Chapter 1419:
It was the first time she had gone there in so many years. After James passed, she had never once visited.
Millie had taken care of everything, from the funeral arrangements to tending the grave, all without her.
Nicole stared at the forever youthful face carved into the stone and hit it with her hand.
The contact with the stone sent pain shooting up her arm.
She sobbed and hit the tombstone again and again.
“It’s all your fault!” Nicole cried. “Why did you have to leave us? You married me, you had Millie with me, so why didn’t you choose to stay with us? James, do you have any idea what kind of life your daughter and I have lived all these years? You died and left everything for us to face alone. Did you ever think about your wife and your daughter? James, you were never a responsible man.”
Her hand throbbed with pain, and blood stained the tombstone. Exhausted from the crying and the blows she had dealt the stone, Nicole slumped down and continued to weep.
“James, you fool…” She didn’t know how long she stayed there, crying and cursing his name.
Eventually, one question remained on her mind. “Why didn’t she ever tell me? She could have said something. Why didn’t she explain what happened back then?”
Footsteps approached from behind.
“Millie didn’t tell you because she was scared you wouldn’t be able to take the truth,” a voice said.
Nicole turned and found Giffard walking toward her.
“Can’t you see how deeply Millie cares for you?” he asked, his eyes turning red.
She stared at him. “Did she tell you anything?”
“No. She hasn’t spoken to anyone about it,” he said. “Not even my sister Alexia, and they’re as close as real sisters.”
𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖈𝖐𝖊𝖉 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖞 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖊: 𝖌ⲁ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⫺𝖼𝗈𝗆
“Then how would you know what she thinks?” Nicole pressed.
“She spoke about other things with Alexia,” Giffard said, anxious but determined to clarify things. He knew that without explaining, Nicole would never agree to go with him to speak with Millie calmly.
He went on, “She brought up what happened on the bridge right before you married Hayden. She said that when she was with her mother at that bridge back then, her fate didn’t scare her because she felt safe with her mother. But after you ended up with Hayden, she began to fear what might happen to you. Millie has never thought about giving up, not once in all these years. She has endured far more than you know. If anyone couldn’t handle the truth of those dark memories, it would be you, not her.”
Giffard spoke in a rush. Nicole remained seated, drowning in the heavy night and the storm inside her heart.
“Nicole, have you really not noticed? All these years, you’ve indeed suffered a lot, but didn’t she endure just as much beside you? You struggled just to make ends meet, and she stayed by your side without a single complaint. You got together with Hayden, and—”
“—she suffered his abuse, yet all she thought about was protecting you and finding a way to take you away.”
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