Page 132 of My Damaged Protector

“Sarah? Sweetheart? I'm so happy to see you. Thank you for doing this,” Neville speaks weakly from his position. All I can do is stare at him in bewilderment.

Has he really become this much worse?

I don't know whether to feel sorry or sad for him.

I sit down and leave them to their clearly intimate conversation. Soon, Peter moves away and comes to my front.

“I'll inform the doctor you're around so they can start preparing him for surgery.”

I nod.

He remains standing, clearly still having something to say, but I look away from him.

We're long past speaking now.

As he leaves, I try to busy myself with thoughts of a better future. One where I don't have an estranged father dying and acrazy stepbrother blackmailing me into saving him at the risk of his potential niece or nephew’s life.

How did my life get so degenerated?

Once there was a time where I could have sworn all was well with me and there was hope for a better future. But now? I just don't know.

As if prompted by my troubled thoughts, I start to hear sounds of commotion outside the room’s door. Peter opens the door in that moment, and I watch him go from standing one second to flying through the air the next, before he lands at the feet of his father's bed, passed out.

What the hell?

Shooting upright, I start to move towards him, but I'm halted in my tracks at the sound of the last voice I expect to hear.

“Step away from him if you don't want to end up like him.”

I freeze and slowly turn around to face the owner of that voice.

Oh my God.

“What are you doing here?” I choke out.

“Stopping this nonsense from happening,” he says determinedly and walks past me to gather a now unconscious Peter into his arms.

All I can do is gape at him in confusion, unsure of what to make of the current situation.

He looks nothing like the man I know. He's not acting like him, either.

Dressed in black pants paired with a gray hoodie, Ian looks like a criminal, especially with the deadly look on his face.

What does he think he's doing?

“Ian,” I call his name, hoping to talk some sense into his head.

He doesn't answer me, just picks up Peter, and starts to walk to the door. I quickly stand in front of the door to block his path.

“Get out of my way,” he snaps at me in a cold voice. I flinch and then quickly gather myself. Stepbrother or not, I can't let him take Peter away.

“No. Tell me where you're taking him first.”

“Where I'll be taking you too if you don't step out of my way.”

“What?” I blurt out.

Why is he suddenly acting like a criminal?

---