Filed to story: My Husband Regrets Divorcing Me (Audrey & Cornell)
Jarrod spoke in a cold voice. “If you help him now, you’ll only make things worse.”
Nicole felt as if her feet were nailed to the floor. She looked at Jarrod with a pleading expression. “Jarrod, please, spare him. You know that I can’t be with him anymore.” When she chose to marry Jarrod for Austin’s sake, she had completely removed the word “marriage” from her life. She would not marry or be with anyone else. She didn’t want to bring more suffering to Roscoe.
“As long as you don’t get involved with him again. Otherwise, you’ll just cause more trouble for him.” Jarrod’s voice was ruthless.
Nicole watched as Roscoe was kicked out of the banquet by the security guards.
Roscoe was completely excluded from the circle in Ardens, and the Watts family owed a huge debt. If the company really went bankrupt, then Roscoe, as the legal representative, would have to deal with everything. He could even be put in jail. All of this was related to her.
“I won’t, I promise. I’m not going to contact him or talk to him. Just please… Leave him out of this.” It dawned on Nicole now that Jarrod didn’t take her out to have dinner out of kindness. He brought her here to show her how miserable Roscoe was.
“Wrong answer,” Jarrod said coldly.
Jarrod’s expectations were clear: he wanted Nicole’s complete disregard for Roscoe. Her failure to meet this demand left Nicole anxiously contemplating Roscoe’s fate.
She was increasingly disillusioned by Jarrod’s cruelty and questioned why he continued to torment her through those she cared about. Did he find satisfaction in this cycle of manipulation and suffering?
Abruptly, Jarrod seized Nicole and dragged her away, ignoring her demands for an explanation. They stopped at a locked back door of the banquet hall, where Nicole saw through the glass that Roscoe was being brutally assaulted by several men.
The man who had previously tried to ingratiate himself with Jarrod was now orchestrating the attack, loudly directing his thugs to finish Roscoe off. Nicole’s heart raced as she shouted through the door, “Stop! Stop it right now! This is murder! You bastards!”
Her desperate pleas fell on deaf ears. The men outside only intensified their beating, paying no attention to Nicole. Roscoe, though a capable fighter, was overwhelmed by the sheer number of attackers. Once he was down, the brutality continued, leaving him unable to defend himself.
Nicole’s horror turned to rage. Determined to intervene, she sprinted toward the front door to circumvent the building, but Jarrod’s swift reflexes prevented her escape.
He slammed her against the glass door, forcing her to witness Roscoe’s continued punishment. Her face pressed hard against the glass, she was trapped in her own torment, having to watch the suffering she had tried to prevent.
“Do you see?” Jarrod’s voice was a menacing whisper. “Are you regretting your actions already? Doesn’t this scene look familiar?” His words echoed a past incident where Nicole had witnessed Roscoe’s beating, separated by glass.
Jarrod’s anger was palpable, his frustration almost uncontrollable. He had always masked his violent tendencies for Nicole’s sake, but now, his aggressive nature was fully unleashed. “Why don’t you ever learn?” he growled. His tone was laced with bitterness, reflecting his unmasked rage.
Jarrod was determined to teach Nicole a brutal lesson, ensuring she understood who held the reins in her life and whom she needed to avoid. Pressed against the glass, Nicole’s pleas were desperate. “Jarrod, please, don’t drag any more outsiders into this,” she begged. “Leave Roscoe out of this.”
Jarrod sneered. “Who is an ‘outsider’ to you? If Roscoe were truly an outsider, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. It’s your fault, Nicole.” He taunted her, “You gave him false hope, didn’t you? Is this what you wanted?”
Roscoe, battered and bloodied, fought to stand each time he was knocked down, his resilience shining through despite the relentless assault. Nicole’s distress mounted. She shouted, “Jarrod, this is all because of your paranoia! You’ll never trust me, no matter what I do, will you?”
“Then prove it. Make me believe you,” Jarrod retorted. “You know what’s required.”
Overwhelmed by despair, Nicole sobbed, “I don’t know… I don’t know…” Her hope seemed to crumble as each setback crushed her spirits. Caught in a relentless cycle, she felt defeated.
