We were still arguing when we got home. Our voices must have been loud because Faye came storming into the living room.

When her eyes met mine, her face contorted with rage. “June Rand, what the hell are you screaming about at this time of night with my son?”

Mark, sounding irritated but trying to keep his composure, said, “Mom, she’s insisting on going to the hospital to investigate the baby’s death. I tried to stop her, but she won’t listen.”

At those words, Faye stormed toward me and slapped me across the face. “You try stirring up trouble at the hospital, and I’ll break your legs myself! Losing that demon child was bad enough, and now you want everyone to know? This is all your fault—”

Before she could finish, I snapped. I lunged at her, grabbing her by the hair. She could insult me all she wanted, but she had no right to speak about my child like that!

I had tolerated her for too long. Not anymore. I wasn’t going to stay silent any longer!

I shoved her onto the sofa and started hitting her, my anger exploding after months of holding it in. Mark jumped in to break up the fight, but he took quite a few hits himself in the process.

“June Rand, have you completely lost your mind? How dare you lay a hand on my mother!” Mark shouted, before raising his hand and slapping me so hard across the face that I fell to the floor.

The sting of the slap spread across my cheek, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Mark sneered and said, “My mom has a point. I’m perfectly healthy, and so are you. Don’t you know why the baby was born deformed?”

I glared at him, my eyes burning with rage. “What are you implying?”

Mark laughed mockingly. “Why should I have to spell it out for you, June? You know exactly what I mean.”

“What?” I asked, my voice trembling with disbelief.

Mark’s expression turned cold, his lips twisting into a cruel smile. “My mom’s right. Our family has no history of defects. So how does a deformed child get born into this family? Unless, of course, you were screwing around with some other man.”

I couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth.

I stood there, shaking. ‘He is accusing me of being unfaithful? The same man who has been sneaking around with another woman is now accusing me of cheating?’

‘I got pregnant right after our first time together, and now he has the nerve to suggest I’ve been with someone else? Unbelievable.’

I was shaking with rage, barely able to contain myself. I pushed myself off the floor and walked right up to him. I struck him in the face with greater force than I imagined possible. “Mark, you’re such a hypocrite. Let me ask you something, the night before I went into labor, whose bed were you in?”

His eyes widened in surprise. For a moment, he was speechless. “How did you know?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.

“So, you admit it?” I asked, my voice ice cold as I gave him a piercing look.

He took a step back, his face hardening. “You’ve been spying on me?”

I ignored his question. “I asked you—do you admit it?”

Tears streamed down my face as I stood there, waiting for him to say something—anything—that would explain himself. But instead, Mark just looked at me with a cold indifference.

I had been so stupid. Even though I’d told myself I was done with him, deep down, I had still hoped for some kind of remorse. I had hoped that, like in some TV drama, he would at least try to lie to me, say that the other woman had seduced him, that he’d made a mistake, that it was just a moment of weakness because I was pregnant.

But no. He didn’t even bother with an excuse. He didn’t even care.

I felt a surge of anger so strong I could barely breathe. I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, tears running down my face as I choked out, “Mark Jason, why are you doing this to me?”

At first, he just stood there, watching me with that same cold expression. But then, as if he couldn’t take it any longer, he shoved me hard, and I fell to the floor.

His laugh—low and eerie—sent chills down my spine. The man standing in front of me was nothing like the Mark I’d once known. He wasn’t the charming, sunny man I had fallen in love with years ago.

In that moment, I saw something else—a monster, a demon that had been lying dormant inside him, finally unleashed.

And that time, I was seeing the real Mark for the first time.