What a cruel twist that was!

She’d spent years imagining what might happen if he ever uncovered the truth. Would he look at her differently? Would he finally feel the weight she’d carried?

He had to feel something, didn’t he?

But reality cut deeper than any fantasy.

Eric could risk everything for her and for Joy—he could even make bold, reckless decisions in their name. Yet, when it came to choosing between her and Linda, he never hesitated.

Why?

Maybe he never loved her quite enough—that was the only explanation Hadley could settle on.

Curled in on herself, she pressed her face into her arms, the sound of her muffled sobs filling the silent room. s ? ?s F?nd-Novel.net

Scenes from Blathe came flooding back, sharp and merciless. She remembered the lowest point—carrying Joy in her arms, empty pockets, and a stomach that hadn’t felt full in days. Desperation had led her into that grocery store.

She hadn’t wanted to steal. But she also hadn’t had a choice. And when they caught her, right there in public, everything crumbled. Her pride, her strength, her very sense of self—it was all crushed in that single, devastating moment, scattered like dust beneath judgmental stares.

From the hallway, Eric could just barely catch the faint, broken sound of someone crying.

He held still, breath caught in his chest, and leaned in with his ear pressed to the door, clinging to the certainty—it was Hadley.

“Hadley…” Eric whispered, panic rising in his throat as he tried to soothe her through the barrier. “Please… open the door. If you’re angry, then be angry at me. Scream, curse, throw something—just don’t do this to yourself.”

His words hung in the air, unanswered. The door remained firmly shut. Not a single sound came in return.

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“Hadley.” Lowering his head, Eric pressed his forehead to the door, the cool surface catching his tears as they slid down across his cheeks and dripped from his nose. “Please don’t cry, Hadley…”

In his gut, he knew—this wasn’t just sadness. She was broken.

Since coming back to Srixby, he’d never seen her unravel like this. Not once.

Not unless it involved Joy.

When it came to the past, she always talked about it like it was no big deal. Never before had she shattered like this—never once poured everything out the way she had tonight.

Years of buried wounds, long silenced and ignored, finally erupted—because tonight, she understood that no one would ever answer for them.

And the cruelest truth? The man she loved, Eric, was part of the very reason. It became a sleepless night, steeped in silence and misery. Neither of them found rest.

By dawn, when the housemaid made her way upstairs, she stopped short at the sight in front of Hadley’s door—Eric slumped against it, head down, eyes closed, drained beyond recognition.

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