Chapter 10
Because Jasper walked away empty–handed, it didn’t take long before his mother became gravely ill. Her longstanding leg condition returned, leaving her paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair. Feeding their twins formula just made things even tougher.
After enduring that kind of poverty for a month, Bianca finally lost it.
Day after day, she cursed Jasper’s mother or complained about Jasper being useless.
Jasper, meanwhile, wasting away in bed, skipped meals, lost weight, and, unable to care for himself, soiled and urinated where he lay.
His mother, Joanne, furious and brokenhearted, turned her anger on Bianca.
“You bitch! Not even one finger of Katie’s care compares to you! Katie tended to me like I mattered. She cooked me real meals, kept me clean, and treated me with dignity. And you? You don’t cook, you don’t clean, you don’t care. A woman like you is bound to be struck by lightning someday! I regret everything. I should never have tolerated my son’s affair with you just because you had a child. If it weren’t for you, my son wouldn’t live like this!”
Already beaten down by life, Bianca snapped.
She lashed out violently at Jasper’s mother, screaming back, “And I’m the unlucky one? Your son’s the idiot who actually agreed to leave with nothing! You old hag, if Katie’s so wonderful, go to her! If it weren’t for your son’s money, I wouldn’t even bother with him.”
Her shrieking was so loud that the neighbors called the police.
When Jasper found out, he beat Bianca and cursed her out. “My life with Katie was ten times harder than this, and she never once complained. She always found a way to make things better for us. You’ve been a prostitute too long, so you only know how to sit back and enjoy yourself!” Life in that household was nonstop chaos, shouting, and violence.
Bianca pushed through another two weeks before she completely snapped and ran off without saying a word.
Jasper reported her missing and spent a month searching before he discovered she had gone back to prostitution. Enraged, he beat her mercilessly, dragged her back home, and forced her to keep caring for the kids and his mother.
That cycle of fighting, screaming, and constant upheaval never stopped.
Meanwhile, my life was the exact opposite.
I still raised chickens, but not with my own hands anymore. I owned the largest poultry farms in the country. The company ran smoothly and kept growing, and I expanded into other businesses,
too.
Ten years slipped by before I laid eyes on Jasper again.
He was nothing but a shadow of the man he once was. A middle–aged vendor slouched over a roadside stall, peddling cheap toys.
Life had worn him down and spat him out, leaving lines so deep that he looked at least ten years older than he was.
On the other hand, I had aged oppositely. With peace in my heart and proper care, I still looked
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like a woman in her twenties.
Right there, Jasper’s eyes turned red when he saw me walking with my husband and son. Shame flickered across his face at the pitiful figure he had become, and he quickly dropped his gaze.
I pretended not to recognize him.
Chin high, steps steady, I walked past with confidence, untouched by his presence.
Time, I realized, had a way of sanding down even the sharpest edges of hate.
What once burned so hot inside me had cooled to ash..
My life had only blossomed since leaving him, and that growth gave me the strength to finally let go of the past.
[The End.]
