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He Took My Children, I Took His Peace
NovelShort
Hoàn thành
Mark Morgan, a powerful figure in Hawkins, fell in love with a female college student who sold sandwiches. He used much money to hire her as his nutritionist. The two of them made a bet involving the ...
Chương (5)
第1章
Mark Morgan, a powerful figure in Hawkins, fell in love with a female college student who sold sandwiches. He used much money to hire her as his nutritionist.
The two of them made a bet involving the child in my womb.
Valerie Murphy made me, who was pregnant, eat only a sandwich for all three meals, "I guarantee that if your wife obediently listens to me, she will definitely give birth to a healthy, chubby baby boy."
From then on, everything from small things like 20 cent green onions and ginger to $23 folic acid and even the $180 prenatal ultrasound that was necessary during pregnancy, all required filling out an application form with Valerie.
All were rejected by Valerie as unnecessary expenses.
In three years, I was pregnant six times and all ended in miscarriage due to malnutrition.
During my seventh pregnancy, Valerie declared, "Mark, you're definitely going to lose this time. When your wife gives birth to a healthy, chubby baby boy, you'll let me leave!"
This time, I had a massive hemorrhage and called Mark, begging him to take me to the hospital.
Valerie frowned, "Luisa, it costs 80 dollars in gas to drive the car once. That's enough to feed poor children in the mountainous areas. I bet you're just trying to get Mark's attention, aren't you?"
I pleaded desperately.
Mark coldly hung up, "Val's words are right. Don't be so dramatic, or I will divorce you right now."
He then turned around and bought 30 million dollars that worth of jewelry for Valerie.
That night, I had a massive hemorrhage and lost my seventh child.
But I unexpectedly overheard Mark talking to someone.
"Mark, you know very well that Luisa has been malnourished for the past few years and it's impossible for her to give birth to a healthy child, so why do you still let Valerie manage things?"
"I just want Val to stay by my side, even if it's just for one more day. This is the last time."
It turned out that all seven of my children had become sacrifices for their love.
——
My face turned pale and my heart ached to the point of collapse. I called my mother, "Mom, I want to divorce Mark."
My mother was stunned for a moment, then anxiously asked me, "What's wrong, honey? Did Mark bully you?"
When I was pregnant, my mother was so happy, thinking she would finally have a grandchild.
She knew how much I loved Mark all these years and she was certain that Mark and I would definitely end up together.
At that moment, tears streamed down my face, "Mom, it's nothing, I'm just tired. Let's go abroad."
My lower abdomen was still throbbing with pain.
Seven years, seven children.
I was ridiculed by my mother-in-law as a hen that couldn't lay eggs and mocked by people in the Hawkins circle as a miscarriage machine.
"Luisa Joyce has been with Mark for seven years, but she miscarries every time. Who knows if she's been messing around outside and ruined her uterus, that's why she can't have children, right?"
The first time I miscarried, I cried until I almost fainted, constantly apologizing to Mark, "I'm sorry, I'm useless, I couldn't protect the baby."
Mark held my hand tightly and comforted me, "It's okay, as long as you're alright, nothing else matters."
The second and third time, his smile grew wider each time.
Now I know that his excitement back then wasn't for the little life growing in my womb.
It was because Mark believed he’d get another chance to have a child and bet with Valerie again. Then, if they spent enough time together, Valerie would eventually fall for him.
Mark, you are so heartless!
I hung up the phone.
I covered my aching stomach and wanted to go back to my room, but I bumped into Mark and Valerie in the corridor.
"Why are you here?" Mark's face instantly changed, looking at me with disgust. "Are you stalking me?"
"It's none of your business."
One day and one night, he didn't care whether my stomach hurt or not, or if I was alright, but instead questioned me.
Valerie, however, frowned, "Miss Joyce, you're too extravagant. You're perfectly fine, yet you come to the hospital to waste money. Aren't you just trying to get Mark's attention?"
第2章
I went for my routine prenatal checkup and she called me wasteful.
