The Heart Left Behind (Cole and Yvonne) novel Chapter 108

"I've never thought of going against Cole," Yvonne said.

She just wanted Xavier to truly belong to her.

Taking a deep breath, she ignored Jared and muttered to herself, "I won't let him take Xavier away from me."

The rumors eventually reached Grandma.

"How terrible!"

She wondered if we ever stopped to think about our children. She called me several times, but since I didn't answer, she had to send someone to my office to look for me.

The moment I saw Frankie, Yvonne's call came through.

She sounded panicked, with chaos audible in the background. I went to a corner and tried to calm her down.

"Speak slowly."

The only reason Yvonne would call me was if it was related to Xavier. After the divorce, we had agreed not to interfere in each other's lives.

"X-Xavier got into a fight. He's in the hospital now."

"What did you say?"

It took me only 15 minutes to get from the office to the hospital. Following the ward number Yvonne provided, I found Xavier lying in bed through the window on the door.

His small frame looked even more fragile under the covers, as if a gust of wind could carry him away.

"What happened?" I asked, scrutinizing his bruised face.

Multiple scratch marks marred his face, and his neck was wrapped in layers of bandages. His condition was ghastly. His leg was also in a cast—it was clearly broken.

Yvonne sat beside him, sobbing and trembling uncontrollably.

"What are you crying for? Speak up!"

Utterly frustrated, I paced back and forth, wishing I could just wake Xavier up and demand that he tell me what happened.

"Someone at school said I'm…" Yvonne choked, unable to bring herself to say those words—those humiliating words that stabbed her heart like a dagger.

Even though she didn't say it, I already knew. The recent gossip had grown increasingly vile, and all sorts of news began to spread.

"What are you going to do?" Yvonne eyed me warily.

Well aware of how ruthless I could be, she suddenly began accusing me, "You can't make Xavier's reputation worse!"

I was stunned. It took me a moment to realize that she was referring to the recent scandal.

"What does this have to do with me?"

I pitied her. As a mother, watching her child get hurt was unbearable. But how could she expect me to take the blame for this?

"Yvonne, don't you dare turn the tables on me," I snapped, reluctant to argue with her.

Given Xavier's current condition, he definitely couldn't return to school anytime soon.

"Is the news under control yet?"

We couldn't afford to leak the incident of Xavier being hospitalized. If Grandma and my parents found out, things would escalate beyond control.

"Not yet," Yvonne said.