Chapter 8
+25 BONUS
Kennard turned to Nicole. “You were the one stopping Dawn from getting the paternity test. So, all along, you were planning to pin this on her! You’re the one who’s been hiding all these ugly truths. How could I have been so blind all these years? Tell me–who’s Hanley’s father?”
Hanley’s face twisted with anger. “Mom! You ruined everything! You made me divorce Dawn! Christopher is my real son!”
Finally, Nicole couldn’t hold it in any longer. She shot a glare at me. “You’ve already taken the money and divorced Hanley. Why are you back now? I’ve been hiding this for 30 years, and you’ve ruined everything!”
I rolled my eyes. “You started this, remember? Christopher is only three, and you threw us out in the middle of the night. What, you thought I’d just let this go? Let me tell you, this is karma. You didn’t really think you could keep this secret forever, did you? Or did you think I’d happily play the fool?”
Kennard shook with rage, his entire body trembling. He slapped Nicole hard across the face. “Thirty years! I raised someone else’s son for 30 years!”
Hanley fushed to comfort him, but Kennard shoved him away. “You and your shameless mother–you’ve lied to me for 30 years. I’ll kill you!”
Kennard stormed toward Nicole, grabbing her by the throat. They struggled, wrestling on the floor.
Nicole was no match for him, and she looked at Hanley desperately. “Hanley, help me! He’s going to kill me!”
Seeing Hanley standing there, frozen, I frowned and walked toward the door, shaking my head.
Before I left, I took a quick photo and sent it to the family chat with a message, [Looks like we don’t know for sure who isn’t part of this family, do we?]
From behind the door, I could hear the sounds of fighting.
I walked downstairs, feeling an unexpected sense of relief, a lightness I hadn’t experienced in years.
The next time I heard news about them, it was from the police.
Apparently, a neighbor had called in a report about a disturbance next door, and the officers rushed over when they heard someone might be in danger.
By the time the police entered, Nicole was beaten to a pulp, her head and face covered in blood, with Hanley also bloodied. Kennard was sitting on the floor, panting heavily still clutching a broken bottle.
They rushed Nicole to the hospital, and though she survived, the doctors said she’d likely spend the rest of her life in the hospital.
I told the officers everything I knew, like I was recounting some ridiculous soap opera.
“Okay, we may need to follow up with you. We hope you give us your full cooperation.”
Once the police left, I headed to pick up Christopher from school. I didn’t expect to run into Hanley at the gate. (1
He grabbed my arm urgently. “Dawn, I’m sorry. I should never have doubted you. Please forgive me, for Christopher’s sake. I’m his father, after all.”
There were a lot of people around the kindergarten gate, and I forced myself to keep calm as I shook him off.
“Get away from me. Now you suddenly care about being Christopher’s father? When you kicked us out that night, you sure didn’t care. And don’t forget–we’re divorced. Christopher is with me.”
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Hanley stood stubbornly in front of me, not backing down. ‘Dawn, please. It’s not my fault. My mom pushed me into doing all of that. Now she’s in a coma, lying in a hospital bed; she’s getting what she deserves. Please, forgive me. Everything’s a mess at home. I can’t handle this without you.”
He kept babbling in my ear, drawing unwanted attention from the people around us.
I was stunned. I had never realized just how shameless Hanley could be. His own mother was in the hospital, and he actually said she was getting what she deserved.
No wonder Nicole had ended up like that. Hanley had probably blamed her too and didn’t even try to stop Kennard from attacking her.
He was selfish and cold to the core, capable of doing this to his own mother–what would he do to me and Christopher in the future?
The more I thought about it, the more irritated I became. I bit back my frustration and said, “Is that all? We’re divorced, Hanley. Whatever happens with your family has nothing to do with me.”
As if I would believe he was actually regretting his actions.
Nicole was in a coma, and Kennard was in jail; he was just frustrated that he didn’t have a maid to cater to him. I couldn’t believe he was sugarcoating that, acting like he was apologetic.
Listening to his hypocritical words made me want to laugh. It was all just too ridiculous.
+25 BONUS
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