第1章
The male model who was by Nicole Steinfeld's side ran away again and when I found out, she had already brought him back.
In front of me, the male model put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her on the lips affectionately.
"I've heard that Mr. Cruise's horse riding was one of the best in the circle before retiring from his family. I bet Mr. Cruise's children won't be far behind either. Mr. Portman, I want to see it. Can you let the child next to him ride for me? As long as they make me happy .…"
He moved closer to Nicole and put his fingers into her collar.
"Tonight, you can play whatever you want, Ms. Steinfeld and from now on, I will never leave again."
Nicole's gaze lingered on his face for a moment and the next moment, she looked at me.
She did not say anything, but everyone on the equestrian field understood what her gaze meant.
My face turned pale and I begged her while protecting my five-year-old son, Ezra.
"Nicole, no, this is our only child!"
Everyone burst into laughter. Nicole felt embarrassed and looked at me with disdain.
"It's not like he hasn't ridden a horse before. Most horses on the riding field are docile. What can go wrong? What are you still standing here for? Go ride! If you can't make Derrick happy, he doesn't have to get off the horse tonight!"
After that, everyone roughly pulled me away and carried my five-year-old son onto the horse.
The horse was startled and ran forward like mad, while Ezra's innocent cries for help made my heart ache.
I turned back and looked at the observation deck from afar. Nicole and the male model were already kissing under the crowd.
In the messy wind, I saw Ezra pulling the reins tightly. Even though he was very scared, he had to pretend to be strong.
My struggle caused Nicole's dissatisfaction and she directly ordered someone to remove my arm.
I was in so much pain that I was exhausted and lay on the ground, feeling hopeless.
Nicole, it was the seventh time and the last time.
——
The smell of disinfectant stimulated my nerves and I slowly woke up from the hospital bed.
In the ward, apart from the lazy Derrick sitting on the sofa with his arms around Nicole, there was no other member of the Steinfeld Family.
Seeing me open my eyes, she asked lazily, "Are you awake?"
My face turned pale and my eyes fell on the ventilator beside me.
She fell silent for a moment and made an impatient "tsk" sound.
"You're in shock again. Why are you so fragile?"
I numbly pulled the corners of my mouth and did not respond to her.
"Where's Ezra?"
Nicole pursed her lips.
"He's lying in the intensive care unit. He's useless. He can't stand running a few laps."
She looked at me with a hint of blame.
"Why do you think your son is so precious? If he can't endure a little hardship, what will he achieve in the future?"
I gave a bitter smile.
Last night, Nicole called Ezra and me to the equestrian field. I could not count how many laps Ezra ran at the equestrian field because of Derrick's words. I only remembered that Ezra had difficulty breathing in the end.
After a long time on stage, Nicole and Derrick finally had enough fun. She buttoned up her last shirt button and spat out two words to me in the racecourse as if to give alms.
"That's enough."
I had a pale face as I watched the staff carry my dying son off the horse.
The pain and stickiness in my shoulder surrounded me and I looked at Nicole who was surrounded by everyone in a daze.
After staggering two steps, I struggled to sit up and asked her for help.
"Nicole ... 120 ... quick! Something's going to happen to Ezra!"
I endured the pain of dislocation and beads of sweat dripped from my forehead.
第2章
The young men who were with Nicole noticed my expression and gathered around me.
"Isn't it true that you just made your son run two laps on a horse? Why did you end up like this?"
"You know, Nicole, he's acting pretty convincing. I'm about to take it seriously. Is dislocation really that painful? Is the sweat on his forehead so real?"
"He's acting exactly the same as he tried to pretend that your grandma's death wasn't because of him! Not bad, Ethan, your acting skills haven't deteriorated at all over the years!"
Nicole came over with her lover and looked me up and down with a frown.
She probably forgot what my expression was like before I went into shock from heartache, so like everyone else, she thought I was pretending.
Derrick stepped forward before her. He looked at me with disgust and pretended to be surprised as he watched the liquid flowing from between my son's legs.
"Oh my God, did your son wet his pants?!"
