While Niamh did not take the roses, he was happy enough with her silent acknowledgment.
However, Niamh threw the divorce papers at the driver’s seat the moment she got in the car.
“I’ve already signed my part. Give it back to me when you’re done signing yours.”
Kendrick felt his heart sink the moment he set his eyes on the words atop the document.
Forcing himself not to think too much into it, he kept the papers and stepped on the accelerator.
“Jack hasn’t known what a complete and happy family feels like for the past six years, Eveline. Do you really—”
“Don’t try to use Jack as an excuse not to sign the papers, Kendrick. I don’t know what you’re trying to gain, but it’d do you good to stop believing that I would believe your lies about loving me.”
Niamh’s tone was cold and held no room for negotiations.
As such, Kendrick kept quiet and stewed in his own heartache.
After arriving at the kindergarten, Niamh moved to the back seat so that she could talk to Jackson easier.
Her heart clenched when she saw Kendrick in the child’s features.
‘Mom’s so happy to see you again, Jack.
‘Knowing that all the pain I endured has led to our reunion makes it all worth it. Mom’s satisfied enough with the way things are.’
Niamh did not protest as Kendrick drove them to the villa.
Walking in, Niamh immediately went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Meanwhile, Kendrick sat and guided Jackson through his homework. By the time he finished it, so had Niamh with dinner.
Kendrick felt his heart shrivel as he stared at the mouth-watering dishes and soup on the table.
She used to cook him dinner too back then.
It was just that he never returned home.
Still, unlike what Niamh thought, it was not because he spent the night with Nevaeh.
In truth, he had spent every night in the office. He never once spent the night alone with Nevaeh.
As everyone got seated, Niamh began to help Jackson to some of the dishes and peeled some prawns for him.
The smile on the little boy’s face was enough to fill Niamh with warmth and mirth.
After dinner, Kendrick took the initiative to wash the dishes, though Niamh ignored him and merely took Jackson’s hand as they went out for a walk. The mother and child were basking in each other’s presence.
Having cleaned up the kitchen, Kendrick decided to look for his family in the park nearby. Jackson waved when he saw him and called out to his dad.
Not wishing to destroy Jackson’s elation as he called for his dad, Niamh could only smile and stare longingly at her recovered child.
Half an hour later, the sky was dark.
With a drowsy Jackson in his arms, Kendrick and Niamh walked back to the villa under the guidance of the street lamps.
The cold wind cut into his bones, yet Kendrick had never felt warmer.
Realizing from the corner of his eyes that Niamh was trembling in her light jacket, he reached out to take her slightly cool hands into his own pockets.
Niamh tried to pull her hands away but decided against it as she did not want to disturb Jackson who was slowly falling asleep.
The silver moonlight shone on their backs, enveloping them in a heartwarming glow.
It was only when they had returned to the villa and Kendrick tucked Jackson in for bed that Niamh reverted to her aloof attitude. She handed him the divorce papers again. “Sign them.”
Kendrick furrowed his brows. “I won’t.”
It was a familiar response, one Niamh had stubbornly given him before.
“I’ve already made my mistake once and I don’t want to make it again.” Kendrick fixed his gaze on Niamh. “Give me another chance, Nia. For Jack and for Lily?”
Niamh was quiet for two seconds. “I’ve already told you, Lillian is not your daughter.”
“Lily is our daughter.” Kendrick’s gaze was warm. “I refuse to believe that you’d throw yourself into another man’s arms after you’ve been so thoroughly hurt by this b*stard who you loved so much.”
He slowly walked toward Niamh. “Lily is our daughter, Nia. You got pregnant with her from the time I forcefully took you in that apartment three years ago.”
Niamh’s eyes flared as she clenched her fists tightly, her tone sounding determined. “Lily is not related to you in any way, Kendrick! Stop your wishful thinking!”
Her control over her emotions loosened as she fought to deny. “It’s because you hurt me so thoroughly, you b*stard, that I gave myself to Felipe. He was the only ray of light in the darkness you put me in!”
Niamh met Kendrick’s growingly somber gaze.
“Lillian is Felipe’s and my child. She will never have a person like you as her father, so stop lumping Lily with the likes of you!”
With that, Niamh raised her hand to push away the man in front of her.
Without realizing how boneless his legs had gotten, Kendrick felt himself stagger backward at the push.
Niamh took her bag and left the villa without another look.
Sitting in the taxi she hailed to head home, Niamh’s mind began to take a trip down an agonizing memory lane…
Picking up her weak body, Niamh had Ava bring her to Kendrick and Nevaeh’s engagement venue.
Her heart hurt, but she managed to take the cold words of the man she loved and the hatred of her dearest parents with a smile until she could not take it any longer.
She was so certain that she had died in the engagement venue and she never expected Kendrick to act so out of character by rushing over to hold her, asking her what was wrong.
She had lost consciousness two sentences in.
She thought that she was done for.
Still, she woke again. This time in F Country’s royal hospital with a gentlemanly and elegant Felipe Waldburg standing in front of her.
He had saved her from her dying breath.
In F Country’s royal hospital, Niamh underwent tumor removal surgery. The surgery itself was rather successful and Niamh was no longer in life-threatening danger.
While she was physically alive, her heart had already been completely shattered. Her onslaught of memories made her life a living hell.
Then one day, the doctor told her she was pregnant.
Lillian’s presence gave Niamh hope again, and she lived through her most difficult times with Felipe by her side.
The memories slowly came to an end with Niamh staring determinedly at the scenery of the night outside from the window.
She would sever all ties she had with the horrid man who hurt her!
…
Niamh arrived at the villa early every day to make Jackson breakfast before sending him to kindergarten.
Kendrick would arrive on time outside Niamh’s shop in the evening so that they could pick Jackson up and return to the villa to make dinner.
Niamh would then take Jackson out for a walk after dinner but return to the villa with Kendrick in tow.
Niamh only left when Jackson had taken a shower and gotten to sleep.
Niamh remained indifferent when it came to Kendrick, but the latter was already satisfied enough as it was.
He had no other excuse or method to contact Niamh, so he saw what he had now as an immense gift from the heavens.
At the same time, Kendrick received a court notice.
Waldburg Corporation was to be fined a thundering amount for the forced cease in a few partnered projects with RS and South America.
While the amount should have been dealt with by Waldburg Corporation’s finance department, it somehow ended in Old Master Waldburg’s hands.
Unable to pay the debt, Waldburg Manor was to be let up for auction.
Like an ant on a hot pan, Karen called Kendrick over.
Not too long after his arrival came Felipe’s.
Dressed in a black suit, Felipe’s normally elegant and gentlemanly aura was tinged with a hit of dominance.
Realizing Old Master Waldburg, Kendrick, and the rest of the Waldburg family were present, Felipe had his assistant hand over a document before going straight to the point.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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