Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
“Nicole is my wife. I won’t let you hurt her.”
Jarrod raised an eyebrow, grimacing sharply.
“Your wife?”
Kieran, despite trembling under Jarrod’s intimidating presence, stood his ground, buoyed by the promise of financial gain.
“Yes! She’s my wife and she’s pregnant by me. You can’t touch her.”
“She’s pregnant with you, I can’t touch her?” Jarrod echoed Kieran, disbelief turning to derisive laughter.
Only Nicole knew how ominous that laugh was. She shoved Kieran away, reprimanding him, “Stop lying! When did I get pregnant with your child?”
Kieran, looking hurt, insisted, “Nicole, you’re just upset. A child needs a whole family ??you can’t raise him alone! I don’t care how many men you’ve slept with. I’m sure the child is mine.”
Her sincerity seemed genuine, as if she really believed her own words.
Nicole caught on instantly, suspecting that someone had bribed him to slander her.
“Kieran, who paid you to slander me?” asked Nicole angrily.
“Nicole, are you saying that because you’re afraid?” Kieran gently stroked her back, trying to offer comfort.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I’m here for you.”
Honey? The word “honey” bristled Nicole’s skin, stoking her desire to unmask his deception.
Jarrod’s patience snapped. He stood up quickly, fists clenched, and delivered a resounding punch to Kieran.
Poof! Kieran spat out two bloody front teeth.
Jarrod, kneeling, grabbed Kieran’s jaw and punched him in the face repeatedly, leaving Kieran bloodied and nearly unconscious.
From the looks of it, Kieran was mere inches from death.
Nicole, fearing the worst, intervened.
“Stop it, Jarrod!”
She was concerned about her reputation, not Kieran’s well-being.
Jarrod, enraged, threw Nicole away, and she landed awkwardly on the couch.
As she approached the foot of the couch, Nicole instinctively shielded her abdomen, leaning forward and curving her back.
Her spine absorbed the impact and her lower body didn’t suffer as she landed roughly on the couch.
There was a cracking sound and pain shot up and down her back, making Nicole wonder if she had fractured her back.
“Ouch…” Nicole winced and a sharp hiss escaped her lips. Luckily, her protective instincts had kept her belly safe from harm.
Jarrod’s fury increased as he watched her protect her stomach.
“Are you that worried that your sweetheart might die?”
He grabbed her by the throat and pinned her against the couch. His words were harsh and accusing.
“Are you that reckless and horny? How, none of the men in this fucking country could satisfy your needs? You cheated on me and even carried another man’s bastard inside you.”
Jarrod’s voice was a mixture of icy contempt and anger, his presence exuding a palpable coldness.
Overpowered by the chilling tension, Nicole felt paralyzed, her body refusing to respond.
She frantically tried to pull her throat free, gasping for breath. With great effort, she managed to speak.
“No… It’s not what you think… He burst in and tore my clothes.
She couldn’t finish speaking. His face was tinged a disturbing purple-red, his breathing was ragged and choppy, and the air in the room seemed rarefied.
Jarrod’s greatest aversion was betrayal. He would never give up anything that was marked by his touch. Yet Nicole had betrayed him time and time again.
The thought of Nicole’s betrayal ignited in him a fierce anger.
He felt a burning desire to erase the evidence of her infidelity.
Nicole’s vision was blurred, her chest tight and her neck throbbing. She felt disconnected from her own body, overwhelmed by the thought that Jarrod might try to kill her.
Was this how her story would end, would she share her fate with her unborn child?
Her consciousness faded, tears spilling down her flushed cheeks, tracing trails to Jarrod’s bloodied hand.
Nicole had struggled to hide any sign of weakness, refusing to cry in front of that merciless man.
However, in her last moments of consciousness, she could not hold back the tears.
It was a cruel irony that, after fighting so hard to survive, she could die with her name sullied.
Her last wish was never to cross paths with Jarrod again in another life….
Then, abruptly, the crushing pressure on her throat disappeared.
Jarrod’s face, icy and unyielding, wore an expression of contempt.
“Death would be too kind to you.”
Nicole drew in a shaky breath, her sudden inspiration triggering a coughing fit.
Each cough shook her body painfully, as if tearing her from the inside.
Then, a mouthful of blood, dark with clots, spurted from Nicole’s lips, a sign of serious internal injuries.
That single cough seemed to sap all her strength, leaving her trembling.
Jarrod’s heart skipped a beat and he instinctively reached out to hold her hand.
But before he could touch her, Kieran, bloodied and battered, pounced on her.
“Nicole, are you okay, did our baby get hurt?” Kieran cried out in concern.
A murderous glint flickered in Jarrod’s eyes.
With a swift kick, he sent Kieran against the wall.
Blood spurted from the corner of Kieran’s mouth, followed by a low moan before he lost consciousness.
Jarrod then turned his scornful gaze to Nicole.
“Quite a performance, coughing up blood like that. You seem to have a knack for faking illness.”
Nicole, barely catching her breath, looked at Jarrod in disbelief.
“Faking illness?”
“You used a gastric ulcer to make me think it was cancer, didn’t you? To buy time, to save your father,” Jarrod accused, his voice dripping with venom.
“Eighty million. How many men did you sleep with to raise that much money? And you still haven’t gotten rid of the child in you. Remarkable indeed.”
Nicole listened intently to Jarrod’s accusations.
Stomach ulcer? Bastard? Kieran’s sudden involvement?
It all seemed like a well-laid trap to entangle her.
He wondered why she was justifying such elaborate schemes by others.
Even without those accusations, Jarrod’s treatment of her was harsh enough.
What was in it for her?
Keeping her composure, Nicole replied, “Jarrod, did Jamie tell you this story? Stomach ulcer, an illegitimate child, Kieran’s involvement. He seemed to have gone to a lot of trouble to weave such a complex story.”
“Shut up!” Jarrod’s eyes burned with fury.
“You have no right to talk about Jamie like that! He’s nothing like you.”
In Jarrod’s mind, Jamie was flawed, but not to the point of orchestrating such a plan.
“Jarrod, a simple checkup can confirm if I have stomach cancer. As for the child…”
Nicole paused, her heart shrinking. She had wanted to deliver the baby to ease her parents’ agony when she would someday meet her death from cancer. But if Jarrod knew, he would never let her have it.