Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
stood up and added, “Get some rest. You need to be well for the wedding.”
As he moved to leave, Vicki suddenly sat up and wrapped her arms around him from behind, pleading, “Don’t leave. Jarrod, you’re so heartless. You don’t even care about me,” she said pitifully.
Vicki’s eyes were puffy from her tears. In the days since Jarrod had been gone, she had been in agony, crying endlessly.
He hadn’t answered her calls, responded to her lengthy texts, or even picked up when her father tried to reach him.
This was Vicki’s first real encounter with Jarrod’s coldness. When she attempted to slit her wrist, it was her way of trying to get him to return.
But as the blood began to flow, fear took over. She didn’t actually want to die. She realized that death would bring only endless loneliness. Without Jarrod, she didn’t want to face the void.
So she called the servants, creating a scene to get medical attention and bandaging, prompting her father to summon Jarrod in anger.
Jarrod stood unaffected, his athletic figure visible beneath his suit, clearly someone with significant influence in the game of love. He gently pushed her hand away, looked down at her, and asked, “Have you come to your senses?”
“IT have, Jarrod.” Vicki refrained from saying anything that might upset him.
She understood the balance of gains and losses. With the wedding approaching, repeating the suicide attempt for sympathy could lead to disgust rather than compassion. Once was already pushing it. She wouldn’t dare try it again.
“I’ll do whatever you say. Just don’t leave me. I’ll listen to you in everything,” Vicki pleaded, her voice breathless from crying, her face wet with tears, initiating pity in anyone who saw her.
A wealthy young woman was brought down to such a condition. There wasn’t a man who wouldn’t feel a thing.
And Vicki, with her clean history and tendency to avoid conflicts, appeared even more sympathetic.
Jarrod was quite pleased. He patted her head and said calmly, “Good.”
It was late at night.
Nicole lay in her hospital bed, the room lights turned off long ago.
In the darkness, she gazed up at the ceiling, her eyes wide open.
Outwardly, she seemed perfectly calm, but internally, she was in chaos. The sense of confusion and helplessness overwhelmed her when alone.
She had to maintain a composed exterior in front of others, while internally she was tormented about how to escape her situation.
She had already attempted to break free twice, with little success.
Whether it was faking her death or trying to flee, she always found herself back where she started.
Jarrod had her on a string like a kite. With just a gentle pull, he could bring her right back. And all her attempts to fight back seemed, in retrospect, merely laughable.
Nicole bitterly thought that even fate seemed to favor him. Why? Why did life treat her so unfairly?
The door creaked open.
The sound of familiar footsteps caused Nicole’s body to tense instinctively. She quickly closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.
The footsteps stopped beside her bed.
Nicole felt as though venomous eyes were piercing into her, sending shivers down her spine.
After a tense silence, Jarrod said, “Nicole, sometimes I wonder, if you really were to die, what would I do…”
He apparently didn’t realize she was awake as he spoke these absurd words.
Then, his large hand cast a shadow over her delicate neck.
For a moment, Nicole was terrified that Jarrod had a murderous intent, that he might actually kill her.
But then, the footsteps faded away.
Nicole opened her eyes, her breathing unstable as if she had narrowly escaped an ominous threat. She couldn’t remain passive. She needed to find Roscoe and attempt to reach out to the nanny responsible for Austin’s care once more.
Perhaps because she was back under Jarrod’s control, the anxiety within her grew. She felt as if a long-concealed secret was on the verge of being revealed.
She glanced at the door. Four bodyguards stood outside, and two nurses were switching shifts inside.
On the bedside, a thermos-held honey water a nurse had prepared for her earlier. After taking a sip, an idea began to form in her mind.
Over the next few days, Jarrod was busy and didn’t visit her for three straight days.
During this time, Nicole grew quite fond of a particularly compassionate nurse named Leila Hunt.
Leila was warm-hearted and sociable.
Nicole came to get close to Leila, and while Leila was caring, she was cautious, never intruding into personal matters and always speaking with tact.
Noticing that Nicole had a good appetite today, Leila carefully peeled and sliced fruits, placing them neatly on a plate before offering them to Nicole.
