Semua Bab He Fed Us Dog Food, I Fed Him Regret: Bab 1 - Bab 10

There was a brief pause on the other end of the line before my ex-husband, Shawn Payne, let out a chuckle, clearly convinced I was just messing with him."You haven't changed a bit, have you? Always trying to pick a fight. I know you're upset that I haven't visited or called you and Tommy these past three years. But honey, my hands were tied. The second I finally cleared all the debts, you were the first person I called. I'll head over to the island the day after tomorrow to pick you two up."Before I could cut him off, my phone died, and the screen went completely black.Beside me, my new husband, Kieran Luke, rolled over in his sleep. His arm slid around my waist from behind, pulling me back into the warmth of the covers. After keeping each other up all night, neither of us had gotten nearly enough sleep.By the time I finally woke up in the afternoon, Kieran had already left for the office. The bodyguards had also dropped my son, Tommy Payne, off at his international school.Fe

"Honey, we just need to stay strong. We'll get through these hard times together, okay?" Shawn cooed, his voice dripping with sickening hypocrisy.The very next day, my appendix flared up. I was on the floor, writhing in agony, drenched in so much sweat it felt like I'd been dunked in a pool. I didn't even have the strength to make a phone call.Tommy video-called Shawn, begging him to come take me to the hospital.Shawn's face showed a flicker of concern—not enough to actually do anything, though."Just rub your mom's stomach," he told Tommy. "She'll be fine in a minute. It's probably appendicitis. That won't kill her."Then he hung up in a hurry.When I finally blacked out from the pain, Tommy, scared out of his mind, called Shawn right back.But instead of helping, Shawn just chewed him out. "Tell your mom to stop faking it!"When Tommy tried calling again, the line went straight to voicemail. Shawn had turned his phone off.Appendicitis might not be a terminal illness, but

The moment Kieran stepped into view, the crowd parted instinctively. The smirks and whispers died instantly, replaced by looks of deference.Shawn was completely bewildered. He looked around the room, trying to locate the "Mrs. Luke" Kieran was talking about.Feigning composure, he stepped forward and extended his hand. "Welcome, Mr. Luke. Thank you for gracing my daughter's birthday party with your presence."Kieran completely ignored the outstretched hand. His face was a mask of cold fury, radiating a tension so suffocating that the entire room held its breath. Everyone knew Kieran's clout in Marovelle—he was a powerhouse, and nobody was stupid enough to make a sound when he was pissed.Kieran walked over to me and gently helped me up from the floor. His brow furrowed with heartache the moment he saw the vivid handprint burning across my cheek and the deep, bloody scratch on my neck."I'm so sorry, honey. I'm late," he murmured.His slender fingers lightly brushed the scratch o

Shawn muttered, completely shell-shocked, "Tommy Payne, who exactly are you calling Daddy?"Only then did Tommy finally look over at Shawn, correcting him with boyish gravity. "Sir, my name is Tommy Luke, and my dad is Kieran Luke. You're the one who abandoned Mom and me, so why do you even care who I call Daddy?"Tommy had never forgiven Shawn for exiling us to that deserted island and forcing us to live off dog food. He was young, but he knew how to hold a grudge."Who said I abandoned you?" Shawn shot back. "I did it for your own good! I put you there temporarily to keep you safe. I told you I'd come back for you. How is that abandonment? You're my own flesh and blood. How could I ever abandon you?"He spoke with absolute conviction, framing his cruelty as protective fatherly love.Tears of rage welled in Tommy's eyes as he shouted his accusations."Do you have any idea what that place was like? It was a deserted island! A godforsaken wasteland full of wild beasts, with no cle

"Babe, they're just trying to drive a wedge between us! Please don't believe them!" Yvonne pleaded desperately.Her pleading worked, and Shawn actually wavered.Kieran barked at his men, "Play the video. Let's show them exactly how they dug their own graves."One of his men fired up the projector, and the screen lit up with a recording of Yvonne talking to the two men from earlier.The footage laid bare the entire manufacturing process of that lethal batch of kibble, leaving Yvonne with no room for denial.What she hadn't realized was that the tall plant manager, desperate for a safety net in case things ever went south, had secretly recorded their entire operation with a pinhole camera.The brief hesitation on Shawn's face instantly hardened into a murderous rage. He struck Yvonne with a vicious blow, sending her crashing hard onto the floor, Chloe tumbling down right along with her. The poor little girl began crying so violently she could barely catch her breath.Yvonne lay sp