\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 49\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jeffrey\u2019s irritation intensified. He bent down and gripped her chin. \u201cBut the more you act like this, the less I want to let Stephen off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie\u2019s eyes trembled as she met his gaze. \u201cJeffrey, I have nothing left. No parents, no family, no marriage. Now, the only person I have is my brother. Are you really going to destroy him, too?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jeffrey scoffed. \u201cIf he goes to prison, at least he\u2019ll keep his head down for a few years and stop causing trouble for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie replied, \u201cThat\u2019s not how it works.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jeffrey sneered. \u201cHe smashed someone\u2019s head open, drew blood, and still hasn\u2019t apologized. Do you think kneeling once is enough to settle this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie bit her lip, finally understanding what he was getting at.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still on her knees, she shuffled forward, turned around, and faced Felix and Abigail.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By now, she felt nothing but numbness. Dignity? Pride? None of that mattered anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Natalie said slowly, making sure each word was clear. \u201cThis is entirely my brother\u2019s fault. He was wrong. We were wrong. I\u2019m begging you to show mercy and let him go this once. I will kneel here in thanks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felix refused outright. \u201cStephen has to pay a price!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFelix.\u201d Abigail tugged at his arm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, she hurried over to Natalie and reached out to help her up. \u201cWhat are you doing? Get up, quickly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie avoided her hand. She said quietly, \u201cMs. Wright, please put in a good word. Let my brother off.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abigail replied, \u201cI\u2019m not the one who got hurt, so there\u2019s no point in asking me. If you kneel like this, anyone who didn\u2019t know better might think the Wright family is bullying you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie smiled bitterly. Only she truly understood the humiliation of it all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She knew the Wright family wouldn\u2019t back down, but all she could do was beg. She had to humble herself as much as she could. There was no other way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was she sad? Was she miserable? It didn\u2019t really feel that way. She felt like an empty shell, hollow and soulless. Natalie asked softly, \u201cWhat will it take for this to be over? I\u2019ll take responsibility for all the losses. I\u2019ll pay. I\u2019ll even compensate for Felix\u2019s head injury.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a flicker in her gaze. \u201cI can pay for that, too.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abigail looked confused. \u201cHow do you plan on compensating for that?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie said, \u201cHit me. If you smash my head until I\u2019m bleeding like Felix, will that soothe your anger?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abigail looked horrified, waving her hands repeatedly. \u201cHow could we?\u201d As she spoke, she moved to Jeffrey\u2019s side. \u201cJeff, Natalie must have lost her mind. You should talk some sense into her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jeffrey\u2019s voice was icy to the bone. \u201cShe\u2019s all talk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abigail said anxiously, \u201cBut what if she really does it? I don\u2019t want to see blood. I\u2019m worried I\u2019ll have nightmares.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie only looked at Felix. \u201cAre you going to do it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat? So, is your plan to play the martyr?\u201d Felix crossed his arms, looking utterly disdainful. \u201cI\u2019ve seen this plenty of times. I\u2019m a grown man. If I lay a hand on a woman, where would my dignity go?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, I\u2019ll do it myself,\u201d Natalie said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felix scoffed. \u201cCut it out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie said calmly, \u201cFelix, if I smash my own head until I\u2019m bleeding, we call this matter settled. Deal?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felix snorted. \u201cI bet you don\u2019t have the guts.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie didn\u2019t waste another word as she slowly stood up. She paused for a couple of seconds, then quickly grabbed the glass ashtray nearby and swung it straight at her own head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The movement was clean and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abigail sucked in a sharp breath, clutching Jeffrey\u2019s sleeve tightly. Yet in her eyes, there was a glint of morbid anticipation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Felix let out a surprised gasp, too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Natalie closed her eyes and brought it down with all her strength.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, at that moment, someone grabbed her wrist firmly, stopping her action mid-motion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
X CLOSE\u00a0<\/p>\n
Divorced While Pregnant The Ex-Husband\u2019s Collapse 49 \u00a0 Chapter 49\u00a0 Jeffrey\u2019s irritation intensified. He bent down and gripped her chin. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-divorced-upgraded-and-married-rich"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20023"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20023\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}