Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
Eventually, Jarrod secured top-notch doctors and arranged for Dora’s care at the best facility. With continuous treatment, she could move her hands and feet and even sit up.
Watching TV was part of Dora’s rehabilitation, meant to stimulate her brain, but it seemed to make little difference. Dora remained unresponsive.
Nicole gazed at her mother’s familiar face, and memories long suppressed flooded her mind. The kitchen glowed warmly, steam rising from the pot on the stove, her mother cooking while her father set the table.
When Nicole came home, their faces lit up with joy.
“Nicole is back…” Their voices were filled with warmth and happiness.
Another wave of memories came flooding back. She remembered her father in his study, the lamp burning late into the night, and her mother bringing out a bowl of soup that went mostly untouched.
Her mother stood there, worry etched across her face.
This was around the time Jarrod had started his attacks on the Lawrence family. Back then, Nicole believed that as long as they stayed united, they could handle anything together. In the worst case, they might go bankrupt, but she could find work and help support her parents.
But she hadn’t considered there could be a fate worse than that.
Before long, her father ended up in the hospital, and her mother, who once seemed gentle and caring, was now staying up all night to care for him and snapping at Nicole under the strain of the rumors and her father’s illness.
When Dora slapped Nicole, it hit Dora just as hard. She couldn’t comprehend how her daughter could end up being someone’s mistress.
Her spirit was crushed, and she couldn’t bear to face Wesson in the hospital bed.
Sensing the looming disaster, Wesson called Nicole the night before.
“Nicole, if I don’t make it, you have to stay strong. Take care of yourself and look after your mother.”
Nicole broke down in tears. “Dad, don’t say that. We’ll be fine.”
Even if we have to let the company go, we can pay off our debts little by little until they’re gone.” Then, she said naively, “The three of us can live simply. We’ll be together, and we can handle anything…”
The next day, Nicole found her father’s body lying in a pool of blood, his skull crushed and his leg missing. The once-pristine golden floor that represented her family’s legacy was drenched in blood.
With her father gone, it felt like the world had come crashing down.
Nicole had vowed to take care of her mother, but she ultimately failed.
The sight of Dora weighed on Nicole like chains that kept her tightly bound.
Jarrod placed a hand on Nicole’s shoulder, trying to offer comfort.
“Ah!” Nicole shrieked. To her, that hand was stained with her family’s blood.
Jarrod’s hand hovered in the air, his face contorted with frustration.
Nicole’s disgust and hatred toward him were deeply rooted.
Nicole failed to understand why Jarrod couldn’t just leave her alone.
“It’s not good for you to be so scared of me, especially since we’re going to have to live together,” Jarrod said with a twisted smile, his eyes darkened with a menacing glare.
At his words, Nicole scoffed. “Have you ever seen enemies live together, Jarrod? You’re out of your mind.”
Jarrod replied icily, “It’s a miracle that I’ve managed to keep my sanity all these years.”
In truth, he felt he had already lost it long ago. After Nicole sneaked away, he spent many sleepless nights overwhelmed with anger and fear, dreading that she might vanish from his world for good.
The loneliness dragged him deeper, like sinking into quicksand.
Nicole herself felt she might lose her grip on reality. Her thoughts churned as if her head would explode. “Don’t you feel despicable? You hid my mother and found Austin, using them as pawns to control me.”
“Despicable?” Jarrod scoffed icily. “Maybe I am, but only because you pushed me to it!”
Nicole hung her head, numb to his words.
Jarrod grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. “Don’t you realize I could crush you like an ant? Yet, how did you treat me? You stabbed me and stole documents to have me locked up. You tried to kill me. And still, I’ve spared you, time and again. While you were cooing with another man, I couldn’t sleep and searched frantically for you. Do you even have a heart, Nicole? Did you ever think of me while you reveled in those happy moments?”
Jarrod trembled with rage as he spoke. Despite everything, he still couldn’t force her compliance. He fixed his intense gaze on her, as if wanting to absorb her entirely. He loved and hated her simultaneously, torn apart by his emotions.
“I hate you… I hate you…” Nicole sobbed, her voice muffled.
Jarrod pulled Nicole into his arms, and she immediately screamed, “Don’t touch me! Don’t, don’t! Don’t touch me!”
She pounded on his chest with all her might, but her blows felt Like soft rain to him, barely noticeable.
With determination, Jarrod drew her into his arms, holding her tightly, almost to the point of breaking her delicate frame.
A tear rolled down Jarrod’s cheek, wetting his lashes. “I hate you too, Nicole. Just as much as you hate me. But I can’t help it…”
Why couldn’t she just submit for once? Was that really too much to ask? If he didn’t stand firm, she’d avoid him like the plague. If he didn’t act despicably, she’d be gone for good.
