Ashton said again, “Mal, I’m sorry for everything. But the baby is innocent. Please put him down first.”
Tears streamed down Mallory’s face as she asked bitterly, Do you think I’d hurt the baby? Is that how low I’ve sunk in your eyes?”
She gently pressed the baby to her cheek, her expression softening. Then, she turned to look at me.
“Pip, come take him,” she said.
Ashton and I exchanged a glance, and he nodded subtly.
I approached Mallory cautiously, extending my hands with deliberate care. Mallory took one last, lingering look at the baby before reluctantly placing him in my arms. The warm, solid weight of my baby in my arms made relief flood through me at last.
I began walking back to Ashton with joy in my steps when Mallory’s voice, filled with desperate fury, cut through the air.
“I won’t hurt the baby, but you must die!”
Startled, I spun around. Mallory had produced a small knife from somewhere and was charging straight at me.
I instinctively shielded the baby and ducked my head, bracing for impact.
The pain I expected never came. When I looked up, Ashton was gripping the blade tightly with his bare hand.
Blood poured from his palm, staining the sleeve of his white shirt and dripping onto the floor in a horrific trail.
Startled by the commotion, the baby began wailing loudly, his cries echoing in the open air.
Mallory froze as if she had just woken up from a dream. She dropped the knife in a panic.
Her gaze darted between Ashton and the bloody mess she had caused. Backing away step by step, she collapsed onto the ground, curling into herself.
Tears welled in her eyes as she whispered repeatedly, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…”
Ashton clutched his injured hand, his voice icy as he addressed Cameron, “Take her back.”
Cameron hesitated for a moment. He glanced at Ashton’s bleeding hand before nodding in agreement.
Meanwhile, I stood behind Ashton, clutching the baby. My face was pale as a sheet.
Ashton turned to look at me, and there was a faint smile tugging at his lips. “I told you, I’d never let anyone hurt you or the baby.”
