said what should be said," he said, his voice a touch too bright, a touch too controlled. He pressed a button on his laptop, and the paused video on the screen resumed. It was a video of him, sitting in the same spot, a cold, seething expression in his eyes.

"You know, I'm probably going to get in big trouble for this, but I think it's better I say it. You all wouldn't like to hear Zach's and Savia's version. They are just thread thin from losing their last line of patience," he said, flipping a pen between his fingers, his voice laced with a sardonic edge. "I'm making this video concerning what is going on with my parents. First of all, I don't see how this is such loveable gossip that it'll trend so much, it baffles me. Second of all, I don't see how it's anybody's business. Stop judging either of my parents for what has nothing to do with you. I mean, come on!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up and leaning back, his swivel chair spinning a bit. His voice was rising, the anger bubbling to the surface. "None of you are saints! Just because your secret isn't out in the open doesn't mean you have the right to judge others!"

Zayne looked up at the ceiling, a weary sigh escaping his lips as he rolled his eyes. "Humans make mistakes, a lot of them actually, especially adults. You all have problems, things you regret, or some nonsense going on in your life, but that's hardly any of my business. What I care about now is my parents and my family. They both made mistakes, but they have learned from them and are striving forward to create a better future and happiness for us, their greatest gifts. My parents' past doesn't matter, whatever it is. What matters now is our present and the future you are all trying to jeopardize with judgments and hypocrisy based on some article published by some useless busybody, good-for-nothing bastard!"

His voice, once calm, now crackled with a simmering anger. "Regardless of whether it's true or not, they have moved on from it and are working on themselves. Making a story out of someone's suffering to target another, exposing the pain she is struggling to heal from, and sending her into a mental meltdown is unacceptable!" He slammed his fists on the desk, his eyes darkening with malice and fury.

"Your criticism is meddling with my parents' love life, so for the sake of the children who are getting fed up with the antics of brainless adults, mind your damn business and go back to your lives, whether pathetic or not. Just leave my parents alone, especially my mother. That is all I have to say…" he trailed off, his gaze dilating as a new thought seemed to strike him.

He tilted his head to the side, a saccharine smile spreading across his face. "Ah! Right," he said, his voice dripping with a chilling sweetness. "To the useless bastard who took it upon themselves to dig out my mother's past and make a show of it, you better hope and pray you're never caught because if you ever are, there's a long line of people planning your death. I for one have a very creative way to end you. Well, just do a good job hiding yourself just like you did a good job digging your grave. Thank you all for your time, and one more time, I plead with you all to mind your business. Bye!"

The video ended abruptly, leaving a silence that felt heavy and thick in the room. All I could do was stare at the screen, my jaw slack, my mind reeling in utter shock and perplexity. This… What the hell was this?!

The words echoed in my head, each one a sharp, cold blade piercing through the fog of my confusion. A chilling mix of fear and pride swelled within me, a strange cocktail of emotions I couldn't quite grasp. My son, my fierce, intelligent son, had just threatened the person who had dared to hurt me, and the thought both terrified and thrilled me.