In a moment of desperation, Nicole exclaimed, “You might as well kill me, Jarrod! Just end this torture…”
Jarrod’s response was chillingly detached. “Do you really wish to die? And who would you like to die with you?”
Nicole’s eyes widened in shock as Jarrod listed potential victims, each name adding to her growing dread. “First, there’s Roscoe. Who’s next? Jamie? Ethel? Jemma?” His tone was deliberate, designed to provoke fear.
Confused, Nicole questioned, “What are you talking about? What do Ethel and Jemma have to do with any of this?” Jamie had caused harm and perhaps deserved consequences, but Ethel and Jemma seemed irrelevant.
Jarrod smirked. “If you’re sure they’re uninvolved, you wouldn’t have brought up death. You don’t want to be Austin’s mother or my wife, but you’d prefer death?”
Nicole struggled to make sense of Jarrod’s erratic behavior. “Jarrod, what’s wrong with you?” she pleaded. His sudden regression to his monstrous demeanor was incomprehensible.
Jarrod didn’t answer directly but locked eyes with her intensely. “Nicole, think carefully about how you can make me trust you again, or Roscoe will be the first I go after.”
With that, Jarrod released Nicole, causing her to collapse to the ground, and walked away. Though freed, Nicole was immediately escorted by an assistant. Through the glass, she saw Roscoe, bloodied and bruised, with a passerby calling the police.
Nicole knew this was merely a warning. If Jarrod had truly wanted Roscoe dead, he wouldn’t have chosen such a public setting. Still, she couldn’t fathom Jarrod’s irrational behavior.
Was it her choice to save Roscoe over him that triggered this madness? Her instincts told her there was more to it. As she pondered, she suddenly had a realization and looked up at the assistant beside her.
Nicole’s heart sank as she asked Jarrod’s new assistant, “Do you know what happened to Alec?”
The assistant looked surprised by the question and replied, “You haven’t heard? Alec tried to take his own life again and now has brain damage from a lack of oxygen. He’s been in the intensive care unit ever since.”
Nicole was stunned. Alec had tried to end his life again? It seemed inconceivable, given how Jarrod had previously persuaded him to hold on. How could Alec have reached such a desperate point once more, and with even more intensity?
“You mean… Alec tried to end his life again?” Nicole’s disbelief was evident despite hearing the confirmation herself.
The assistant explained, “Alec took pills as advised. Everything happened so suddenly. He seemed fine during the day, but he broke down at night. We found him just in time—the doctor said if we had been two minutes later, he would have died.”
Nicole’s mind felt like it was in freefall. Jarrod’s deep-seated resentment toward Roscoe suddenly made sense. Alec had always been like family to Jarrod, and the guilt over Alec’s repeated suicide attempts must be overwhelming. If not for saving Jarrod, Alec might not have ended up in this dire situation.
Fear gripped Nicole. Alec’s condition was not something that would resolve quickly. Jarrod’s rage today was just a beginning—there would be more to come. The storm seemed endless, and Nicole felt lost, unsure of her next move.
As Nicole rode in the car, she struggled to understand Jarrod’s cryptic final words. He had said she knew how to regain his trust, but how was that possible?
She was at a loss. With Jarrod’s vengeful nature, she feared he would target those close to her next. After Roscoe, who would be next? Ethel? Jemma? Or perhaps he might move her mother and Austin away, keeping them out of her reach?
Nicole realized that Jarrod had numerous ways to threaten her, and she felt powerless to stop them. Despair overwhelmed her, and she buried her face in her hands, tears dampening her palms. The complexity of Jarrod’s demands and her past relationship with him only added to her confusion.
When had he truly trusted her? Back when she was a naive college student, she loved him unconditionally and was unaware of his manipulations. Now, with their history filled with hurt and distrust, it seemed impossible to regain his trust.
Back at the villa, Nicole was isolated from the outside world and cut off from seeing Austin. Anxiety gnawed at her as she wondered where Austin was if he wasn’t in the villa. Where had Jarrod taken him?
As days turned into weeks without a sight of Austin, Nicole’s frustration grew. The servants feigned ignorance when she inquired, and Jarrod ignored her attempts to reach him.
In a moment of desperation, Nicole seized an opportunity when the servants were distracted and climbed out the balcony window to escape. However, she lost her balance and fell, caught in the act.