Yet the thirty million dollars jeweled necklace around her neck sparkled blindingly.
“Running to the hospital all the time—don’t you get it? If something happens to the baby, I’ll lose my bet with Mark again.”
“I don’t want your husband. He’s too rough every time we sleep together. He even hurt me last night. Miss Joyce, please control your husband!”
Another bet.
Poor unborn children—seven of them—never even got to call me “Mom” before leaving me forever.
My palms clenched into fists.
Red-eyed, I glared at her.
"Miss Murphy, you have legs, don't you? You can leave anytime you want—no one's stopping you! Is being a mistress something to be proud of?"
Valerie's eyes reddened as she clutched her chest, wounded. “Miss Joyce, do you think I want this?”
Mark supported Valerie's shoulders, his cold gaze piercing me. “You know Val is strong-willed and keeps her promises. How could she leave without winning the bet? Why must you humiliate her like this?”
Valerie hit Mark’s chest, crying until her eyes were red. “This is all your fault! If you hadn’t trapped me, I wouldn’t have to live with the shame of being called a mistress.”
Tenderly, Mark wiped away her tears and softened his tone, “Only the unloved are mistresses, you’re not.”
My breath caught and I looked up in disbelief.
“Stop crying. You're newly pregnant. Too much crying isn't good for the baby.”
My whole body trembled and my chest hurt.
A child?
Valerie has a child?
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't want to tell you because I feared you'd react like this.” Mark’s voice was calm, but the contempt in his eyes stabbed me deeply. “Looks like Val was right after all—you really are jealous of her.”
I was so shocked to see his reaction.
The way he looked at me was like how he’d stared at the driver who hit me with his car—wild and furious, like he was ready to lose control and beat him to a pulp.
Only when I held him did he stop.
Mark cried, saying he loved me, so he couldn't bear anyone hurting me.
Yet now, for another woman, he repeatedly hurt our child, repeatedly betrayed my trust.
Valerie shyly buried her face in Mark's chest, lifting her chin triumphantly at me. “No name, no status. I won't bear your child! Unless... you divorce her!”
I slowly turned to look at Mark. My palms clenched in unease.
Would he agree to Valerie's demand?
Mark frowned, glancing at me. His tone was unexpectedly light as he said, “Fine.”
I held my breath when I heard it and tears streamed down my face as I turned to leave.
Back home, I began packing my things only to find the pledge Mark wrote when he was eighteen.
[I, Mark Morgan, swear I will never betray Luisa Joyce. I will cherish her, trust her and love her forever. If I break this vow, I’ll spend my life alone, never knowing love again.]
A lifetime turned out to be only seven years.
Mark had just entered the room.
He didn't see me toss the paper into the trash.
This fool husband still believed I was carrying his child.
“It's just an act. You're still pregnant. No need to empty everything out for real.”
I let out a mocking laugh. “Then how else could I calm Valerie down? If she ignored you, you’d be mad again, wouldn’t you?”
Mark fell silent for a moment.
After a while, he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind.
“You know I care deeply for her. This divorce is only temporary. Once she gives birth, I'll come back to you, okay?”
第3章
“Aren’t you afraid that after the divorce, I’ll marry someone else?”
He smiled helplessly, “Others might, but you won’t.”
Mark was used to my subservience and my waiting, convinced that I couldn't live without him.
That was why he thought I would still be waiting for him after the divorce.
“Besides, you’re carrying my child. I promise you, after this, we’ll live a good life together.”
I bit my lip hard, trying my best not to cry out loud.
Mark, our child was already indirectly killed by you!
But I didn't need to tell him the truth.
“Okay.”
Seeing me so readily sign my name on the divorce agreement, Mark hesitated for a moment, inexplicably flustered, “Listen, I love you. So… After everything is over, you’ll remarry me, right?”
“Of course.”
He lied to me seven times and I only lied to him once.
Mark, that was what you owe me all the time.
I wondered, what kind of expression will you have when you know the truth?
Before leaving with my luggage, the hospital suddenly called, saying that my mother had a sudden heart attack and was in the ICU.
