Side Chick Era Over (Sharon and Carter) novel Chapter 359

Chapter 359

Theo spoke quietly, “Telling Mom wouldn’t have changed anything. She was tripped by those men, and not a single person stood up for her. No one defended her. Instead, everyone laughed at her. Mom is weak… She doesn’t have the power to solve these problems for me.

“And just now…when Bob’s mom found out Mom was Matty’s guardian, Bob’s mom demanded that Matty kneel and apologize. She wasn’t scared of Mom at all.” His hands clenched at his sides. “If it had been me who messed up today… would she have told me to kneel too?”

Both Carter and Xavier turned to look at Mrs. Cosgrove.

Mrs. Cosgrove’s face drained of all color, legs visibly shaking under their stares.

Theo’s voice dropped lower, “Grandma always says… I’m the future heir of the Biggs family. I have to handle things on my own. I can’t run to the adults every time something goes wrong.”

Xavier’s dark eyes deepened, as though some storm was brewing quietly behind them.

A child raised in love was so different from one who lacked love growing up.

The difference was stark. Someone like Theo, brilliant as he was academically-always ranked top, always praised for his smarts -was still only five. But a five-year-old forced to internalize lessons about power and humiliation… would carry wounds deeper than anyone realized.

In a strange, cruel way, Theo’s brashness around Sharon, the way he threw tantrums and demanded her attention-it all made sense now. He only acted like that with her… because it was the only place he felt safe enough to. 1

Love, it turned out, was a scarce commodity. The rarer it was, the more desperately one clung to it.

But Matty was different. Matty had always known that if you wanted something, you had to grip it tight. Hold on. Never let it go.

Theo’s words left the entire room frozen.

Then Xavier’s lazy, bone-deep voice shattered it. “You know… when a woman is mocked, humiliated, treated like dirt in public… the real reason is simple. It’s because the men around her are useless.”

He let that hang in the air. His razor-sharp words were cruel in their honesty.

“A child watches his own mother get humiliated,” he went on, “and instead of anyone standing up for her, what happens? He’s told to endure it. To handle it himself. To not complain.”

His gaze cut through Mrs. Cosgrove before landing squarely on Carter.

“You ever hear this before, Carter?” Xavier’s smile was soft. But every word hit like a blade. “Only useless men let their wives get humiliated by others.

“And if I’m guessing right, you still don’t understand why Sharon divorced you. You probably think she overreacted. That she’s the difficult one. You don’t even realize what you did wrong… do you? (1

“Sharon was the wife of the CEO of the Biggs Group. She had that title. And yet, even random nobodies think they can humiliate her. Even children think it’s okay to mock her. And because of that… your own son gets bullied, too.

“Tell me, Carter… don’t you think… as a husband, you’ve failed spectacularly?”

Carter’s pupils contracted sharply.

His head snapped toward Sharon, but her face was blank. No anger. No sadness. Nothing he could read. (1

Then Xavier spoke again. “But you see… I’m not like you. I protect what’s mine.”

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His gaze, cold as frost, slid to Mrs. Cosgrove.

“Someone bullies my son? Not happening.” His tone sharpened. “Someone bullies Sharon? Even less likely.

“Mrs. Cosgrove, you seem to like making people kneel and apologize. Since your son’s still young, I won’t bother with him. But you? You’re an adult. A mother. Why don’t you kneel for him? Own up to your mistakes. Apologize.

“After all, you like kneeling so much. I’m sure you’ll do it with grace.”