Chapter 2Arrogance Knows No Bounds

Mark stiffened, then, after a long moment, he nodded as if coming to a heavy decision. "Okay," he said softly. "I'll go talk to Grandfather."

As I watched him leave, I pressed the back of my hand to my eyes and finally let the sobs wrack my body.

I came to live with the Blackwoods when I was six. My grandfather and Mr. Blackwood were old army buddies, brothers-in-arms who had saved each other's lives. My parents died in an accident when I was three, and my grandfather raised me until he passed away, leaving me utterly alone in the world.

Mr. Blackwood took me in and raised me as his own grandson. For all these years, both he and Mark had treated me like family, like a son, a brother.

That was why, for seven years, I had endured Alice’s cruelty. I stayed home, managed the household, and raised our children while she did as she pleased. It was my duty, my way of repaying their kindness. I thought that as long as I had my children, my life had meaning.

But now, I had nothing.

Sometime later, Mark returned. "Grandfather wants to see you."

When I entered the study, Mr. Blackwood was sitting in his old rocking chair. The look he gave me was full of a deep, aching sorrow.

"My boy," he said, his voice raspy with age. "I've heard everything. It was my stubbornness that ruined your life all these years." He took a shaky breath. "The cremation is tomorrow. After the service... you're free to go. That wretched girl has failed you. She was never worthy of you."

I said nothing. I simply bowed deeply before him, my body bent in a posture of final respect. I watched my tears fall, big, fat drops hitting the polished floorboards. I was eternally grateful for the twenty-plus years they had given me, for the home they had provided. But I could never forgive Alice. And I could no longer be her husband.

There was nothing left to say.

Mr. Blackwood sighed, a sound heavy with defeat. "Go on, then. Leave us."

I had just returned to my room when Alice stormed in, a familiar sneer on her face. "What, did you run straight to Grandfather to tattle on me again? Liam, do you really think that just because you've charmed him and my brother, I'll bend to your will?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't know what kind of spell you've cast on them, but it's incredible how they always take your side."

The sight of her ignited a rage so pure it nearly consumed me. I wanted to kill her. I wanted her to pay for what she did to my children.

But then, I heard their voices, soft echoes in the chambers of my heart.

“Daddy, where’s Mommy? Is she busy with work again today? We haven’t seen her in so long.”

“Even if Mommy doesn’t like us much, we still miss her.”

“We love you so much, Daddy. And we love Mommy, too.”

The last thing my son said to me, as I carried him from the basement, was a whispered plea. "Daddy, don't be mad at Mommy. We made her upset. Please don't fight with her because of us..."

I took a deep, shuddering breath and turned away from her, sinking onto the edge of the bed.

My silence only seemed to fuel her anger. She grabbed my wrist, yanked me onto the mattress, and climbed on top of me. "What's this act? Weren't you the one who begged Grandfather to make me come home? Now that I'm here, you're not happy?"

She leaned down to kiss me. I couldn't push her off, so I did the only thing I could. I bit down on her lip, hard.

She yelped in pain and shot upright. "Are you insane? What is this, some kind of pathetic purity protest?" She scoffed. "You're full of tricks lately, Liam. First, you lie about the kids being in the ER to force me back. When that doesn't work, you run to the estate and have Grandfather pressure me. And now you're playing hard to get." Her voice dripped with venom. "You're so desperate to keep me, you'd even abandon your own children. Where are they, anyway? They're five years old, Liam. Did you just leave them home alone? You really are a monster..."

My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "They're dead," I said, my voice flat and cold, cutting through her tirade.