The surgery would cost fifty thousand dollars.
I begged Mark to lend me some money.
But as he was about to transfer the money, Valerie, who had just arrived, snatched his phone and reprimanded me with a disapproving look.
“If I’m not mistaken, you and Mark are in the divorce cooling-off period. You’ve already signed the papers, so how can you still use his money?”
“Besides, good people are always blessed. If your mother is kind, she’ll get through this without surgery.”
“Mark, don’t you think I’m right?”
Mark looked at me awkwardly.
Valerie held all the financial power in the family.
To get money, I had to get Valerie's approval first.
Looking at my mother's pale face, my voice almost trembling, I choked back tears and knelt down to beg Valerie, “Please, I can fill out the forms, you can let me fill out as many forms as you want, I only have my mother left.”
“Don’t try to make me feel guilty.” Valerie ruthlessly pulled me away. "I told you, if you want money, earn it yourself. Mark worked hard for this. It’s bad enough you don’t value him, but you’re also so wasteful.”
My eyes were red-rimmed.
I questioned Mark, "Is that what you think too?"
"Mark, if you lend money to your ex-wife, it proves you still have feelings for her. I'm going to get an abortion right now!" Valerie shouted, clutching her stomach and rushed towards the obstetrics and gynecology department.
Mark followed closely behind.
I cried, grabbing his hand, "Mark, can you transfer the money first? I promise I won't appear in front of you again for the next few days. I swear."
"Val is right. If your mother was a kind person, she would be better without surgery. I'll go comfort Val first, we'll talk when I get back..."
He coldly pulled his hand away from mine and left without looking back.
At the same time, a sharp sound came from the emergency room.
The doctor came out, "I'm very sorry, Miss Joyce, we can’t save your mother, she has passed away."
"No…"
It hurt me so bad until the world seemed to spin around me.
I remembered my mother smiling as she watched me wear my wedding dress, smiling and saying that she would wait until the day she could hold her grandchild.
But now, she would never see that day!
My mother was cremated.
I sat numbly in the funeral home all night.
Valerie updated her WhatsApp Story again with a picture of Mark leaning on the hospital bed, gently stroking her head with a tender look in his eyes.
[At my most broken moment, I'm so glad you were there for me. If you hadn't been willing to donate a kidney to my mother, I might not have a mother anymore.]
第4章
While my mother was being cremated and I was in hysterical pain, he was comforting another woman.
He wasn't willing to give me fifty thousand dollars to save my mother, but he was willing to give a kidney to Valerie's mother.
All that talk about ‘Good people are always blessed’ was just lies to deceive me.
A sharp pain shot through my chest.
I received another transfer notification on my phone.
Mark called, "How is your mother? The money has been transferred."
He thought my mother was still alive.
"It's not needed anymore."
My voice choked with sobs. My mother had died, what use was this money then?
Valerie, standing beside me, smiled and acted coquettishly.
"See? I told you your mother is a good person, so she'll get better without surgery."
Mark's voice was doting. "Oh my God, you’re right about it again, Val. How about I buy you this bag?"
Valerie said righteously, "No need, a bag costs fifty thousand dollars. I'm not that kind of materialistic woman. How can our love be measured by money?"
"If I don't buy it for you, how can I prove my love for you?"
Mark immediately had someone buy ten bags to prove his affection for Valerie.
I laughed until tears streamed down my face.
He bought her fifty thousand dollars that worth of bags without batting an eye, but my mother's life wasn't even worth five thousand dollars!
A month passed quickly.
In three days, I would be able to get my divorce certificate with Mark.
But Mark angrily came to my house and, with a single command, had my mother's house completely destroyed.
The photos of me and my mother were shattered on the floor.
All of my mother's clothes were burned to ashes.
I screamed in despair, asking him, "Why? What did I do to offend you?"
Mark's eyes were cold, "Stop pretending, you're the one who had Val's sandwich stall smashed, aren't you?"
"She was greatly frightened and almost had a miscarriage!"
