Timothy’s head snapped to the side as the blow landed.
Both Sandra and Sallie gasped in shock.
Sallie started forward, but Sandra grabbed her arm, shooting her a warning glance—don’t get involved.
Jessica’s eyes were cold as ice, her voice trembling with fury. “If you so much as lay a finger on Herbert, I swear I’ll kill you.”
Herbert had cured her muteness, given her a second chance to speak. He was her savior, the one who’d helped her leave the Wheeler family for her own sake. There was no way she would let Timothy hurt him.
Timothy suddenly let out a harsh, bitter laugh and turned to face her. “So you care about him that much now? You’d kill your own husband for him?”
He grabbed her shoulders, his grip unsteady and desperate. “Tell me—did you sleep with him? Is that why he knows about the birthmark on your chest?”
Vince stepped in, roughly pulling Timothy away and shoving him back.
The ground outside was slick with snow; Timothy, already weak, couldn’t keep his balance. Vince, driven by anger, shoved hard, and Timothy went sprawling onto the icy ground.
He looked utterly defeated.
Yates watched, realization dawning—it was clear there was no going back for Timothy and Jessica.
Timothy didn’t even have the bare minimum of trust in Jessica. Without trust, how could any marriage survive?
Sallie hurried to Timothy’s side, helping him up, her voice trembling with worry. “Timothy, does your back hurt?”
Sallie yanked off Timothy’s suit jacket, draping it over her arm, then tugged his shirt free from his waistband.
Timothy, weak and exhausted, tried to stop her, his hand pressing hers. “Don’t. You’ll scare her.”
“Scare her? At a time like this, you’re worried about her feelings?” Sallie snapped.
Unable to hold back anymore, Sallie pushed Timothy’s body so he rolled to the side. She yanked up the back of his shirt, her voice breaking as she shouted through her tears, “Look at his injuries! Just look! How coldhearted do you have to be to hurt him like this? He spent a night in the hospital, flew halfway across the world without sleeping a wink, and came here straight from the airport. Even if his marriage with Jessy failed, couldn’t you let him say a few words to her?”
Sandra hadn’t realized Timothy was injured. Seeing the angry, crisscrossed wounds on his back, her lips quivered with sympathy.
Vince’s face hardened. No one else knew what had happened, but he did. Timothy had gotten those wounds in the car accident, protecting Jessy.
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