Lahat ng Kabanata ng After Divorce, I Married His Half-Brother: Kabanata 101 - Kabanata 110

>__A raw sense of satisfaction filled me. A smile tugged at the side of my lips as I watched that lousy pregnant bitch struggle against the ropes. Her soft whimpers, her struggles...they all gave me great satisfaction. Slowly, I descended the stairs of the dilapidated building and began walking towards the open space in the middle of the room. My heels clicked against the dusty cemented floor, a roguish smile curling on my face. Vanessa quickly raised her head, still tied to the chair, looking apprehensive. Just the way I wanted her to be. Scared. "If it isn't my adorable big sister..." I bristled, my nails tapping on her shoulder blade as I circled her and stopped just before her. Hair messy, mouth sealed with black tape, eyes red from crying, body covered in sweat and mud from all the dragging—she looked miserable.I tilted my head to the side, a mocking smile enveloping my face now. "Tsk tsk, you look so pathetic now, Van. Such a pity." She let out a sound

>__I wasn’t sure when I started breathing again.All I remembered was the feeling of her body in my arms— limp, cold, and barely breathing.The world around me was chaos: yelling, footsteps, Miles shouting orders, men groaning on the floor where I’d left them.But all I could worry about was her.Vanessa.Her head resting against my chest, face bruised, lashes wet, skin pale as snow, breath shallow.“Stay with me,” I whispered, my voice already breaking as I pressed my cheek against her forehead. “Baby, stay with me. Please. Please.”She didn’t respond.Miles rushed to my side, breathless. “Ryker,we need to move her. Now.”I stood, lifting her carefully, cradling her like something holy. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking.And it wasn’t even because of the fight or from the blood on them. But from the terror creeping into my bones.I carried her out of that rotting warehouse, footsteps pounding, heart punching against my ribs like it wanted to break out.The second the

The next few days went by in a blur. Vanessa had been recovering well at the hospital after the surgery. Fortunately, the cancer had been operated on and the baby was safe. And Derek? He was placed on home-arrest because apparently, my father played some dirty cards in the background which enabled Derek to escape being sent to jail right away. But that didn't mean I planned on dropping the case. Seeing Vanessa covered in blood that day at the warehouse made everything inside me snap. I hadn't done enough for her. She deserved so much more than being dragged back to the faces of the people from her past. The people who hurt her shouldn't be allowed to watch another sunset. They belonged behind bars—every last one of them. Seeing her like that gave me a vivid, brutal image of how she must have looked after every beating Derek gave her. Was that how she looked during their marriage? Was her face always marked like that—blood, sweat, dirt smeared together into a portrait of p

>____I sat beside my husband, my hands folded in my lap, fingers trembling no matter how hard I tried to keep them still.Every sound in the courtroom felt too loud in my ears as I sat there. The shuffle of feet, the coughs, the soft murmur of people who didn't understand that my whole life was about to be ripped apart.Across the room, Ryker sat with Vanessa. Their faces blank.I didn't look at them for long. I couldn't.My eyes kept drifting back to the box.To my son.Derek stood there in that orange uniform, his shoulders hunched like a scared boy pretending to be a man. His face was thinner. His nose was bandaged. His eyes kept darting around the room, landing on me every few seconds like he was half-pleading for me to do something.My chest tightened.God... that was my baby.My heart began to pound so hard it hurt. I pressed my palm against my chest, breathing slowly, reminding myself to stay calm. I had to be strong. Mothers were supposed to be strong.B

My father spoke up again, cracking through the crisis rolling in my head. This time, his voice had lost its edge. It was more subtle and low, almost like he was trying to placate a kid. A kid that shouldn’t have had to carry so many grudges rooted in the darkest pit of his soul. “Take it out on me instead, Ryker. You don’t have to do all of these. You don’t have to go to these extremes to break a person. Punish me instead. I was the one who brought you into this world. I intentionally didn’t give your mother a title and let her stay as a stained mistress and made you an illegitimate son. Just…leave them out of this. Please.”He was pleading. Telling me to let go. While it should be a pitiful sight to witness, it only provoked me instead.And the first thing that came to mind was; He’s choosing them again. Dad would always shield his ‘real’ family. Over me. Over whatever he thought he had with my mother. It would never be us.He would rather take a blow for those two. Hell, he would b