Chapter 3

Bradley looked at Esther’s pale face with interest and reminded, “Esther, the kids you spent ten months carrying, they’re still alive!”

Esther rose to her feet in shock.

“That’s impossible!”

She had gone to prison being pregnant, but her children had been announced dead once they were delivered, having suffocated in her womb for too long.

“How’s that impossible?” Bradley leaned back on the chair confidently. “It’s easy for the Warners to take a pair of babies out of prison. Don’t forget you’re still my wife legally. You think I had no right to handle the b*stards you carry?”

Bradley’s words overwhelmed Esther. She looked at him as if she was trying to determine how true what he said was.

“Work with me obediently, and I might be kind enough to tell you where those b*stards are.”

Esther stood up shakily and looked up at the ruthless man, asking seriously, “Are my kids really alive?”

“Do I have to lie to you?”

Esther shook her head. She dared not trust him, yet she hoped that everything Bradley said was true.

“Bradley, I don’t believe you.”

Bradley’s long fingers clenched Esther’s jaw, and he mocked her cruelly. “Do you have another choice other than believing me?”

Esther looked at Bradley. His resentment felt like thin needles that stabbed deep into her heart. This man had lit up her entire youth, yet he was now her biggest nightmare.

The memorable love had transformed into searing hatred.

She hated him so much that she wanted to rip into him and drink his blood…

There was no telling where Esther got her courage from; she opened her mouth and bit between Bradley’s thumb and index finger while he did not pay attention.

Bradley grabbed her hair with the other hand immediately.

The taste of blood spread in Esther’s mouth, and a discreet sense of elation filled her heart.

Bradley tossed her aside as blood dripped from his finger to the floor.

Esther wiped the blood on the corner of her mouth with the back of her hand and sneered. “Bradley Warner, you’ll regret this.”

“Regret’s not a word in my dictionary.”

There was a sinister look in Bradley’s eyes.

“If there’s something I should regret in my life, it’s that I shouldn’t have married you.”

Bradley then turned to tell the nurse at the door, “Continue with the next check-up and give me a shot for rabies.”

Esther stood frozen on the spot as she watched Bradley slowly disappear from her sight.

She had wanted to take revenge no matter the price after she attended Thomas’ funeral. After seeking revenge against Liliane for framing her, she would leave the place and have nothing to do with Bradley.

However, what Bradley just said injected Esther with an unprecedented motivation to stay alive when she had considered death.

She was going to keep living. Yes, she had to keep living.

She wanted to personally watch Bradley discover that Liliane, whom he had always protected and doted on, was the culprit who caused Thomas’ death.

“Bradley Warner…” Esther stopped him when he was about to leave with a hoarse voice and asked hesitantly, “Where are my children?”

Bradley stopped and told the hopeful woman, “You’ll see them after you come out of the operation theater.”

“You swear?” Esther asked emotionally with clenched fists.

Bradley trained an icy gaze on her as his thin lips curled into a smirk. He looked at her like an ant he could easily squash.

He did not give Esther the promise she wanted. He was more certain than anyone that Esther would not dare risk this. She would definitely do as he said.

It was ironic that a savage woman like this had such a loving heart.

“When can she go for the surgery?” Bradley asked the doctor outside the door.

The doctor took a glance at Esther inside the room. As a doctor, even if he sympathized with Esther, he knew that she would be able to redeem her sin if she could save Felix.

“Mr. Warner, from the check-ups we ran on Ms. Quill, she’s been malnourished all year long. It’ll be dangerous for her to go for surgery right now. My suggestion is to give her one to two weeks to recuperate.”

Bradley’s dark eyes flashed with cruelty.

“A week later. Schedule the surgery.”

After Bradley left the room, Esther went to the door and asked the nurse keeping an eye on her, “Miss, could I borrow your phone?”

The nurse hesitated but passed her phone to Esther.

