Take My Breath Away

"Then, don't hold a scalpel. We can afford to feed a cripple." Keith wouldn't change his mind. He sat in a chair.

Baldwin took the ruler and sighed inwardly. He hadn't hit Niles for more than ten years. He wondered whether his son could take it. Knowing Niles was studying to be a doctor, Baldwin went for his butt first. If he injured his hand, Niles might not be able to hold the tools of his trade steadily enough.

He dragged Niles over and made him bend over a table. When his dad swung the ruler at his butt, Niles screamed, "Grandpa, Dad, I was wrong. I won't do it again. Ow!" He was more than twenty years old. He hadn't expected his grandpa to punish him like this. Luckily, they weren't having any guests over that day. That would be humiliating.

Cecelia wandered in the street after leaving the house. 'Niles isn't a child anymore. Being hit like that, what if he gets depressed? A beating is pretty harsh.' She was so worried she even forgot that trying to help him would only make things worse. She pulled out her phone and called Wesley. "Wesley, your grandpa is so ticked off. He's even beating Niles. Help him!"

'Beating him?' Wesley frowned. When Niles was little, he was very naughty and would cause a lot of trouble. Keith would punish him with a spanking, and Niles would run around the house like he was running from the Grim Reaper. But after he started junior high, Niles always behaved and was never hit again. But why now? "What's the matter? Why is Grandpa so angry?" asked Wesley.

"It's all about you, Niles and Blair." Cecelia told him everything, including how Niles had tricked Keith into buying him an apartment.

Wesley lit a cigarette, listening quietly to his mom. "Mom, I'll only call Grandpa to suggest he use the whip instead of the ruler," he said.

Cecelia was dumbstruck. It dawned on her that her firstborn was even worse than Keith. He had a moral code, and held everyone to those high standards. He'd probably be even harsher than his grandfather.

That was when she realized that she turned to the wrong person. "Never mind. I never said a word. Stay out of it.

'm in your area," Blair coaxed him gently, as if she was coaxing a child.

"I'd like that. You and Wesley should come visit me together," Keith said.

Blair knew what he meant. "Okay. Bye, Grandpa Keith," she replied with a smile. Even though he couldn't see it, he could hear it in her voice.

She was now covered in a sheen of sweat when she hung up. What made her bold enough to deal with a general on the phone?

That question didn't linger long in her mind, though. After a nice shower, she put on her nightgown and opened a book. Yet she couldn't concentrate. Her mind kept drifting, imagining visiting Keith with Wesley. But not long after she sunk into her reverie, her phone rang again. Speak of the devil. She wondered what it could be about. Wesley almost never called her.

She picked up her phone to answer it. "Hello?"

"Did you call my grandpa?" he asked.

Blair blinked. "How did you know?"

"What did you two talk about?"

"Nothing. He asked me to visit him when I can. What did Niles do?" She couldn't figure out what could piss Keith so much that he had to beat his grandson.

She knew how harsh that could get. The Li family and the Ji family were well-known for their punishments. Hartwell had been a good boy when he was little. And now he was a successful man.

But even he had been punished by his father like this.

"Worried about him?" Wesley's tone got colder.