"Now, I'll give you one more year to repay me the money you took. It's 340k RUB now." The man clad in a black suit said, signaling his bodyguards to stop grappling them as Irina ran up to Ivan and hugged him.
"But if you still fail to pay me, then I'll... have you face some serious consequences that won't end with just your son's eye." The man said, flashing a smile that looked like the smile of a devil.
"M-mommy's here now, Ivan!! L-lets go to the hospital now!!" She said as she carried Ivan while he cried and covered his left eye.
Without waiting for Arthur, she left for the hospital as soon as possible.
###
[Trinity Hospital...]
"Doctor!! Doctor?" Irina shouted, her tone desperate as she walked inside Trinity Hospital, the closest one from where she was.
"What happened, miss?" A middle-aged man hurriedly came up, breathing heavily as he was out of breath.
"M-my son is heavily injured!" Irina said as she showed Ivan to the middle-aged doctor, who started examining Ivan from head to toe before his eyes landed on the vertically lined cut on his left eye.
Ivan was unconscious from blood loss.
"Nurse!! Get a stretcher, fast!! It's an emergency!" The doctor hurriedly said after noticing the continuous blood leaking from Ivan's head.
As the doctor shouted, a nurse hurriedly came with a stretcher, and they placed Ivan on it before pushing him into the emergency room.
###
[4 hours later...]
"Doctor, how is my son?" Irina hurriedly approached the middle-aged man, her eyes red from crying.
"Your child is stable, and we've stitched up the wound around his left eye. Luckily, it doesn't seem to have affected his vision, but he will need to stay in the hospital for the rest of the day to rest. Also, you can visit him now but please don't wake him up. He seems to be still unconscious and needs rest. Though, I would like to know how he got such an injury?" The doctor said as he took off his mask.
"..." Hearing his words, she let out a sigh of relief but hesitated to answer the question before changing the story.
"He was playing when he accidentally crashed into a table with a knife, resulting in this situation." Irina said with a small smile, sweat running down her face.
"You should be careful not to have such lethal knives near the child. It could have led to more serious injuries." The doctor suggested before walking away.
As soon as the doctor left, Irina ran into the emergency room where Ivan was and sat beside him.
"I-I'm sorry, Ivan... I couldn't protect you! *Sob" Irina suddenly started to cry as she held Ivan's hand.
"I-I couldn't even stop that from happening! *Sob... *Sob.."
"I-I'm such a bad mother, right?" Irina said, blaming herself as she continued to cry.
"N-n-no..." Ivan said, struggling to form words.
"I-Ivan..." Irina muttered as she saw her son coming back to consciousness.
"Y-you aren't... a bad... mother... you... you're the... best... mother... one... could... ask... for..." Ivan said, taking a long time to speak as he struggled to form words.
*Sobs* Irina cried hearing her son's kind words.
###
[Later that day...]
"Thank you for treating my son, Doctor! Ivan, thank the doctor." Irina said as she held Ivan's hand and thanked the middle-aged doctor with a smile.
"Haha, don't mention it, miss. It's my job as a doctor to help as many people as I can." The middle-aged doctor said with a small laugh.
"T-thank you" Ivan said, with a small pause.
"Kiddo! Don't play around too much, okay? You wouldn't want to feel such pain again, right?" The middle-aged doctor said with a kind smile.
"Y-yes" Ivan said, looking down. Even though he knew his mother lied, he didn't point it out because he somehow knew it would only bring more trouble for his mother, so he stayed silent.
"Then, I'll take my leave, Doctor." Irina said as she thanked the doctor before leaving Trinity Hospital with Ivan.
###
"..." Irina took a deep breath outside her house door as she opened it.
"I'm home..." she said as her voice echoed through the small house.
"So, finally back home, huh? Bitch?" Arthur said as he came in front of her, his eyes red, his shirt half-opened and messy, with the smell of alcohol coming from far away.
"Where did you go, huh? Are you planning to run away or something?" Arthur said as he grabbed Irina by the front of her hair, causing her to growl in pain.
"Ahh," she growled in pain but didn't resist because she was powerless to do so.
As he grabbed her hair, he threw her against the wall, making her collide with it.
She growled in pain but still didn't resist because she had been suffering from his abusive behavior for the past three years.
"Still not talking? Am I guessing correctly, by chance? Bitch?" He said as he raised his hand, trying to slap her, but then Ivan came between them, spreading out his hands.
"Step away, Ivan! Your mother is doing something bad right now and daddy needs to teach her a lesson!" Arthur said, glancing down at him.
"Shut up, I won't let you beat my mother!!" Ivan said, resolute in his decision to protect his mother.
"Ivan..." Irina said, tears gathering in her eyes as she saw her son's brave actions.
"So even you're taking that bitch's side instead of your father, huh? You also need a beating, I guess..." he said as he raised his hand to slap him, but before he could do that, Irina came forward and grabbed his hand.
"You can do whatever you want with me, but please... please... don't involve Ivan here." She said in a sad tone.
"Shut your trap, bitch, and go away!" He said as he pushed her away and then raised his hand and slapped Ivan.
The sound of the slap echoed through the house as Ivan's cheeks turned red.
"Now, will you step away, Ivan!" He said, still having a hint of kindness as he tried to get Ivan away.
"I won't!" Ivan said, not a single tear dripping from his eyes. He looked at Arthur with his right eye, which was bloodshot red from anger.
"You need more? Son of a bitch!!" He said as he grabbed a broom and swung it at Ivan with such force that he dropped to the ground with a thud.
"Stop that right now!!" Irina said as she stood up, anger visible on her face.
"You step away; I'll teach him a lesson," Arthur said as he swung the broom at her, hitting her arms, but she didn't move an inch.
In his anger, Arthur continued swinging the broom at her, and even when she fell to the ground, he didn't stop. He kept hitting her.
On his fifteenth hit, Ivan suddenly hit Arthur's head with a shoe, attracting his attention. Arthur then began to beat both of them one after another while they endured it with gritted teeth and bloodshot eyes.
###
Just like that, the year passed in the blink of an eye. Throughout the year, they continued to suffer from the abuse and torment Arthur brought upon them.
Every day, he would get some alcohol and, when drunk, would beat them to vent his frustration and anger from the loanshark, who continuously reminded him once every two months.
On 1987/1/1, they were all brought into the Rocemel Garage once again, in front of the loansharkers.
"So... you still couldn't get the money, huh? Even after giving you four years... freaking four years, you still failed to repay me..." The man in a full black suit and a white hat said, his expression icy cold as he looked at Arthur with an angry tone.
Then he extended his hand to his right bodyguard, who gave him a metal bat.
Using the bat, he swung it at Arthur with full force, hitting his hands and then his legs until Arthur fell to the ground, growling in pain.
"Ackkk" he growled in pain as the man continued to hit him until blood started to drip from his forehead.
"Am I a joke to you?" The man said, his piercing cold gaze straight into Arthur's eyes as he struggled to make eye contact.
"N-no..." Arthur said, fear, pain, and anger written all over his face.
"Since you failed to repay me, I have no choice but to show you the consequences." He said, looking at Irina, who had her head down.
"N-noo!!" Arthur said, but his words were met with the metal bat once again, breaking his remaining teeth as the man walked toward Irina.