“I’ll redraft the divorce papers. You can have custody over the kids and every asset and property I own. I know they don’t mean anything to you, but it’s the last thing I can give you.”
At that, Niamh heard Kendrick walk away.
Pretending not to hear him at all, Niamh continued to light the candles. However, she could not hide the tears that were trickling from her eyes.
Time ticked away, and Niamh fell to her knees lifelessly. With her head falling forward, she started to sob.
Not too far away, Kendrick’s tears fell with hers as he watched Niamh’s kneeling and crying figure.
‘When we first met, even the wind that blew tasted sweet. I promised to protect and keep that happy smile on your face forever, yet I ended up being the one to destroy every bit of that sweet smile.
‘I’ve finally understood, Eveline, that loving a person doesn’t mean you’ll get to be with them forever.
‘It’s not because I don’t love you enough, but because I’m not worthy. You deserve much better than me.’
Kendrick gulped. Giving Niamh up, he forced himself to turn around.
He used the day to spend time with the children.
Lillian still called him ‘Mister’, but it was good enough for him.
The sky darkened, and Niamh returned.
Kendrick placed the newly signed divorce papers in front of her and felt dizziness wash over him.
Assuming it was the slow-acting poison Lana talked about, he suppressed his reaction to it and gave Niamh a gentle, small smile.
“I don’t want you to suffer anymore, Nia,” he stated gently, “Having gone through so much, I’ve come to understand that true love doesn’t mean possession. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. That’s enough for me.”
Hearing her son, Karen asked worriedly, “What are you saying, Kendrick? Are you actually breaking up with Eveline?”
She asked, but Kendrick did not answer.
Karen then walked to stand beside Niamh. “Mom has done so many horrible things to you before, Eveline. Yet you’ve forgiven me despite my horrendous acts. Will you not forgive Kendrick this time?
“Yes, he made a mistake, Eveline, but he lost his memory and was under Lana’s control. That evil woman—”
“Even if Nia forgives me, I still can’t forgive myself,” Kendrick interrupted Karen.
Staring at the divorce papers, Niamh took the pen and signed her name at the bottom.
Karen sighed hopelessly as she watched.
Kendrick’s heart fell into the void as frost began to shroud his entire being.
Pretending not to realize, Niamh took the papers and stood. She looked down and fixed her bag to avoid his gaze. “I’ll have a lawyer process this immediately. You can visit the kids any time you want, but I don’t want Waldburg Corporation. I’ll move out tomorrow. From now on, we are no more but strangers.”
She quickly turned and left, fearful that her tears would soon betray her desire to stay.
“Can I hug you one last time, Nia?” Kendrick’s plea sounded from behind.
Niamh halted, her hands balling into fists as she closed her eyes. However, all that surfaced in her mind was her now ruined home. Ignoring him, she walked away.
Kendrick looked down despondently at the wedding ring on his finger before slowly taking it off.
The impression on his finger once the ring was removed was a testament to his reluctance to end this marriage.
Ever since he married Niamh all those years ago, he had never taken off the ring—not even when he thought she died.
However, everything would end today.
Placing the ring on the coffee table, he left silently.
Soon after, he arrived at the police station and claimed that he was the one who set fire to Montgomery Manor.
The chief superintendent recognized him and thought that Kendrick was joking when he confessed.
“Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery were your parents-in-law, Mr. Waldburg. How is it possible that you killed them? Plus, our investigations have already shown that the fire was an accident and not arson.”
The superintendent stressed, refusing to accept Kendrick’s confession.
Kendrick had always been an aloof man who hated repeating himself, especially when his mind was still in a daze.
Thinking that it might be the slow-acting poison, Kendrick went to the hospital.
He had not planned to care about it, for the two lives he took were more than enough for a death sentence. He did not care if he was sick, but the police station refused to put him behind bars.
As such, he went to the hospital and did a blood test. While he waited for the results, he found a familiar figure flash before his eyes.
“Adam?”
Kendrick followed after the figure and indeed confirmed that it was Adam.
Adam looked no different than how he did before—still gentlemanly with his glasses.
Yet, such a kind-looking man had also taken someone else’s life as an experiment subject.
How could Kendrick possibly forgive Adam for what he did to Niamh?
She had believed Adam, thinking that he was genuinely helping her when she was nothing more than a subject of an experiment to him.
Niamh still had no idea why he was so averse to her taking the pain medication Adam gave her.
Adam had returned to his office to get his research. However, he had not expected Kendrick to appear before the door the moment he sat in his office.
Panic flashed through Adam’s eyes, but he quickly calmed.
“Kendrick Waldburg? How can I help you?”
Locking Adam’s office door behind him, Kendrick walked toward Adam with a domineering gaze in his eyes.
“You don’t even have the most basic medical ethics at all, so how can you even call yourself a doctor? You have no right to wear that lab coat!”
Adam looked confused. “What are you talking about Kendrick?”
“You know what you’ve done!” Kendrick grabbed Adam by his collar. “Eveline believed you and even saw you as a friend, yet you treated her as an experiment subject! Damn you, Adam Brown!”
Kendrick sent a punch across Adam’s face, flinging the man’s glasses across the floor.
Adam frowned in pain and picked up his glasses. After putting them on once more, he smiled as if nothing was wrong.
“Shouldn’t you worry about yourself, Kendrick Waldburg?” Adam showed his true self. “So what if I treated Eveline as a test subject? Had it not been for me, she would’ve died long ago in prison. Hmph. Don’t forget that you were the one who sent her there in the first place, Mr. Waldburg.”
Adam was well aware of Kendrick’s weakness and aimed right at it. He chuckled when he saw the change in Kendrick’s expression before reaching into his drawer to pull out a bag of small and thin pills.
Kendrick recognized them as the pain medication Adam told Niamh to take.
“The pills Eveline Montgomery took were made with the same ingredients as the cigarettes you’ve been smoking over the past three months,” Adam explained.
Kendrick’s expression changed. “What?! You gave Eveline a slow-acting poison?”
“She didn’t take much, and with her pregnant body, it wasn’t that bad. Her symptoms seem to have already vanished as of now,” Adam’s reply placated much of Kendrick’s worry, but then he suddenly broke into a smile.
“So she isn’t my test subject anymore. You are.”
Kendrick relaxed greatly.
As far as he was concerned, he was content with Niamh being safe.
Adam saw through the cause behind Kendrick’s shift of expression. “You must love Eveline so much. It’s a shame you’ll never get to be with her again.”
He spoke as his computer showed the results of Kendrick’s blood test.
His eyes fell on the report, and Adam smiled.
“It has only been three months, but Lana sure is a cruel woman. She made you smoke that custom cigarette every day to make you stay. Your blood has already changed to the point where you only have two choices before I invent the antidote.”
Adam listed out slowly, “Choice one, you return to Lana’s side and be her man. Continue to smoke that cigarette and slow the poison, though I don’t suppose you’ll take that option.
“Choice two, you wait for death to take you.”
He smiled and continued, “Because even if I do invent the antidote, I can’t give it to you. You’ll never understand how rare it is for a mad scientist to be given the support—monetary and tactical—to do his own research, but the Stygian Johnsons do.”
The Stygian Johnson Gang.
All hope vanished from Kendrick’s heart at Adam’s mention of the gang.
As a mad scientist, nothing brought Adam more joy than achieving the results he wanted.
However, the only place that could give him the tactical support he needed was the Stygian Johnson Gang.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.