Chapter 242

Calliope was at a loss.

“What are you talking about? I’m not blind, okay? And sure, I listen to my mommy, but that doesn’t mean I just make things up! It is what it is!”

Baber huffed, “That woman was trying to hurt me! Daddy, you have to punish her!”

Upton nodded, turning toward the door. He glanced at Valerian. “Do you think my son is an idiot? He doesn’t even know who he’s looking at?”

“He’s just a kid,” Horatio interjected, frowning. “It’s not surprising if he made a mistake.”

“Is that so?” Upton’s gaze drifted to Lisette. “What about you? Are you really saying you didn’t take my son?”

“I didn’t!” Lisette stammered, feeling a cold dread settle in her stomach under Upton’s piercing stare.

“You didn’t?” Upton chuckled darkly. “Because your people already admitted it. You still want to lie? Fine. Let’s go confront them.”

Fagan led the way as the group moved to another empty hospital room. Inside, two men were tied up, guards keeping a close watch on them.

As soon as they saw Fagan and the others enter, their faces turned pale.

“We didn’t mean to! That woman made us do it!”

“It was Lisette! She paid us to take the kid!”

“We had no idea who he was! We were just following orders!”

“Please, let us go!”

“Mr. Myers, we’re sorry!”

The two men spilled everything–offering bank transfers, call logs, whatever proof they had. It was all Lisette’s doing.

Lisette’s breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t expected them to break so easily. Panic surged through her as she realized she was exposed.

“Mr. Thorne, I’m sorry… Yes, I took Baber, but I wasn’t going to hurt him! I just wanted to scare Calliope! That’s all! And Baber’s fine, isn’t he? I apologize!”

“So, you admit it?” Upton’s lips curled into a smirk. He took a step forward, then, without warning, kicked her.

Lisette’s body crumpled to the floor. She clutched her stomach, pain radiating through her ribs.

“Mr. Thorne… I’m sorry, I really am! But I never meant to hurt Baber! I just wanted to scare Calliope! If you want to blame someone, blame her! If it weren’t for Calliope, I wouldn’t have done this!”

Lisette lifted her face, feeling a pang of agony.

“It’s her fault! She didn’t watch Baber properly! Even if I hadn’t taken him, someone else could have!”

“Oh? So I should be grateful to you? For proving Callie isn’t capable of protecting Baber?”

Lisette’s eyes lit up with hope. “Yes! I was helping you!”

Upton crouched down in front of her, his expression cold and unforgiving.

“Callie is like a sister to me. You really think I’d blame her? You underestimate how much she means to me.”

His lips curled into a cruel smile. “And if I did want to test her, it sure as hell wouldn’t be you doing it. You dared to touch my son and tried to hurt Callie. You went after the two people I care about most.”

His hand shot out, wrapping around Lisette’s throat. Then his fingers tightened ever so slightly, his face a picture of devilish allure. “You want to die?”

Lisette choked, unable to speak, her gaze, imbued with despair, met Upton’s. She was staring into the eyes of a monster. Sheer dread filled her heart; she was going to die.

“Let her go!”