The servants quickly returned her to the villa and summoned a doctor for her injuries. After this incident, Nicole was placed under even tighter surveillance.
The butler had workers seal all the windows while she watched, locking down the villa so thoroughly that not even a fly could enter.
After several days of recovery, Nicole finally saw Jarrod again. He appeared late at night, standing silently by her bedside.
Nicole opened her eyes and was startled by his cold, handsome face. She let out a small scream but quickly regained her composure, urgently asking, “Jarrod, where is Austin? What have you done with him?”
“You will never see him again,” Jarrod replied coldly.
Nicole’s body tensed up. Her desperation took over, and she lunged at Jarrod, scratching and biting him. “What did you do to him? He’s just a kid! What have you done to him?”
Jarrod remained unaffected by her attacks, his mocking smile widening at her frantic state. “What do you think I did? How evil do you believe I am?”
Nicole was unwilling to believe it, but she knew Jarrod was capable of anything in his anger.
“Calm down. He’s okay,” Jarrod sneered. “I’m just helping him get used to life without you.”
Nicole was shocked. “Get used to life without me? You want to take Austin away from me?”
Jarrod’s cold laugh filled the room. “You can run, but if you leave here, you will never see Austin again.”
“You can’t do this, Jarrod!” Nicole exclaimed angrily. He knew how much Austin meant to her, yet he was using Austin as a tool to manipulate her.
“Why can’t I? Do you think you’re the only one who can be cruel?” Jarrod taunted.
“Is this your revenge?” Nicole asked. “Is this because of Alec? Are you punishing me for him?”
“Believe what you want,” Jarrod said, his expression darkening at the mention of Alec. Alec’s suicide attempts had twisted Jarrod even further, fueling a destructive rage.
“Austin isn’t only yours. He’s young and needs his mother. Jarrod, please, can’t we stop this madness? Let’s talk this out,” Nicole pleaded softly, trying to negotiate with him.
She knew that confronting him directly would only escalate the situation, especially with his unstable state after Alec’s repeated suicide attempts.
“After all this time, haven’t you figured it out?” Jarrod asked with a mocking grin.
Nicole was confused.
Jarrod laughed darkly. “Nicole, maybe I don’t need you as much as I once thought. Maybe this is more about my pride than anything else.”
As Jarrod spoke, he felt a pang of self-loathing. Alec’s suicide hadn’t provided any clarity, only deepened his internal turmoil. He worried that he was losing his sanity.
Jarrod began to walk away. Nicole reached out, grabbing his arm from behind. “Don’t act this way, Jarrod. Reacting in anger won’t fix anything. Alec’s death hurts me too, but we can’t let our problems affect the child,” she said softly, pleading.
Yet, Jarrod shrugged off her plea coldly. “Go be with your Roscoe. Austin doesn’t need you.”
Nicole watched helplessly as Jarrod left, her heart breaking for Austin and overwhelmed by the chaos that had engulfed her life.
Nicole was well aware that Jarrod’s resentment toward Roscoe had not diminished. Despite her repeated attempts to explain, Alec’s second suicide attempt had closed the topic for good, making any further discussion seem unfair to Alec.
Nicole processed this quietly until Jarrod abruptly interrupted her by throwing a divorce agreement onto the bed. “Here’s the freedom you wanted,” Jarrod said sharply.
Stunned, Nicole saw that the divorce papers had already been prepared. Without another word, Jarrod exited the room, signaling the end of her confinement.
Shortly after, a hesitant maid entered. “Madam, Mr. Schultz instructed me to assist with your packing. He mentioned you’re moving out,” she said, clearly uneasy as she had no prior knowledge of Nicole’s departure.
Reeling from the sudden turn of events, Nicole realized she had no choice but to leave. Although she understood Jarrod’s motives, she could never fulfill them. Haunted by the memory of sleepless nights, she resolved never to relinquish her maternal rights.
Quickly gathering her few possessions, Nicole sent Jarrod a firm text message: “Jarrod, I consent to the divorce but insist on visitation rights with Austin. He’s growing and holds memories of us. I wish to remain in his life without harming his well-being. Please consider this carefully.”
With her message sent, Nicole bade farewell to the villa, a place she had only just begun to call home.