Next Man, Better Plan novel Chapter 226

Jonathan had no real memory of Grace.

He was five when he was kidnapped and nearly ten when he was found.

Being so young, he had completely forgotten what his so-called mother looked like.

His only impression of her was the photograph from her memorial.

Grace had been gone for less than three months at the time, and the house was still shrouded in a somber, sorrowful atmosphere.

His return should have been a joyous occasion, but on his very first night back, York got blind drunk.

In the middle of the night, he burst into Jonathan's room and beat him half to death with a belt, screaming that he was a jinx who had gotten his own mother killed.

The servants were too afraid of York to intervene.

Only Mrs. Vasquez Sr. would ever try to protect him.

But York’s personality was too overbearing for even her to control.

Over time, everyone in the household grew numb to it.

Seeing the look on Jonathan’s face, Stephanie guessed what he was thinking.

She knew that, deep down, Jonathan resented Grace.

Everything he had endured since childhood was because of her.

It was only natural that he wouldn't want to wear something connected to her.

Stephanie felt a pang of sympathy. A motherless child is like a weed… If Grace were still alive, the Vasquez estate probably wouldn’t be filled with so many other women, and Jonathan would not have been treated this way.

She gently squeezed his hand and said earnestly, “This isn’t her thing, it’s your thing. You wore it when you were a child, don’t you remember?”

“But she’s the one who got it for me.”

Stephanie lifted her fair face, her tone soft but firm. “Now it’s a gift from me. I braided this bracelet for you with my own hands. You don’t want it?”

Jonathan was silent.

He was utterly defeated by her.

The car was spacious, and they sat side by side as the light and shadows from outside danced across Stephanie’s face. Jonathan’s throat bobbed unconsciously.

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