Chapter 11
Before the kidnapping incident, I had been to Tyler Horton merely a woman who had accompanied him for over twenty years, dated him for a decade–a tasteless dish neither worth savoring nor wasting.
After the kidnapping, Tyler never doubted Sarah Carlisle’s accusations. He believed I
chestrated the abduction and assault that resulted in Sarah losing her ovaries and becoming infertile for life.
So he kept me around, subjecting me to humiliation and torment to avenge Sarah, while
also forcing me to conceive and bear a child for her.
I had to admire his thorough planning.
Had Jeff Vince not appeared, Tyler might truly have succeeded without fail.
But the wedding video tore away Tyler’s veneer of respectability, shredding the
meticulously maintained façade of the Horton family.
He became the butt of everyone’s jokes in the social circle.
Tyler Horton, you really got what you deserved.
Pushing a plate of neatly cut steak toward me, Jeff Vince said, “Tyler got beaten half to death by his father and lost all control over the Horton Corporation. Recently, his younger brother, Matt Horton, returned from overseas to take over the company’s core operations.”
لمستتر
Expressionless, I lifted a forkful of steak to my mouth. “His retribution has only just begun.”
Noticing my lack of appetite, Jeff lightly touched my face. “What’s wrong? Doesn’t it taste good?”
“No.” I shook my head and set my fork down. “The circle’s gossiping that you have no sense of decorum. They say you played someone else’s private recordings at your own wedding, that you like other men’s wives and enjoy picking up their leftovers.”
Jeff laughed openly and brazenly. “Decorum? Just how much is that worth?”
14:52
He Forgot It, He Regreted It
Chapter 11
He fixed his gaze on me. Usually mischievous and laid–back, his face now held a rare
seriousness:
“My greatest regret is that when you were unconscious, I handed you back to the Cala family instead of taking you away immediately. I gave Tyler Horton chance after chance to hurt and defile you.”
My expression remained calm, but inside I was shaken to the core.
Δ
had never imagined that someone would care about me this deeply.
For years, even without seeing me, he had followed my news, collected my photographs.
He felt personally responsible for what I had endured.
And that face of Jeff’s–perfect enough to rival a deity–only heightened the strange current sparking in my heart.
I coughed lightly, trying to suppress that unsettling feeling.
“I still don’t understand where your feelings for me come from,” I said.
Handing me a glass of juice, Jeff answered, “I could fend you off with a thousand clever remarks, but I’d rather tell you the truth.”
لسر
When we were in third grade, the reason Jeff Vince was bullied went beyond him simply being a transfer student. The bigger issue was that he wasn’t part of the Vince family’s main bloodline–he was just the child of Old Master Vince’s fifth son.
The Vince family’s rules were exceedingly rigid and old–fashioned.
No matter how many children were born, all the family’s assets and business control would pass to the eldest son.
The other children, upon reaching adulthood, would receive only a small sum of money and then be expected to strike out on their own.
Under normal circumstances, Jeff would never have had the chance to attend our aristocratic elementary school.
Chapter 11
But after his father died young and his mother followed shortly after, leaving he and destitute, the Vince family made an exception and took him in, planning to FR
until he came of age.
Jeff gave me a playful wink. “Do you know why I was such a skinny beanpole back roxy?”
I answered casually, “Because boys hit their growth spurts later?”
He shook his head, his tone strangely light, as though he were talking about somRope Rep’s
fe:
“In the Vince family, the main–branch children hold absolute power, Even though we all share the same blood, the difference between the main branch and the side branches is like
heaven and earth.”
“Within the family, I was no different from a stray cat or dog. Beatings and hunger were a daily occurrence.”
A pang of sadness clenched my heart. I had never imagined he’d suffered through so much.
Yet not a trace of that old pain seemed to linger in the man he was today.
I asked, “Then how did you suddenly become the head of the Vince family?”
“Do you believe in fate?” he countered unexpectedly.
Surprised, I thought for a moment before replying, “I’m more inclined to believe in human will overcoming destiny.”
“But I was able to take over the Vince family because it was destined,” Jeff said.
He went on: “The year we graduated elementary school, the main branch of the Vínce
family held a banquet on an island. A sudden volcanic eruption triggered a tsunami, and they all perished. Not a single body was ever recovered.”
I widened my eyes.
