Chapter 1835:


    The man walked toward her, his eyes already bloodshot, tears falling freely. He had been watching Etta’s anguish from a distance ever since the truth came to light, and he had not stopped crying since.


    From the time he was a small boy, he had believed he had been abandoned because of his blindness — that his parents simply hadn’t wanted him. But now, having finally heard the full truth, he understood that his mother had been just as much a victim as he was, ensnared in the same cruel web of lies.


    Etta’s son finally understood everything. His mother had always loved him — it was his cruel father who had abandoned him and tried to end his life with poison. He was fortunate to have survived, though the poison had cost him his sight. More fortunate still, he had finally been given the chance to return to his real mother and learn the truth.


    “My son… my dear boy…” Etta wept, pulling him into a fierce embrace.


    A wave of emotion broke over the man, and his voice cracked as he spoke the word he had longed to say. “Mom.”


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    They held each other tightly, the years of separation dissolving into the warmth of that single moment.


    “My poor child… I feel so guilty for not knowing the truth sooner,” Etta said through her tears. “I had no idea you were swapped at birth. You went through so much pain because of it.”


    “It isn’t your fault, Mom. Please stop ming yourself,” the young man said, his voice thick with feeling.


    They wept together for a long while, until the tears gradually slowed and they found their breath again.


    Etta pressed the hard-soled shoe into his hands, her voice quiet and steely. “Son, go hit them. Get every bit of that anger out of your system.”


    “That sounds like exactly what I need,” he said, taking the shoe from her without hesitation.


    He walked toward his real father, whose face had drained of all color.


    “Wait — don’t do anything rash. I am still your father,” Etta’s husband stuttered, his words slurred and distorted through the gaps where his teeth had been.


    “What kind of father treats his own child this way? You have no heart!” Etta’s son shouted. “Even wild animals protect their young.” He raised the shoe and brought it down hard. The sharp crack of it echoed through the entire room.


    Then he turned his attention to the mistress’s son.


    “What are you doing? I never did anything to hurt you,” the other man stammered, his face pale with fear.


    Etta’s son looked at him with cold disdain. “You may not have hurt me, but you were cruel and ungrateful to my mother. She wasn’t your birth mother, and yet she loved you all the same. You got your position with the Jones family because of her help. And rather than show an ounce of gratitude for how she raised you, you tried to have her killed. You are every bit the cold-blooded monster your father is.” He ground his teeth and set upon them both with fast, heavy blows.


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