She Was Never Just a Pretty Face novel Chapter 140

Life is nothing but a series of brutal unpredictabilities.

That evening, Luther drove over with a pile of toys for Annie.

He sat in his car waiting for Hilda, planning to walk upstairs with her when she arrived.

Annie would be thrilled to see her mom and dad come home together.

A rare smile touched his lips.

...

At 10 PM.

He checked his watch.

She still wasn't back.

The gallery opening was long over. Why was she still out? Was she having dinner with Harrell? Just the thought made his blood boil.

Suddenly, his phone rang.

It was Lori.

Why was she calling this late?

He answered, a sharp edge of irritation in his voice.

Lori's voice was violently trembling—

"Mr. Sanford, there's been an accident."

"At 9 PM, Ms. Lovell went to say her final goodbyes to Mrs. Sanford. They got into an argument which escalated into a severe collision between their cars. Ms. Lovell suffered a ruptured spleen and severely internal injuries resulting in an emergency hysterectomy. Her mother just signed the surgical consent forms. Ms. Lovell won't be able to have children. She's still in the operating room. I don't have the full details on Mrs. Sanford, but her injuries aren't life-threatening. She's at the hospital as well."

His grip on the steering wheel turned white.

The color completely drained from his face.

Jolie was in a crash. She had an emergency hysterectomy. She could never have kids.

In that split second, the line between love and hatred was violently redrawn.

He didn't even remember the drive to the hospital.

All he remembered was the absolute chaos when he arrived. Mina Lovell was sobbing hysterically. Sylvan Cassidy was sighing in helpless defeat. And then, there was Jolie's agonizing, gut-wrenching wail as she woke up—a sound so filled with pure despair that it instantly brought back the memory of her bright, tearful goodbye.

She had said goodbye.

He walked slowly toward her, his eyes dark with devastating grief as he stared at her pale face. Ignoring whatever Harrell tried to say, he raised his hand and violently slapped her across the face. His voice cracked with pure, venomous rage: "Why did you have to do this to her? I never touched her! She was already stepping aside! She bought the ticket, she was moving across the world voluntarily, she was trying to give you back your perfect life! And this is what you do to her? She's just a young girl. She's barely lived. She never even got the chance to fall in love, to be a mother, and you stole that from her forever? I know you hate her. I know you despise her existence. But she didn't choose how she was born. From the very beginning, she was completely innocent!"

The sheer force of the slap whipped her head to the side.

The clip holding her hair shattered, sending dark strands cascading over her shoulders.

Disheveled. Humiliated. Broken.

She slowly turned her face back to look at him, an expression of absolute disbelief etched into her features.

He had said Jolie was innocent.

So that made her the monster?

He was blaming her for Jolie's infertility.

It was the most sickening joke she had ever heard in her life.

Her lips trembled, and a hollow, broken laugh escaped her throat.

Another slap landed across her face.

—And it was Luther who delivered the blow.