Jarrod leaned in, pressing his lips against hers roughly. For him, possession was enough, even if love was lacking.
Nicole struggled to pull away, tears streaming down her face like a river breaking its dam. “Jarrod, don’t touch me… Not here.”
This scene was a throwback to the beginning, back in her father’s hospital room, when Jarrod had acted just as callously. He ignored her parents, decency, and humanity, acting like an animal.
Jarrod looked down at the trembling Nicole and realized he couldn’t keep going. He lifted her into his arms and carried her out of the hospital room.
Once inside the car, Nicole curled into a corner, sobbing as if trying to cry out every tear she had. If it were just Austin, maybe she could endure.
But she had her mother to consider. She would do anything to protect them, even if it cost her life. Wasn’t fate just cruel? How could it be so unfair to her?
Jarrod brought Nicole back to the Oasis Apartment, and she felt like she was returning to a cage.
Nicole stood hesitantly at the doorstep, unable to move forward.
Jarrod glanced back, his lips curling into a sneer. “What’s the matter? Think the place you once lived in is dirty?”
Nicole tried to muster her courage, but the thought of stepping inside terrified her. It meant continuing her complicated, tangled relationship with Jarrod. She stared at him from the doorway and said coldly, “I want to see Austin. He’s not well.”
Jarrod’s expression turned icy. “You know he’s not well? Then you hid him out there for so long?”
Jarrod had been too preoccupied searching for Nicole to get Austin checked since his return.
Jarrod didn’t have strong feelings for Austin. Jarrod’s father had ruled with a heavy hand, and affection in the Schultz family was always scarce.
So, Jarrod resorted to his father’s strict standards, not knowing how normal families functioned. Of course, he wouldn’t use a belt for small mistakes like his father had. Austin looked so delicate that even a belt could prove fatal.
With that in mind, Jarrod resolved to arrange a full medical checkup for Austin the next day.
Jarrod turned to Nicole with a cold expression and said, “You hid him away, unable to give him a decent life, and now he’s so fragile. I don’t think you’re fit to raise this child.”
Jarrod assumed Austin’s pallor was due to malnutrition, unaware of the serious illness Austin faced.
Nicole’s anger erupted. She snatched off her shoe and hurled it at Jarrod, striking him on the shoulder. “What do you know, Jarrod!” she spat, glaring at him with a deep, swirling hatred.
Though the impact was minor to Jarrod, his pride couldn’t tolerate such a challenge. His expression hardened as he scoffed. “What do I know? I know about you cavorting with another man while leaving my son somewhere else with a nanny.”
He jabbed a finger at her face, his voice venomous. “Nicole, just for that, you don’t stand a chance of winning custody!”
“Why should I hide?” Nicole laughed heartily as if the question was the punchline of a joke. “Jarrod, why on earth should I hide?”
Jarrod’s expression contorted with frustration as he faced her, knowing the reasons all too well but refusing to admit his faults.
To him, Nicole was meant to be his, regardless of the time passed or their distance apart.
“If you hadn’t been so overbearing, would I really need to hide?”
Nicole fixed him with a steady gaze. “Tell me, do you actually love Austin as a father, or is there some ulterior motive?”
Jarrod clenched his fists, his silence a testament to his undeniable intent to keep Nicole by his side at any cost.
“You know very well in your heart, don’t you?” Nicole sneered, her resolve hardening. “I won’t relinquish custody of my child. I’ll gather all the evidence I need and see you in court!”
Jarrod almost laughed at the challenge. “Suing me? Nicole, you’re in over your head.”
But Nicole merely smiled, undeterred. “Life is a constant battle, Jarrod. Remember the glory you once claimed? Look at you now. This is my victory.”
Jarrod’s face turned pale. Nicole’s words emphasized how the Schultz family’s fortunes had waned since the heights he had once restored upon his return.
The Schultz Group, rocked by Nicole’s relentless maneuvers, had slipped from the top ten, leaving Jarrod desperate for an alliance with the Hampton family to reclaim their former glory.
Yet, with billions still at his disposal, squashing Nicole seemed as effortless as crushing an ant underfoot.
Reading the contempt in his eyes, Nicole retorted boldly, “Even a starved camel is larger than a horse, and even if you’re now a hundred, a thousand times stronger than me, I fear you not. I have nothing to lose.”
Tragically, both her child and her ailing mother were under Jarrod’s control. Nicole had tried to persuade Dora to leave with her, but Dora, lost to consciousness, refused to abandon the sanctuary of the sanatorium. That sanatorium had become a fortress for her unresponsive mother.
Left with no other option, Nicole braced herself to meet the challenge, even at the risk of failure. After all, what more did she have to lose? She knew Roscoe shared her resolve.