Martha patted his back, and Clark reluctantly let her go. Martha hurried over to help Bruce up. Bruce touched the cut at the corner of his mouth, then looked back at Clark and said, "Looks like you were hurt badly. Otherwise, I should be in the Kuiper Belt by now..."
"You damned bastard!" Clark glared at him through gritted teeth. "You played me!"
"Oh my God! Clark! Don't speak to him like that!" Martha hurriedly stepped between them, then said to Clark, "Your friend saved me. Those bad men almost kidnapped me."
Clark stared wide-eyed at Bruce. Bruce wiped the corner of his mouth and sat back down at the dining table. Clark had no choice but to follow him over and sit across from him.
"By the time I reached the Kent family farm, those people had already broken in. They'd tied up your mother and were about to carry her into a vehicle. I took them all down."
Only then did Clark feel waves of lingering fear. So Lex Luthor had really done it. Batman had simply arrived first and saved his mother.
But why...
"Oh, dear, you don't know yet, do you?" Martha brought him a bowl of oatmeal and said, "I have an accidental injury insurance policy. I bought it back when the Kent family farm was still doing fairly well, and the coverage is substantial."
"The harvests haven't been good these past few years, especially this autumn. The wheat we grew failed to meet the required standards, so it was all classified as livestock feed. We lost a great deal of money because of that. At this rate, we won't have enough money to buy seeds for next spring."
"The Kent family farm is too old. The house needs repairs, and the equipment needs replacing.