Yet, like a warrior forged in fire, she had gathered the broken fragments of herself and stitched them back together with fierce resilience.

So when she came back, she was no longer the Hadley he once knew. The Hadley who had been cast away to Blathe had died there—buried beneath years of pain and struggle.

A lump lodged in Eric’s throat, words caught and tangled, as if his voice had been stolen. Get full chapters from Find[?]ovel.net

“You…” Hadley paused, her gaze locking with his, waiting. Her chest tightened painfully. “Are you crying?”

Eric’s steady mask had shattered—tear tracks carved paths down his cheeks, his eyes swollen and reddened by the storm inside him. A low, wry laugh slipped from Hadley’s lips, thick with emotion. “No tears needed… They never broke me. I made sure they paid in kind.”

“Hadley!” Eric shot up from his seat, crossing the coffee table with purpose until he stood mere inches from her. “Is there more? Something you’ve kept hidden?”

“More?” Hadley’s brow furrowed as she sifted through the haze of memory.

Then it came back to her.

“Joy was just a baby then. I couldn’t nurse her—my body failed me. No money for formula, no diapers… What else could I do?” She swallowed hard, tears cascading freely now like a relentless rain. “I… I turned to stealing.”

Her voice trembled but steadied, her gaze locking onto Eric’s.

“They caught me—right on the spot.” Her confession hung heavy between them. “They forced me down, beating me as they held me there. And my Joy… my sweet, quiet Joy… rested in my arms, not a single sob, not a tear to shed.”

Eric’s eyes snapped shut abruptly. Darkness crashed over him, dizziness swirling through his limbs as his solid frame wavered. When his eyes opened again, a bitter tang of blood filled his mouth. His voice cracked, laced with raw urgency. “Is there… more? Please, tell me everything. I need to know.”

Hadley tilted her head, lost in thought, her mind sifting through memories. “Not much else, I suppose,” she murmured softly.

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After a pause, she continued, “It was just work, school, and raising Joy—each day blending into the next, like waves lapping at the shore.” Reflecting on those years, Hadley marveled at her own strength, the quiet resilience that had carried her through.

Joy was her anchor, her only true kin, the heartbeat of her existence.

Hadley’s ties to her family had frayed beyond repair.

Her father had abandoned her, her mother passed away too soon, and her grandmother died without warning. The Flynn family, who later adopted her, was kind, but never truly hers by blood.

Joy, the daughter she nurtured through nine months of hope and brought into the world with boundless love, was her reason to keep going.

For Joy, Hadley pushed aside complaints, turning hardship into fuel for perseverance.

“I’m tougher than I look,” Hadley said with a gentle laugh, her eyes sparkling with pride. “I juggled studies and part-time jobs, three at once during summer breaks. And I’m thrifty, mind you, despite what people might think. I gave Joy a good life.”

Her voice caught, a sudden tremor betraying her composure. “But then… Joy fell ill…”

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