Free Web NovelChapter 21: Chapter 21 That’s brutal.
Just as Ivy was about to ask the man who he was...her gaze landed on two figures she recognized immediately.
Across the supermarket, near the provision aisle, were Adrian and Maya.
Her ex-husband and his mistress.
They had just walked in together, moving casually as though the world hadn’t fallen apart.
Ivy’s fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the shelf.
Since she left the house with her children, Adrian hadn’t even bothered to call. Not once. Not to ask where she was. Not to ask if she and the children were alive or struggling.
The only time he reached out... was to ask about the missing furniture.
"Is it okay if I get your contact. We can talk better there or chat. I really need to go do something urgently now." Ivy voiced out, her tone filled with urgency
"Can I have yours instead?" The man raised an eyebrow while Ivy nodded her head in response...collected her phone and input her number inside afterwhich she handed over the phone back.
Before the young man could say anything else...Ivy had moved quietly, positioning herself behind another shelf close enough to hear Adrian and Maya clearly while remaining unnoticed.
"How can you still call yourself a man?" Maya’s sharp voice cut through the air, filled with venom. Her arms were folded tightly across her chest. "I asked you if you took loans from that company, and you still lied to me, you bastard!"
"Can we talk about this when we get home? This is a public place." Adrian replied immediately.
Ivy on the other hand lowered her gaze slightly, her smile deepening.
Oh... so it’s getting to that stage already, she thought, amused. Let’s see how long you survive the loan sharks.
"Who cares if it’s a public place?! Those people are threatening us everywhere, Adrian!" Maya continued angrily. "First, the furniture in the house disappeared all thanks to that bitch Ivy, and now the little we had left has been taken by those loan sharks! My jewelry... my expensive outfits... everything is gone! Our son can’t even go to school too since you haven’t paid his school fees."
Adrian’s patience finally snapped. He dropped the basket in his hand with a loud thud.
"Can you just shut up for once, Maya?" he snapped, his voice laced with irritation. "Don’t you even know how to behave in public? You think I’m happy about any of this?! We came here to buy provisions for my mother in the hospital who collapsed after hearing the news. Do you think I borrowed from Kian Starks just to watch it affect her like this?"
"Who cares about that old woman?" Maya scoffed, her lips curling in disdain. "Whether she lives or dies, what does it matter? She’s already lived long enough!"
Adrian’s eyes blazed with fury.
"Don’t you dare curse my mother!" he roared. "She’s going to live long enough to hold my second son in your tummy!"
Maya let out a bitter laugh.
"It’s such bad luck marrying you," she said coldly. "I should’ve never agreed to this in the first place. You were living off your first wife all along, and now that she’s gone, everything has collapsed! You’re such a failure. I even told you to call that bitch back. Just two or three sweet words will make her come back. I’m sure she still have family properties!"
"I refused?" Adrian scoffed. "Or she blocked me?!"
Ivy nearly laughed.
Of I did. she thought. What did you expect? That I’d sit around waiting for you to drain me again?
"You’re completely useless," Maya snapped. "Listen carefully...I’m not living like this anymore. If you don’t fix this mess, I’ll abort this baby. Do you hear me? I’m already suffering before even giving birth! You can’t cater for James and now we are expecting another baby. Never!"
Adrian stared at her in disbelief.
"You want to abort a seven-month pregnancy?" he said slowly. "Are you insane?"
With that...Adrian dropped the shopping basket and stormed out of the supermarket with Maya following him....their argument already drew stares from customers and attendants alike but soon returned to what they’re doing the moment Adrian and Maya were out of sight.
Ivy followed them immediately. She wasn’t going to miss this premium tea.
---
Outside, in the parking lot, she stayed hidden behind a nearby car, watching them.
Their argument hadn’t ended.
If anything, it had grown worse.
Adrian had just reached for the car door when....
THUD!
A heavy blow landed on the back of his head.
He staggered forward, his vision blurring instantly. His hand flew to the wound, and when he brought it back...
Blood.
Oops! I wasn’t expecting that. Ivy thought Inwardly as she watched Adrian sway, his legs giving out as dizziness overwhelmed him.
"How dare you bitch?!" Adrian yelled, not too loud though With anger written all over his face.
Before he could react, two burly men stepped forward, each holding a baseball bat.
Maya’s brothers.
"How dare you make our sister suffer?" one of them growled, his voice dripping with menace. "And our unborn nephew too?"
Maya crossed her arms, her expression cold and unfeeling.
"Just beat him," she said flatly. "Don’t kill him....I still have use for his dick." Her lips curled slightly. "That’s the only good thing about him anyway. But make sure he ends up in the hospital... right next to his precious mother. Maybe then he’ll finally learn how to deal with those loan sharks and make money."
"P...please..." Adrian whispered weakly.
But no one listened.
The bats came down again and again.
Each strike echoed through the parking lot with sickening force.
They made sure to avoid his head but everything else?
Broken.
His arms twisted unnaturally. His legs snapped under the repeated blows. His jaw dislocated with a dull crack.
Blood pooled beneath him as his body went limp.
Ivy swallowed slowly, her fingers pressing lightly against the car she hid behind.
...That’s brutal, she thought.
Finally, Maya and her brothers left, disappearing as though nothing had happened.
Silence returned.
Only then did Ivy step out.
She approached Adrian’s broken body calmly and knelt beside him. Placing her ear against his chest, she listened carefully. freēwēbnovel.com
A heartbeat.
Faint but still there.
"Good," she murmured softly.
She slipped her hand into his pocket, pulling out his phone. Quickly, she unlocked it using his fingerprint and dialed for an ambulance.
Just as she was about to toss the phone back....
A notification popped up.
$5,000 received.
Ivy paused.
Then smiled.
Without hesitation, she transferred the money to her own account.
After that, she sent a message to Adrian’s distant aunt and uncle, informing them that both Adrian and his mother were in the hospital.
"I wouldn’t want you to die just yet, Adrian," she said quietly, her eyes cold as she looked down at him. "It would be much more satisfying watching you die in the jaws of a monster... slowly."
And with that she got into her car and drove off.
