The Dream I Couldn't Wake From のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 1 - チャプター 9

The sound was so loud that every parent's head snapped in our direction.Onstage, Wendy looked helplessly toward us.Julian's face darkened. He grabbed me and forced me back into my seat. "What kind of occasion do you think this is? Daphne, have you no shame?"Tears streamed down my face as I stared at him in despair.Just before the awards ceremony began, Nathan had still been beside me, acting spoiled. "Mommy, they're going to invite the parents up later. Make sure you tell everyone how great I am!"And now Julian was telling me that Nathan wasn't my son.I had carried my child to full term. I'd suffered severe morning sickness for seven months and needed IV drips just to make it through. The son I'd endured all that to bring into the world had died the moment he was born?I hadn't even gotten to touch his little face. Now I didn't even have a place where I could mourn him.It was as if he'd never existed at all.Julian saw how devastated I was and softened his voice. "Wendy

Julian let the words slip out casually. "It's the same in bed. You still tense up even now. But when I'm with Wendy, I can let go and be a real man without holding anything back."Those words shattered what little sanity I had left.The young man who had once fought desperately to protect me had clawed his way through countless hardships to become the man everyone now knew as Mr. Cole.He used to work himself so hard that he'd drink until he vomited blood rather than waste time in a hospital.He had once been so careful and tender with me beneath the covers, removing my clothes slowly as if I were something precious. "Daphne, I'm going to give you a safe, comfortable life. You'll never have to be afraid again!"I'll take it slow. If you're uncomfortable, I'll stop immediately."How had the man who once loved me so deeply become such a stranger?I shot to my feet and began smashing everything within reach.My hair was disheveled, tears had long since ruined my makeup, and I look

I suddenly sprang to my feet and threw myself at Wendy with all my strength.Wendy slammed into the solid wall behind her and let out a pained groan."Why should I give you my blessing?" I shrieked. "I'm a lunatic now. I can kill someone and get away with it!"I hurled myself at her again and again, no longer caring whether I lived or died, until her cries for help brought the medical staff rushing in.They forcibly restrained me and injected me with a sedative.As my consciousness began to fade, I heard Wendy scream at me in frustration, "Daphne, I've let you have your way since we were kids! So what if you let me have this one thing?"Tears slipped from the corners of my eyes.If it had been anything else, I could have given it up, even if it meant sacrificing my own life. But this was my beloved husband and my son.…When I woke again, I mechanically began banging my head against the headboard.Julian sat quietly across from me, a trace of pity in his expression. "Daphne,

The police stopped the long-distance bus.Wendy climbed off with Nathan clutched tightly in her arms. She tried to run, but the officers stopped her.Julian stared at her in disbelief. "Wendy, why did you take Nathan away? You know perfectly well that he's Daphne's only reason to keep going. By doing this, you're taking away the one thing keeping her going. How could you do this to her?""But Nathan is my hope too!" Wendy screamed at him. "What right do you have to take him away from me?"She turned to me, and hatred flashed in her eyes. "Daphne, wasn't five years with Nathan enough? Why can't you just leave us alone?"My heart clenched at the fear in the boy's eyes as he looked at me. "Wendy, if you genuinely wanted what was best for him, I wouldn't be fighting this hard to keep him."But you poisoned him for your own selfish reasons and left his stomach and intestines dangerously weak."You couldn't even wait for him to recover before you tried to take him away. I don't trust

"Daphne, I know I was wrong." Julian pulled out his old phone and eagerly showed me the photos on it. "These are all our memories. Have you really forgotten them? We promised we'd look through them together when we were old!"I took the phone from him and flipped through the photos. Then I let out a soft laugh and casually tossed it into the trash can beside us.The hope in Julian's eyes vanished instantly.He didn't show up again for a long time.…The next time I saw Julian was at Nathan's kindergarten graduation ceremony. He stood far behind the crowd and watched us from a distance.After the ceremony, he approached me and carefully placed a gift in my hands. "Please... don't reject it."Only after I accepted it did he breathe a sigh of relief.I turned to leave, but he hesitated.In the end, he called out to stop me. "Daphne, I've thought about a lot of things lately. For all these years, I convinced myself that I was protecting you until I wore myself out, and I sought a