Broken Chains, New Beginning

But soon, she sneered again, “I heard that once the child is by your side, you can speak with confidence.

“But don’t forget, I am the heir of the Bradley Family. As long as you are still in the Bradley Family, I will have plenty of ways to torment you.”

I closed my eyes, since I had seen Nadine's methods.

The first time I caught her cheating on me, I naively went to Mr. Bradley to seek justice.

But I was met with Nadine's crazy revenge.

She threatened my mother and forced me to kneel on the freezing cold balcony of my bedroom and slap myself over and over again.

That night, she and her lover made love all night long.

I was sent to the hospital with a red and swollen face due to frostbite.

The only bit of sincerity that was left was completely dissipated in the heavy snow.

From then on, no matter how excessive Nadine did, I pretended not to see it. 

I silently endured all kinds of humiliation and difficulties from Nadine, trying hard to maintain Mr. Bradley's identity.

But that time, my mother was gone. The child also died.

So, this marriage, which existed in name only, should be finally declared over.

I hung up the phone indifferently.

I got up and contacted a friend at the funeral home, made an appointment for cremation.

As I returned to the ward, I saw Nadine standing at the door.

She frowned at me, then sneered, “Why don’t you continue to act pitiful?

“You're running around right after the accident. You're in such good health and it looks like you don’t need to continue recuperating.

“I plan to bring Julius to live in the villa. He is young, delicate and can't do housework. You can go through the discharge procedures and go back to be our maid.”

As she spoke, Nadine came closer to me. There was a malicious smile on her face.

“Your painful expression is the best stimulant for me in bed.”

She stared at me, expecting to see me in pain and sadness. But I just had an expression that was calm and numb.

Feeling that it was boring, Nadine stopped the young nurse beside her again.

“Where's the child? What's the result of the physical examination? Bring him here for me to see.”

The young nurse looked panic-stricken.

I said helplessly, “The child was taken away by his grandfather.”

Nadine wanted to say something else when her cell phone rang.

As soon as she answered the phone, her face changed drastically.

Then a slap hit me on the face.

“Alvaro, what did you do to Julius? If anything happens to her, I will never let you go!”

I was already weak and my footing was unstable, so I bumped into the handrail behind me.

The young nurse hurried forward to support me and yelled, “Mrs. Bradley, Mr. Bradley just had a car accident. You will kill him if you do this!”

Nadine pretended not to hear. She left quickly with concern for Julius.