He deliberately raised his voice to draw everyone's attention to Ezra's legs.
"How did you teach your son, Ethan? He still can't hold his urine even at this age. Hahaha, you are the same, aren't you? Or else, why does Nicole dislike you so much?"
A huge feeling of shame overwhelmed Ezra and me and I almost could not breathe.
Ezra instinctively reached out his hand to Nicole for help, "Mom, help me, my body hurts so much, I feel so uncomfortable."
Unfortunately, she slapped her son's hand away in disgust.
"Shameful!"
After saying that hurtful word, she led everyone away and even the staff at the equestrian field did not take me and my son seriously, leaving me alone on the grass shouting for help.
Later, my son fainted and my heart skipped a beat, then I fainted too.
As soon as I woke up, I was here.
My eyes were sore and once again, I almost lost the child I raised with my own hands.
Derrick leaned his head against her head and his hand gently stroked her shoulder.
"It's all Mr. Cruise's fault for not teaching his son well. He just ran a few laps and he was already in the intensive care unit. Mr. Cruise is indeed a jinx. You and I rode back and forth so many times in the past, sweating profusely, but we were still fine and nothing happened to us."
He made the woman amused. She looked up and kissed him on the lips.
"How can he compare to you? If I had met you earlier and trusted you to raise that child, he would definitely be as strong and healthy as you."
She deliberately emphasized the last words, adding endless ambiguity.
I did not know how many times I had heard such hurtful words and every time I heard them, my heart ached a little more.
I would also always question her without long memory.
"You gave birth to him from your belly. How can you say such things!"
Every time it happened, Nicole would look at me coldly and drive me crazy without saying a word.
But now, I felt completely numb and felt nothing.
Perhaps it was because of the weakness of my body after just waking up from the shock, the cool breeze blowing in from the window made me feel particularly cold.
"Nicole, could you please help me close the window? I'm very cold. The doctor said that after waking up from shock, I need to rest more and not catch a cold. Thank you."
My voice was hoarse and my tone was indifferent.
That was what the doctor told me the first few times I went into shock.
Nicole's face was cold and her words were like a knife in the cold winter.
"You're just in a temporary state of heartache and shock and it's not like you've been in a car accident and are all in pieces. Why are you afraid of the cold? Are you using shock as an excuse to slack off and not go back to the manor to take care of my mom?"
第3章
After saying that, she was about to leave. She had been waiting here for half an hour and her patience had long been exhausted.
Before leaving, she deliberately opened all the windows.
"Tsk, not to catch a cold? I want to see what will happen if you catch a cold."
I listened to these words in silence, just like the previous five years, bearing her hatred alone.
But now, I was so tired. I did not want to bear the burden of her grandmother's death anymore, nor did I want to be the punching bag for the entire Steinfeld Family anymore.
Five years ago, the story of Cinderella and the Prince happened to Nicole and me.
When we were deeply in love, Nicole took me to the Steinfeld Family's manor.
Although the Steinfeld Family was a small family, they had been arranged marriages for several generations, except for Nicole.
She refused.
In the entire Steinfeld Family, no one really liked me. They all tried to please me for my money.
Only her grandmother, Harrieth Steinfeld.
Harrieth was over ninety years old and her health was gradually declining.
The failure of her organs forced her, who was once the most influential person in the Steinfeld Family, to step down and sit in a wheelchair.
She was the only person in the Steinfeld Family who truly supported my relationship with Nicole.
She liked me very much and she would often ask Nicole to call me to the Steinfeld Family's manor to accompany her.
She was the one who raised and took care of Nicole since she was a child. She often told me about Nicole's childhood.
But as she spoke, the aura around her became gloomy and sad.
In the broken story, I learned that Harrieth had a young confidant before her marriage arrangement.
However, everything was done out of necessity.
Later on, she could not even speak up.
But even so, she still agreed to my proposal to marry Nicole without bringing any gifts against everyone.
Though I did not bring any gifts, in the Cruise Family, the wife had always been in charge of the money when getting married.
So, after getting engaged, my parents and I handed over the financial power of our family to Nicole.
On the eve of the wedding preparations, Nicole and I took grandmother out for a walk.
While walking down a slope in the park, Harrieth wrote on a piece of paper that she was thirsty. Nicole ran out to buy some water and I stayed behind to look after her.
In this moment, she seemed to see an old friend and felt very excited.
I leaned on the wheelchair and looked around, but I did not see anyone.
"Ethan!"
Nicole's voice sounded behind me and I turned around.
In that moment, the wheelchair slid down the slope ....
My negligence caused a tragedy.
After handling Harrieth's funeral, Nicole still married me, but not because she loved me anymore, but because she hated me.
Out of guilt, I gave everything in the Cruise Family to Nicole, including the position of chief executive of the company.
After Nicole became wealthy, powerful and influential, she hated me even more.
She changed the name of the company from Cruise Group to Steinfeld Group and replaced the position of the Cruise Family in the company with the Steinfeld Family.
"Ethan, just stay trapped in the Steinfelds and struggle to make amends for the rest of your life!"
Not only Nicole, but everyone in the Steinfeld Family had pinned their anger and hatred on me.
During our married life, Nicole met a male model from a bar, Derrick Nolte.
The two were in love and their love was inseparable ....
As for me, I could only watch myself trapped in the quagmire of the Steinfeld Family, blaming myself and struggling with the loss of our two children, Nicole and myself.
And now.
"Mr. Cruise, I'm sorry. As a doctor, I have to tell you something. Your son who has just recovered from a severe cold should not do strenuous exercise. If he does, he will ... I'm sorry, your son died this morning. There is one more thing. You have had seven consecutive shocks in five years, which has caused great damage to your body and heart. From now on ... you may have to take medicine all year round. If you have another shock, you will most likely die. Even if you are saved, you will need a heart bypass surgery."
第4章
The doctor's words were very tactful and I naturally understood the meaning behind them.
I nodded calmly without saying a word.
"Do I need to tell Ms. Steinfeld about this?"
It was a private hospital under the Steinfeld Family. Although I was not on good terms with the Steinfeld Family and Nicole, it had not yet spread to outsiders.
Everyone only knew that I was not a favored husband and son-in-law of Nicole and the Steinfeld Family, but I was still respected.
I gave a bitter smile.
"No need to tell her."
As soon as the words fell, Nicole called.
Her voice was still lazy, yet mixed with a strong sense of malice.
"Are you dead? If you're not, come over to the villa. The condoms that Derrick and I usually use are gone and I'm not used to other ones. Do you know which brand I usually use? Send it to me and I'll send you the location via WhatsApp."
The phone hung up before I could reply.
The next moment, the address of the villa was sent to my phone.
If it were in the past, I would endure all the sadness, grief, or humiliation out of self-blame and atonement and humbly responded to everything Nicole asked me to do.
Just to make her hate me less, even less.
But now, I felt numb and I calmly clicked into Amazon to have an order.
My friend put down the porridge and choked up, tucking in the corner of my blanket.
"Ethan, do you have to be with Nicole? This is the seventh time you've been in shock and the third time you've seen your child die with your own eyes! What else does she want? What else does she want before she's willing to let you go? Does she have to torture you to death?"
I raised my hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of my eyes and gave him a soothing smile. He had been speaking up for me since he stepped into my ward.
"Don't worry, she can't do anything to me anymore."
Nicole was angry because I did not go to the villa in person to deliver the condoms.
She suspended my card and asked the doctor to kick me out of the hospital.
I packed my things and left the hospital, then went back to the Steinfeld Family's manor.
Since taking complete power, Nicole had destroyed the former Cruise Family's manor.
My parents were also unhappy about this. During the argument with her, she asked her bodyguards to hold me down and humiliate me, which made my parents so angry that they had a heart attack and died ....
The servants of the Steinfeld Family looked at me with contempt.
"Look, the jinx is back. He doesn't have the little bastard around him ... he won't be ... it's really hilarious."
"That's right, how many times has this happened? He can't even raise him and he still has the nerve to run here. If it were me, I would find a place to hide and never come out to see anyone again."
"We are just servants, but we are not as shameless as him, are we? So how can a shameless person like him become the son-in-law of a wealthy family?"
I calmly walked over the living room. Now, I could be indifferent to these words.
I came at a very unfortunate time, as Nicole and Derrick happened to be here to meet Rosie Steinfeld, my mother-in-law.
As soon as I stepped into the living room, Rosie slammed down the teacup in her hand, her voice sharp and harsh.
"Ethan, come here and kneel down in front of grandma's memorial tablet!"
My footsteps up the stairs paused. I always felt guilty towards grandmother.
I turned around and walked towards Harrieth's memorial photo.
Rosie got angry and did not even give me a mat. My knees ached as I knelt on the cold, hard floor.
I had not fully recovered yet and when the ruler hit my back, my heart began to hurt as well.
"Humph, tell me how many times this has happened! I only have a male dog, but I can raise several litters a year, right? And you? You're not even as good as an animal!"
"You should have prevented Nicole from getting pregnant, at least she would have been pure."
第5章
"Look at yourself, are you worthy of grandma's love for you? If she was still alive, seeing that you couldn't even raise a child in five years, she would have asked you to divorce Nicole a long time ago! But you are thick-skinned and you still have the nerve to stay in the Steinfelds and occupy a position as Nicole's husband!"
All the humiliating, abusive and scolding words were reminding me to have some self-awareness and get out of the Steinfeld Family as soon as possible.
I looked up to see the culprit who caused me to lose my children repeatedly.
Nicole got pregnant for the first time, one month after getting married. She had her bodyguards beat me for a whole month, causing serious internal injuries to my body and forcing me to stay in the hospital for observation.
When she found out she was pregnant, I was very happy, thinking that the arrival of this child would ease the relationship between me and her to a certain extent.
But I thought wrong, Nicole just laughed at me and her laughter was creepy.
She spoke up,
"You want me to give birth to your seed? Sure, as long as you can serve your new partner well, I will give birth to him."
Nicole forced the bitter aphrodisiac into my mouth. It took effect quickly and I lost consciousness in less than half an hour. Although it did not reach that stage, I also suffered inhuman torture.
Nicole was pregnant for the second time when she had just hooked up with Derrick. Derrick said he wanted to see me drink, so Nicole ordered ten bottles of Spade A Platinum in the private room.
I refused to drink, then Nicole asked the bodyguard to hold me down and force me to drink herself.
I drank two bottles of wine and blood appeared.
Fortunately, she gave birth to our second child, twin sons.
The third time she got pregnant, it was her and Derrick's child.
Rosie punished me and the twins, kneeling at the door for a day and a night, because I failed to deliver the aphrodisiac items to Nicole and Derrick in time.
That night, in order to seek excitement, Nicole asked Derrick to hold her and have sex with her in front of me and our children.
I knelt for a whole day, feeling deeply traumatized and heartbroken. My elder and younger brothers also left me out of fear and great trauma.
In just half a year, the twin sons passed away and they did not even have the chance to feel their mother's love and care.
My heart stopped beating because I was too sad. I was sent to the emergency room and survived.
Until in the equestrian field, Ezra was the longest child I had raised and also the oldest child of Nicole and me.
I thought I could raise Ezra well, after all, he was already five years old.
It was a pity, he was also ....
Nicole just sat there, acting as if she had nothing to do with our three children.
The young man next to her looked down at me, his eyes full of pride and mockery.
Rosie got tired of scolding, so she threw away the ruler, leaned back on the sofa with a headache and sighed.
"I shouldn't have agreed to your marriage under grandma's pressure! Now what should I do if my daughter marry a debt collector and jinx?"
I gave a bitter smile and prayed in front of Harrieth's memorial photo.
The five years of my life in the Steinfeld family, I had been heartbroken too many times; Harrieth's death, Nicole's infidelity, my parents' death and I lost three children ....
"If that's the case, then it's up to you, Ms. Steinfeld. I will divorce Nicole, so that your family can completely get rid of me."
Nicole froze and unconsciously looked at me.
After a while, a sound of laughter was heard.
"Haha ...."
"Are you worth to file for divorce?"
I froze and found myself being pressed by the bodyguard in front of the Harrieth's memorial photo, holding my neck.
第6章
He met Nicole's gaze with immense strength, as if he was determined to kill me.
"You haven't even redeemed yourself for your sins yet and you want to leave? You killed someone and you just want to ran away? Ethan, there is no such easy thing in this world!
The bodyguard threw me away and caused me to crash into the flower bed behind me.
I just felt a pain at the back of my head and then some warm liquid flowed into my clothes.
I fainted.
As soon as I woke up, I found myself lying in the villa where I was newlyweds.
Not long after, Nicole brought me a cup of hot water with a cold face.
I drank it and laid down again in a daze.
Half asleep and half awake, I smelled alcohol and felt a restless hand tugging at my pants.
I stopped Nicole, who was drunk and she got angry.
"What? You don't want to? Don't you really enjoy raising children? Don't you really want to raise our children? I'm satisfying you now, but you're not happy about it? Why are you pretending?"
I was so angry that I trembled all over and slapped her.
"Nicole! I just recovered from the shock! Our son is dead, we have no children!"
She finally stopped, her dark eyes fixed on me, as if trying to see through my disguise.
I sighed.
"The doctor told me to rest more and not to have sexual intercourse or do strenuous exercise until I am fully recovered. I am tired, so I am going to sleep first."
"Okay, you are really good at pretending! That's right, otherwise how could you have tricked me into falling in love with you five years ago! It's all because of you that grandma died!"
My heart sank and ached.
She moved her body away and regained her nonchalant demeanor.
"Rest? You haven't been in shock before, so why should you rest? Mom hasn't been feeling well these past two days, so you should move over and take care of her starting tomorrow."
Rosie liked to torture and humiliate me with trivial matters and Nicole knew it.
The next day, before the bodyguards took me to meet Rosie, Derrick came to me.
He stroked the child beside him with a gentle look on his face, which reminded me of myself before I lost my children.
He was very satisfied to see my disappointment.
"I hope what you said about divorce yesterday is true. I warn you not to play hard to get! Ms. Steinfeld won't fall for it! You can't hold on to the position of Steinfelds' son-in-law! You'd better give up as soon as possible. Now, I am the most suitable candidate for the Steinfelds' son-in-law! After all, my child with Nicole will be two years old next year."
I had a pale face, nodded indifferently and followed the bodyguard away.
I was surprised to see Rosie.
In the past, when I wanted to see her for something, I had to wait for two or three hours in the scorching sun or in the wind and rain.
Now it was surprisingly unobstructed.
She was drinking tea with two copies of the divorce agreement in front of her.
But it was clear from her expression that she did not believe I would leave. She was waiting for me to kneel down and beg for forgiveness.
"You won’t regret it, will you?"
I carefully read the divorce agreement she prepared. Perhaps, she did not believe that I would get divorced, so she prepared the agreement very sloppily.
I took out the divorce agreement my friend, Brian Portman, had prepared for me in advance from my pocket and handed it over.
"I won't regret it."
She looked at the divorce agreement in disbelief.
"Have you been ready to divorce Nicole?"
I did not respond.
Rosie took a sip of tea and calmed down.
"Does she know about this?"
I shook my head after thinking about it.
"She doesn't need to know, I just need her signature on this divorce agreement."
Since I wanted to get a divorce as soon as possible, I chose to leave the house with nothing.
Rosie was surprised, but she had never liked me. Seeing me so straightforward and not asking any more questions, she nodded and promised to let her daughter sign the divorce agreement.
From now on, I, Nicole and the Steinfeld Family would have nothing to do with each other.
I nodded and turned to leave.
Rosie stopped me from leaving.
"Wait, there's still an account that we haven't settled yet."
She looked at me with shrewdness in her eyes.
"Grandma's death."