06
90%
Every time Celeste prepared formula for me, she would take a sip after dripping some onto her arm, as if afraid I might test it myself. Only after confirming it was salty would she hand it
over.
I calmly accepted it, but as soon as she left, I poured it all out and breastfed my child
instead
if I hadn’t already decided on a foolproof plan, I would have torn off all pretenses and kicked
them out.
Not only did I refrain from telling Derek about my suspicions or what Celeste was doing, but I also reassured him that Celeste and Lessie were filled with regret.
hurt
Because I was afraid Derek might do something drastic. I wasn’t worried about them getting
But I couldn’t let Derek end up in prison because of this.
Like a mother hen guarding her chick, I barely left my room. Every time Lessie tried to
persuade me to go for a walk, I claimed I wasn’t feeling well and refused.
After about half a month, I voiced my concerns. “I don’t know what’s going on, but the baby
hasn’t been urinating much lately. Should we take him to the hospital?”
Celeste was so delighted that she could barely contain her smile. “It’s fine, it’s normal for
babies to pee less sometimes. The formula was probably too thick. I’ll dilute it a little next time.”
I appeared deeply worried, but under the combined persuasion of Lessie and Celeste, I gave
up on the idea of taking my baby to the hospital.
Soon, Rickey started showing symptoms, just as I had predicted, his urine output decreased
significantly.
I figured his kidneys were failing. After all, consuming excessive salt at every meal, no baby’s
kidneys could endure that for long.
less.
I felt no remorse at all.
Lessie sat in the living room, holding Rickey, while discussing with Celeste.
“Mom, we should take him to the hospital. He’s barely peeing, something’s definitely wrong!”
Celeste hesitated. Just two days ago, she had told me it was normal for babies to urinate
Sensing that the timing was right, I stepped out of my room. “We should go to the hospital. Might as well get both kids checked. If something’s wrong, we need to know.”
I pretended to reach for my phone to call Derek, but Celeste quickly snatched it from me. “What hospital? Hospitals are full of germs! The baby is fine, he just isn’t eating enough. Once he
eats more, he’ll be fine.”
Lessie and I exchanged the same concerned expression.
D
But no matter what we said, Celeste refused to let us go to the hospital. Instead, she stared blankly at the formula in the kitchen.
I guessed she was starting to doubt herself.
12:51 Wed, 26 Feb
DIuTIRIy ཕ་ ང་IG TOདT–Tuīས – | ང་ ་S ཥIང་ དཁ་ད,
I guessed she was starting to doubt herself.
.90%
Knowing she would want to verify things, I quickly sent her out to buy some fruit. Lessie,
weighed down with worry, took the baby back to her room.
Like a thief, I dashed to the kitchen, dumped out Celeste’s formula, and opened a brand–new
can. I poured some out, making sure it looked identical to before and then left the kitchen.
Just as I had expected, when Celeste returned, she first came to my room. Seeing that I was
asleep, she quietly shut the door. I watched everything unfold on my phone’s surveillance feed.
Celeste made a bottle of her formula and drank a few sips, confirming there was no salty
taste. Immediately, she rushed to explain things to Lessie.
They kept their voices low, but I could still hear them.
“If only one can have salt, then why is my baby also struggling to pee?”
Celeste thought for a moment before replying, “Maybe he just isn’t drinking enough. Don’t
worry, I always taste Angeline’s formula first to make sure it’s salty. And her baby isn’t peeing
either, so how could I have made a mistake?
I remember perfectly. I only put salt in one can. How could both Angeline’s formula and yours be salty?”
Only then did the two of them finally relax.
From now on, they wouldn’t dare tamper with the formula again. They would be much more
cautious. But it didn’t matter, Rickey had already consumed too much salt and had received no medical treatment. His condition wouldn’t improve.
Sure enough, Rickey’s situation worsened.
A week later, he couldn’t urinate at all.
This time, no matter how much Celeste objected, Lessie insisted on taking him to the
hospital. I feigned deep concern and went along with them.
But as soon as we left, I dropped my son off at Derek’s parents‘ house.
I knew Rickey’s fate was grim. I was afraid they might take their anger out on my child, so I
had to keep him safe.
Fredric and Grace were happy to help but found my request odd. I simply told them that
Rickey was unwell, and I was worried it might affect my baby, so I needed their help watching
him.
When we arrived at the hospital, we walked in just in time to hear the doctor speaking to Lessie and Celeste with a grave expression. “Did you feed the baby salt? His kidneys have completely failed.”
Lessie fainted on the spot.
Celeste’s face turned deathly pale, and she stammered, “S–salt? No, of course not! Why would I give my own grandson salt? Salt can kill an infant!”
I sneered internally. “This is my mother.”
She knew full well that I had treated her and Lessie with nothing but kindness. But their greed was insatiable, they didn’t just want kindness. They wanted the best.
12:52 Wed, 26 Feb
I sneered internally. “This is my mother.”
She knew full well that I had treated her and Lessie with nothing but kindness. But their greed was insatiable, they didn’t just want kindness. They wanted the best.
I rushed forward anxiously. “Doctor, my nephew hasn’t been able to urinate for days. J wanted to bring him to the hospital earlier, but my mom refused. After they left, I got curious and checked the formula in the kitchen. I found that it was salty!”
The doctor, having encountered cases like this before, sighed after confirming the presence
of salt. “You should prepare yourselves. The situation… doesn’t look good.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Celeste collapsed.
