Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Nadine couldn’t understand why Brad refused to go through with the divorce.
It didn’t make sense that he wouldn’t want to marry Jean when he loved her and cherished her as much.
as he would a precious porcin doll.
At this rate, he would be doing her a disservice by not making an honest woman out of her,
Nadine had once foolishly believed that her dedication and loyalty could win Brad over. She thought she
could break through his walls and melt that frozen heart of his.
That was until she saw the way he treated Jean at the hospital.
Nadine realized then that she had been too naive. Brad did not love her, and her existence was nothing
more than a thom in his side.
Havinge to terms with brutal reality, Nadine made up her mind to divorce Brad.
However, Brad threw her a curveball by getting angry at the mention of the divorce and refusing to go through with it. His reaction was maddening, to say the least.
Desperation seized Nadine as she demanded, “If you love her, marry her. Show her you mean it by choosing to spend the rest of your life with her. Wouldn’t you want that?”
She saw no point in tying herself to Brad now that she had epted the truth. The more desperate she was to hold onto this rtionship, the faster it slipped away.
It was time Nadine did them both a favor and freed them from this loveless marriage. They wo
happier that way.
Brad snorted and licked the corner of his lips.
both be
He eyed the ashen–faced woman before him scornfully as he drawled, “You’re good at spinning all this sensible bullshit, Nadine, but where was your voice of reason when you schemed to marry me?
“Don’t you think it’s too little and toote for you to tell me these things now? I wasted five years of my life on you! Do you expect me to forgive you just like that?”
All the blood had drained from Nadine’s face as she met his gaze. She was shivering like a half–drowned animal, her fear palpable.
And yet, the determination in her eyes did not waver as she stared at him.
Brad nearly scoffed at the absurdity of the situation. He had never been toyed around like this by a
woman <b>before</b>.
Did Nadine think so little of him that she presumed she could marry and divorce him on a whim?
He would have pinned her against that wall and made her moan his name if she didn’t look so miserable already.
When <b>Nadine </b>realized she was not getting through to <b>Brad</b><b>, </b>she abandoned <b>her </b>efforts altogether.
Bracing one hand against the wall, she straightened up and pulled down her dress, ready to retreat to <b>the</b>
bedroom.
She <b>had </b>only taken a step when her knees gave out. She staggered and fell face–first toward the floor.? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.
Just as she thought she would break her nose on the floor, a strong arm reached around her waist and
pulled her upright.
Nadien didn’t want to look at Brad’s perfectly chiseled face. She turned to look the other way as she
huffed, “I don’t need your false kindness!”
Even as the words left her mouth, she couldn’t help the warmth that surged through her.
Brad was stoic most of the time, and he was apathetic to almost everyone.
However, the fact that he didn’t want to go through with the divorce coupled with the way he had saved her from the fall just now must mean he still cared for Nadine, didn’t it?
Nadine wondered if she was allowed such a fanciful thought.
Brad was about to say something when his phone rang. He pulled it out and saw the name on the screen:
Jean.
He promptly let go of Nadine when he registered the caller ID and put the call through. “Jeanie,” he said indulgently.
He wasn’t smiling, but Nadine swore the loving look in his eyes was too much for her to look at. Whatever warmth had coursed through her earlier was now dampened.
She shoved her hopes down and braced a hand against the wall as she slowly made her way upstairs.
There was no hesitation in her steps. At that moment, she was but a forlorn silhouette on the stairwell.
After leaving the Hamilton Estate, Jean had not run far. She had been waiting for Brad to find her, but for some reason, he never did.
When the rain started pouring again, she had no choice but to swallow her pride and call Brad.
“Brad, where are you?” Jean asked.
Brad heard the crack in her voice and clutched his phone tighter. “Jeanie, where are you?” he demanded. ”
find you right now!”
????
go
In between sobs, Jean <b>told </b>Brad her address and said, “It’s cold here, Brad. I’m scared, and it’s raining. Can you hurry, please?”
“Wait for me there. Don’t move,” Brad replied.
He left in a hurry after that.
On the second floor, <b>Nadine </b>had only just turned around when she saw Brad leave like a hurricane.
A bitter smile curled on her lips, disappointment <b>coloring </b>her ashen face as she told herself to take <b>a </b>good, long look at Brad’s departing figure.
This was how a man in love behaved, and she certainly had never been on the receiving <b>end </b>of it.
Brad did not love her, and he couldn’t care less about her well–being.
Nadine quietly returned to the bedroom and began packing a suitcase..
The autumn rain brought with it a bone–piercing chill.
On the third floor of Hamilton Estate, Nadiney awake in bed.
The bed in the master bedroom wasrge enough to fit three people, but because Brad was usually here to upy the space next to Nadine, it did not feel quite as empty.
However, now that Nadine was alone in bed, she couldn’t help feeling as if she were <b>lying </b>in an icy cer. Her bones ached from the chill in the air that seemed to seep through the bedcovers.
Even though she had turned on the heater, the lower half of her body still felt cold.
It was as though she had been sawed in two, and what little warmth provided by the covers could only. envelope half of her, leaving her other half exposed to the biting cold.
Nadine waited for Brad to return, but she couldn’t hold out any longer <b>and </b>eventually drifted into sleep.
It was no restful slumber.
Nadine dreamed about the fateful night from five
years ago.
She <b>had </b>been in her second year of university then, with long hair that reached her waist and a cheerful disposition. She was also known for her sweet smile, which was bright enough to turn heads.
To lessen her mother’s burden, Nadine chose to work part–time during her university years and took up a job as a waitress at a hotel.
That night, Tyler, her then–boyfriend, met with her at the hotel and told her of his ns to study abroad. He invited her to go with him, but Nadine couldn’t bear to leave her mother behind and turned him down.
Tyler saw how resolved she was and thought she did not love him, so he stormed off.
Nadine stood in the corridor and watched Tyler leave. She had been so heartbroken that she couldn’t
breathe.
Just as tears streamed down her cheeks, a hand suddenly reached out of the darkness and mped over
her mouth.
Nadine was knocked out after that and dragged into the room next door. That was when her nightmare began.
Her virginity was taken away from her by force that night, and by a stranger, no less.
Nadine woke up alone in the room and was confronted by the mess on the floor. She bit her lower lip and forced back her tears, shoving the horrible incident into the back of her mind.
She had stupidly believed that she could pretend as if the incident had never happened as long as she stopped thinking about it and kept it a secret.
But two monthster, Nadine started experiencing inexplicable bouts of nausea. She threw up so frequently that she thought she might have had food poisoning.
She went to the hospital to get examined only for the doctor to tell her she was pregnant.
Nadine thought she might die from the agony of such news. She couldn’t understand why the universe was making her go through such suffering after the nightmare she had been through.
On that same night, she found her way to the cliff by the sea. In her moment of despair and desperation, she leaped from the edge without thinking.
Just as she thought she could finally escape tragedy, a pair of strong hands reached for her and pulled her out of the ocean.
It was Brad who had saved her.
He told her he was fine with marrying her and taking up the role of the child’s father, but that he would divorce her once the love of his life returned.
From <b>that </b>day on, Nadine became Brad’s wife
However, everyone knew she was his wife in name only and that Brad did not love her at all.
The nightmare was like a vine that grew wildly until it crept around Nadine’s heart.
She couldn’t <b>breathe </b>as shey in the dark, feeling as if her heart was being squeezed to the point of bursting: