Anthony pursed his lips awkwardly. After a moment of silence, he headed downstairs.
Gregory blinked, wondering if he had said something wrong. “Is Daddy not happy?”
I draped an arm around his shoulder with a smile and whispered, “He’s just embarrassed to admit his mistake. You have to keep it a secret.”
“Okay.” Gregory’s lips formed a little O at my explanation. He placed his finger over his lips and made a shush gesture.
Two days after the incident.
Our plan that day was to meet up with the couple who adopted Shaun, but we received word that Simone had attempted to commit suicide by knocking her head against the wall. Having no choice, we excused ourselves and left urgently.
Simone’s head was already wrapped with layers of bandages when we arrived. Despite the thick layers of bandages, there was still blood seeping through them.
She had lost her usual dignified look. Her hair was untied, and they fell messily to her shoulders. She was lying immobile on the ground with half of her body leaning against the wall like a homeless beggar on the verge of death.
Meanwhile, Nicolas was still tied to a chair. The speed of water dripping from the pipe above his head had increased. The droplets were hitting his face so quickly that he couldn’t even open his eyes.
After we stood there for a while, Simone opened her eyes laboriously. She began to crawl toward us when she noticed our presence.
Shocked by her sudden movement, I quickly took a few steps back. Anthony immediately came up in front to shield me and she used that opportunity to grab onto him.
“Anthony, son, please give me some water. I haven’t had water for a couple of days. Please have mercy on me…”
Her unkempt appearance and her indecipherable mumble were dirtier than a beggar’s.
A memory of the first time I saw Simone crossed my mind. She was beautiful, young-looking. Some even called her an ageless beauty.
But now, the face, which she had spent thousands and thousands on, was filled with lines and wrinkles. Her eyes were empty and lifeless, which showed that she didn’t have much time left on her clock.
Who could bear not to give in to an elderly’s wishes when she was begging so pitifully?
However, Anthony was an exception. He merely snorted at her, then pushed her away with his leg. He crossed the room toward Nicolas, who couldn’t even open his eyes with the water dripping on him.
Simone, unwilling to give up, wanted to crawl over to him to beg again, but her attempt was halted by the guards standing by. I quickly followed after Anthony once I was sure that the bodyguards had held Simone down.
I feared Anthony wouldn’t get any results since Nicolas had a strong mental fortitude. I thought he would be able to hold out.
However, I had underestimated the fear of having water dripping onto one’s face for a long time. That fear would unconsciously destroy one’s will.
As I neared Nicolas, with a slight bend of my body, the first thing I saw was his wide-open eyes filled with terror.
My heart started to pound from fear. My hand instinctively settled over my chest, trying to keep myself calm.
Not sure if it was from the endless water dripping onto his face, but Nicolas couldn’t shut his eyes. Having been soaked in the water for a long time, his face was starting to bloat. The water would drip directly onto his eyeballs and that was the main cause of his fear. Even when Anthony and I came into his line of sight, he had no response.
I couldn’t bear to look at his twisted expression. I flinched and moved aside.
Anthony’s face was still devoid of any emotion. He looked down at Nicolas and said indifferently, “You silently acknowledged when Nicolas abandoned me and left me to fend for myself. When he laid his hands on me and my children, you feigned ignorance. He even killed off the last line of the Featherstones who had raised me, and yet, there was not a peep from you. Do you think you’re worthy of being called a good wife and mother?”
His words were directed at Simone despite the sharp gaze he had fixed on the unresponsive Nicolas.
Anthony was right. Even the law would punish those with omission charges.
As Nicolas’ wife, Simone had countless opportunities to urge him to stop his bad deeds. Even if her attempts proved futile, she could have at least reminded him of the consequences of his actions, and that could have saved many lives. Yet, she never tried doing anything. She pretended not to know about Nicolas’ merciless torture and allowed him to seize lives brutally, corrupting his own humanity. She did nothing and everything.
Perhaps they had been a couple for so long that she had unconsciously considered him to be her God. And that exact ugly, twisted perception of considering others’ lives to be nothing had allowed her to accept Nicolas’ actions naturally.
Simone opened her cracked lips and begged in a hoarse voice, “You’re right. I’m not worthy. I was wrong. I’ll change. I’ll make sure to persuade your father. So please, let us go. Please let your father go. Have mercy. Your father has always been an arrogant person, so it will be difficult for him to admit his mistakes. Let me apologize on his behalf. I’ll apologize for all of his mistakes. Is that okay, son? He hasn’t said a word since last night. He’ll die if this goes on. You can’t be so cruel, son…”
She hadn’t had a single drop of water for the past few days, but despite her parched throat, she had managed to croak out those words. While some of her words were indecipherable, she persisted, hoping for mercy and forgiveness.
In the face of death, nobleness and decency meant nothing. The virtues Nicolas had upheld so religiously couldn’t even be used in exchange for a break. He had destroyed many lives, including Anthony’s, for those exact virtues.
A woman’s howling voice echoed throughout the dungeon; the dark environment became even more depressing.
With both his hands tucked in his pockets, Anthony ordered his men to release them after a long silence. “Untie them.”
Thinking she was finally free, Simone excitedly placed her palms together as if in prayer and bowed her head to the ground. “Thank you, son. Thank you. I knew you were not as cold-hearted as you—”
“Then you don’t know me well enough,” Anthony cut her off before she could finish. “Throw them onto the most bustling street. Have them kneel there and beg for food and water from those they look down upon. Let all of them have a look at the noble decency of the Hall family.”
That kind of humiliation would undoubtedly deal a devastating blow to Nicolas. But, one could understand where Anthony was coming from if one empathized with the hatred he had been keeping in him.
The man who gave him life had wanted to take it back, but he had luckily managed to escape and survive to this date.
He didn’t owe his life to either Nicolas or Simone. But he would pay them back a hundredfold for all the humiliation, lies, and contempt he had suffered from them.
Soon, the bodyguard filed into the room and untied Nicolas.
Nicolas lay on the ground, immobile, his eyes wide open. They would’ve thought he was dead if it wasn’t for his moving chest.
Simone immediately broke free from the bodyguard’s hold and crawled over to him. “Nicolas, answer me! Say something, Nicolas!”
The room was silent, other than their breathing.
After a short pause, the bodyguards continued to carry them both outside.
Anthony’s car was right behind the van transporting Simone and Nicolas. Once he had reached the bustling street, he pulled the car to a stop at an area with a clear, wide-angle of the square.
It was precisely in the middle of lunch hour. People were moving about everywhere. The majority were white-collars and the elites.
The black van stopped at the most crowded square. Over a dozen bodyguards carried Simone and Nicolas down from the van and to the middle of the square. Without any hesitation, they dropped the two onto the ground. Then they spun around and left.
The people at the square stared as the black van sped away, leaving the worn-looking couple in the middle of the square.
It was lunch break, so crowds of white-collars were moving about hastily, hoping to grab a bite at their favorite restaurant. They were used to the beggars filling every corner of the street, so they didn’t even spare them a glance.
Simone kneeled on the ground and begged every passerby for help, “Please help us call an ambulance.”
“Please give us some water, sir. I know you’re a kind man. I haven’t had any water for three days. I’m going to die soon.”
“Miss. Please help us, miss. I beg you, please…”
“I’m begging you with my knees on the ground. Please help us…”
Finally, a few spectators stopped to look, and slowly a crowd circled them.
Someone recognized Nicolas. “Isn’t this guy Nicolas Hall, the world-class psychology professor who came back from overseas a few years back?”
“That woman is his wife. But how did they get those injuries? Maybe they have done something bad, and the victims’ families took revenge?”
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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