“Miss Lawrence, please try this. Alec brought them in just this morning. I’ve never seen them before. He mentioned they’re imported and very good for your health.”
Nicole ate half but couldn’t finish them all. “You can have the rest, Leila.”
Leila hesitated, feeling unworthy to eat such a Luxury. These were delicacies she’d never even seen before. How could she casually consume them?
Only after Nicole insisted a few times, mentioning it would spoil if left uneaten, that Leila gave in and tried them.
The fruits had a rich, creamy texture like ice cream, and Leila found them incredibly tasty, though she couldn’t quite place the flavor.
She wanted to take these to her child. She felt a slight guilt, knowing her child had never tasted such delicious fruits while she enjoyed them.
Noticing Leila’s expression, Nicole encouraged, “Leila, why don’t you take some home for your child to try?”
Leila quickly refused. “Oh no, I couldn’t. I have tasted them. I can’t take them home. These were specially ordered by Mr. Schultz for you to help regain your strength.”
Leila’s husband worked as a driver, and together, they used their earnings to support their child’s education and purchase a small apartment measuring around 60 square meters, which they had taken a loan for. It wasn’t extravagant, but at least they had a place to call home now.
But the burden of the loan pressed down on Leila, forcing her to be extremely thrifty, never allowing herself a moment of rest.
Her child mostly ate apples, bananas, and pears because Leila hesitated to buy unfamiliar fruits from the store. The ones they already had were both affordable and nutritious.
In her heart, Leila wished her husband and child could taste such delicious fruits because they might never have the chance to try something so special again in their lives, apart from what their employers had gifted them.
However, Leila held firm to her principles. She never took things from her employers’ household without a genuine reason, nor did she blindly accept the employers’ casual kindness.
She had witnessed many employers who would offer things but Later gossip about her, calling her a country bumpkin lacking in sophistication.
Even though Leila’s family was far from wealthy, they held their heads high with self-respect. Normal food could satisfy their hunger.
They refused to compromise their principles for a mere meal.
“Leila, I genuinely respect you,” Nicole reassured her. “If you don’t take the fruits, they will just be thrown away, and that would be such a waste.”
Over the past few days, Leila had realized Nicole was unlike previous employers. Nicole was compassionate and treated the staff with kindness.
Seeing the desire in Leila’s eyes, Nicole added, “You know I don’t have much of an appetite, and I can’t eat too much fruit every day. It’s a shame to throw all of this away daily. If you don’t mind, please take some back for your family to enjoy.”
Jarrod had made it clear that the fruit delivered was always fresh, but the hospital room’s temperature wasn’t ideal for storing it, so any leftovers at the end of the day would be thrown away.
Reflecting on it, Leila felt it was a shame to see so much fruit wasted daily.
After Nicole’s genuine offer, Leila realized it would be stubborn to decline. She smiled warmly. “Thank you, Miss Lawrence.”
Nicole assured her it was no trouble at all.
From that moment, their relationship deepened. The next time Leila came to work, she excitedly told Nicole how her son had loved the fruits, declaring it the best he’d ever had.
Leila’s words were filled with a simple, infectious joy.
Nicole looked on with envy. All she had ever wanted was that simple kind of happiness.
One afternoon, when the bodyguards were away, Nicole seized the opportunity to ask Leila a favor. “Leila, could you help me by delivering a message?”
“Who should I deliver the message to, Miss Lawrence?” Leila asked.
Before her shift began, Leila was tasked with closely observing Nicole’s every word and action, reporting everything back to Jarrod.
This was Alec’s instruction to Leila. She didn’t dare to disobey, but she would choose what to report during her shifts.
Nicole answered, “My husband.”
Leila was taken aback. “Your husband? Then Mr. Schultz is…”
Nicole explained that she had been forced into this situation by Jarrod, and their relationship was complicated. Jarrod was determined to tear her and her actual husband apart.
Telling the whole story of her past with Jarrod would take days, so Nicole simply gave Leila the main points. In her heart, Roscoe was her only husband, and if she were to marry, it would only be to him.
Leila was shocked to hear this. She had always believed Jarrod was Nicole’s husband.