Hadley understood without words.
She lifted her gaze, her eyes drifting towards the window. Her spine straightened, and she let out a slow, steady breath, summoning the strength to revisit that dark time.
“The restaurant paid decently enough… and the owner was kind—he let me bring Joy along.”
Her eyes shimmered with tears, but she smiled, fragile yet tender. “Joy was such a good baby… she’d either eat or sleep. When she woke up, I’d give her a toy, and she’d lie quietly in her stroller, playing all by herself. She really was an angel…”
Eric listened, his heart twisting with a deep ache.
He thought to himself—this must be the bond between mother and daughter. Joy knew how hard Hadley fought to raise her alone, and so she gave nothing but quiet grace in return.
“That day…” Hadley’s smile faded into a shadow, her voice dropping into a heavy, haunted tone. “Those two men from the neighborhood—they attacked me…”
Eric knew only fragments, whispered by Colleen, mere scraps from news stories.
But the weight of Hadley’s PTSD spoke volumes—this was a horror too deep for words.
He held his breath, eyes fixed on the trembling woman before him. Her voice trembled despite her struggle to stay composed, the terror of that day still clinging to her like a suffocating fog.
“They cornered me in a dark alley, ripping at my clothes…” She swallowed hard, the memories crashing in like waves. “I fought back with everything I had… but…”
Her voice cracked, tears tracing quiet paths down her cheeks.
“Joy started crying.” Her tone sharpened, fierce with a raw edge. “They were monsters—no humanity left in them! They used my baby to break me! But, but…”
The floodgates opened, tears pouring without restraint.
“Joy’s cries were so loud… they smothered her face with her blanket because it annoyed them!”
Joy was just a fragile infant then. It wasn’t just cruelty—it was a death threat. And it shredded Hadley’s soul.
A cold, bitter laugh escaped her lips, her eyes burning with unyielding fire. “They gravely misjudged a mother’s fury. I would rather face death than let anyone harm my Joy.”
She had fought back, wounded those two men, and ended up at the police station.
What came next was the story Colleen had shared with him… s ? ?s FιndNovel.net
Eric’s face drained of color, heavy with unspoken pain.
Her quiet confession painted a scene so raw, it pierced his heart like a thousand knives.
He said nothing, only stared—lost in thought.
He remembered when she first returned to Srixby over a year ago… Back then, seeing her again, he believed she had changed—matured through the independence of living alone for years.
But now he realized how naive that was.
Beneath her brave, composed exterior lay a hidden truth—a life of torment that had shattered her.
.
.
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