Esther took it over and dialed the number she had burned into her brain.

“Jasper, it’s me, Esther. I’m in the hospital now. Can you come over?”

Jasper Searle was stunned when he received Esther’s call.

She was out of prison? When?

“I’ll be right there.”

After hanging up, Jasper tapped the bouncing icon on his phone screen and only then realized that the group chat was filled with video clips of Esther being mocked at the funeral.

He instructed his secretary, “Get me a few size S outfits and size 36 shoes.”

The secretary was inwardly surprised but replied respectfully on the outside, “Yes, Mr. Searle.”

After that, he called the number he had saved as “Y” on his contacts, but the call remained unanswered.

-

The nurse had already dressed the wound on Liliane’s head in the hospital.

There was a small piece of gauze on her forehead, but it did not affect her beauty at all.

Felix looked at Liliane in worry and asked in concern, “Mommy, does it hurt?”

Liliane looked at Felix, who was cute like an angel, and replied softly, “My dear boy, it won’t hurt anymore after you blow it for me.”

Felix remembered that the nanny who took care of him previously would blow on his wound carefully each time he fell, so he copied what she did and blew on Liliane’s wound.

Given how long Liliane had kept the image of a loving mother, there was no way she would expose herself at this critical juncture.

“My boy’s so amazing. Mommy doesn’t hurt anymore.”

This was the loving scene that Bradley saw when he entered.

He did not love Liliane, but he was the one who ended up sleeping with her back then and had a cute child, Felix.

Just for the son, he should give Liliane the official title of Mrs. Warner.

“Daddy!” Felix called out happily when he saw Bradley.

Bradley hugged him and told Liliane, “Felix will have the surgery one week later.”

Liliane asked in surprise, “She… She agreed?”

Bradley did not tell her about his deal with Esther. He did not want his son to come across such a dark reality too young.

“Yes.”

Liliane put her hands together and exclaimed in delight, “Thank goodness!”

Bradley looked at Liliane, who was genuinely happy for Felix, and softly told her, “Felix’s surgery will be successful.”

Liliane held Felix’s face, which looked so much like Bradley, in her hands and gave him a loud kiss, telling him gently, “Felix, this is mommy’s happiest day.”

Felix did not know why Liliane was happy, but he replied either way, “I’m happy too if Mommy’s happy!”

Because he was always ill, he looked thinner and weaker than his peers. His small face was sickly pale.

Bradley felt bad for him. He did not understand what he had done wrong that God had to punish him like this. He would rather be the one who was ill and had to go through the treatment than for an innocent child like Felix to shoulder all these.

“Liliane, I’ll leave Felix under your care.”

Liliane nodded understandingly. “Sorry, Brad. It’s Grandpa Thomas’ funeral today, and I still called you over. Go back to it. Felix, say bye-bye to Daddy.”

Felix waved at Bradley. “Bye, Daddy.”

Bradley rubbed Felix’s hair and told him, “Listen to Mommy well and call Daddy if anything happens, okay?”

“Yes, Daddy. I’ll be good.”

Bradley had just left the ward when Cole stepped up and greeted him, “Mr. Warner.”

Bradley looked at him coldly and indifferently asked, “All done?”

Cole was his assistant for a long time, and they had a certain degree of tacit understanding.

“The bodyguards are protecting Mrs. Warner.”

“Mrs. Warner?” Bradley asked icily.

“Ms. Quill… I have people stationed 24 hours to keep her safe.”

“Keep a close eye on her. I’ll hold you responsible if anything happens.”

Bradley had just stepped into the lobby with Cole when he ran into Jasper, who was coming in haste.

Jasper was not alone. His assistant and secretary behind him were pulling along two suitcases. What was kept in there were the clothes, shoes, and daily necessities that he had asked them to buy for Esther earlier.

“Jasper.” Bradley looked at the man before him and sneered. “Five years, and you’re still hung up on the woman I don’t want.”