When we were dating, he would always protect me like this whenever I was hurt.
"Something happened to her and you immediately suspected me? We're already divorced, why would I need to hurt her?"
But Mark didn't believe me.
"Because Val wouldn’t let you get a prenatal checkup or borrow money for your mom’s surgery before, so you’re still holding a grudge, right?"
“A sandwich only costs three dollars and Val has to sell a lot just to make a hundred. Yet you smashed it. Go apologize to her.”
My heart ached so much I felt like I was suffocating.
I slapped him across the face, "In your dreams!"
Mark sneered and had someone bring plate after plate of sandwiches. I refused to eat it, so he had them force-feed it to me.
It wasn't until I was sick from eating so much that he finally relented and patted my back, "Will you dare to do this again next time?"
Tears streamed down my face and I fiercely pushed him away, "Get lost!"
A notification popped up on my phone showing a plane ticket for a flight three days later.
“Where are you going? Don’t forget, we’re getting the divorce certificate in three days. If you don’t show up, Val won’t be able to give birth calmly.”
Mark's gaze fell on my phone screen, but I quickly covered it.
"This is a plane ticket I booked for a colleague."
Mark's dark eyes stared intently at me, but he didn't ask any further questions.
Three days later, at the entrance of the City Hall.
After getting the divorce certificate, Mark offered to give me a ride.
I thought that was fine; this would probably be the last time we'd see each other.
But halfway there, he took a call and dropped me off, "Val said she needed to see me, you can walk back yourself."
I smiled bitterly.
"Mark, goodbye forever."
But as soon as I got out of the car, someone covered my head. Not long after, someone hit my lower abdomen with a stun gun.
Ninety-nine blows in total, each blow seemingly delivered with vicious force.
第5章
The taste of blood filled my mouth as I questioned, "Who exactly are you people?"
The man sneered, put a sack over my head and threw me into the arena.
"Who told you to offend someone you shouldn't have? You knew Miss Murphy is Mr. Morgan's most cherished person, yet you still dared to provoke her. You deserve this!"
"No, it's impossible, he wouldn't do this to me..."
I still couldn't believe Mark would be so cruel.
"Val, I've brought the person who led the attack on your stall. You can punish her however you want."
Mark's voice came from the stage.
I was so shocked to see if it was really him.
Valerie spoke softly, "Really? No matter who's in this sack, you'll let me punish them? Even if the person below is Luisa?"
Mark hesitated for a moment, then said dotingly, "Of course, you're the person I love most. Whoever bullies you, I'll repay them a hundred or a thousand times over. No one is more important than you."
My head was buzzing.
Bitter tears streamed down my face and my internal organs ached.
Just because I refused to apologize to Valerie, Mark would punish me like this.
Valerie smiled maliciously at me, "Then smear chicken blood all over her and let the wolves in. She deserves it for ruining my sandwich’s stall."
"As you wish."
"No, Mark, you can't do this to me!" I struggled desperately, screaming, but was kicked hard to the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
A pack of wolfdogs lunged at me like mad.
Mark looked around suspiciously, wanting to check, "What was that sound just now? It sounded a bit like Luisa..."
Valerie suddenly cried out in pain, "Ah! Mark, my stomach hurts so much, will the baby be okay?"
Mark immediately picked her up in his arms, not even glancing at me.
Those people asked him how to deal with me.
Mark answered impatiently, "Whatever."
I was torn apart by the wolfdogs, my flesh and blood mangled, my internal organs aching.
Tears and blood mixed as pain made me tremble over, my knuckles white. Seven years of love, ended with a careless goodbye.
Mark, I want you to never, ever find me again!
The moment I was thrown into the water, I remembered that time when I accidentally fell into the water when I was eighteen.
Mark almost drowned in the deep sea trying to save me.
He knelt beside me, giving me CPR. The always-calm man cried like a child. “Luisa, wake up—just wake up and I’ll do anything you want.”
That young man who once had eyes only for me, yet he personally threw me into the sea.