Chapter 19
Talia’s face became drained of color, and her eyes dimmed.
Kendrick was right.
Three years of pure hell should have made her learn something.
She took a deep breath, tried to hold back the feelings inside, and her fingers clenched up.
The car went under a bridge, and Kendrick’s face flickered in the light.
Just like before, he looked cold and distant.
Talia swallowed hard and asked, kind of unwillingly, “Ken, did you pay off those people in prison?”
She almost fell apart a few times and even thought about just giving up.
But she couldn’t bring herself to leave Kendrick. She was worried that without her, he wouldn’t be okay.
She couldn’t believe he could be so mean to her.
But when their eyes locked, Kendrick asked back casually, “What kind of answer do you want?”
Talia was taken aback for a second, and then a bitter smile crossed her lips.
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Chapter 19
Was this an admission?
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Kendrick thought Talia was jealous of Valerie, so she had her kidnapped.
It almost got Valerie gang–raped.
And the evidence was solid. Talia had no way to argue.
If she had to blame anyone, it was Valerie for being so ruthless, willing to gamble with her own virginity.
And she won the gamble.
Talia suddenly felt that the love she had held on to for seven years was utterly ridiculous.
Her eyes were blank until the car pulled up to the house where she and Kendrick had planned to get married.
Every detail of the house, from the choice of building materials to the placement of flower pots, had been checked by Talia. She even helped paint the walls.
She had dreamed of living there with Kendrick, day and night.
But now, the place was full of Valerie’s things.
Talia’s heart ached terribly, like someone was tearing it apart. Her lips were pale from biting down hard:
Kendrick didn’t realize how Talia was feeling behind him. He said to the servant who came out, “She’s too dirty. Take her to clean up.”
The servant nodded and led Talia to the bathroom.
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Once inside, the servant covered her nose and didn’t know what to do.
Finally, she couldn’t hold back and asked, “Ms. Taylor, when was the last time you took a bath? How can a girl be so
messy?”
Talia was only 24 years old. Didn’t she want to be clean?
She didn’t say anything. She told the servant to leave and locked herself in the bathroom, where she washed for a whole hour.
Talia had injuries all over her body.
After three years of “special care,” even though those people stopped hurting her in the last month, the old wounds hadn’t healed.
Many of the injuries were in hidden places, where others couldn’t see them. There were layers of bruises, one on top of
another.
There were marks from pinching, scratching, kicking, and even cuts from sharp objects.
There were no meds in prison, and some of the wounds got infected and festered because they weren’t treated in time. The worst one was the long scar on her left foot.
It had been there on and off for over a year, and every rainy day, it hurt like hell. It was probably a chronic thing now.
Every time the pain got too much, Talia would tell herself, “It’s okay. It’ll get better eventually.”
The clothes were laid out by the servant. Talia put them on
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numbly, and they fit surprisingly well.
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When she opened the door, she bumped right into Kendrick.
She couldn’t dodge in time and lost her balance, about to fall backward.
Kendrick reached out and grabbed her waist.
His move was like a reflex.
Talia was startled and crashed into his chest.
This hug caught both of them off guard.
Kendrick smelled strongly of nicotine, and the shirt at his fingertips got wrinkled from Talia’s grip.
Once she realized what had happened, she stepped back, still feeling a bit shaken.
She put some distance between them and said kind of coldly, “Sorry, Mr. Deven, I didn’t mean to.”
Seeing out of the corner of her eye that Kendrick was holding a cigarette, she figured he was on his way out to smoke.
“What did you call me?”
Kendrick’s gaze turned cold, his eyes narrowing as they settled on Talia. “Mr. Deven? Talia, what kind of trick are you trying to pull now?”
Talia pursed her lips, looked down, and her eyes got red.
For someone who didn’t love her, everything she did seemed wrong.
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Chapter 19
Kendrick could still feel the soft, warm touch on his fingertips. A dark look flashed in his eyes as he put the cigarette back in his mouth.
He wouldn’t admit that when Talja pulled away from his arms,
he felt a strange sense of emptiness.
Especially now, with her eyes all red… His bad side made him want to take advantage of her.
Kendrick lit the cigarette, swallowed hard, and pushed down the restlessness he felt. “I didn’t expect that after three years in prison, you’ve got even better at seducing men.”
“Are you that eager?” His lips curled up in a mocking smile.
Chapter 20
Chapter 20
