Three Years Later, He Came Back Begging novel Chapter 274

It was Jackson.

He arrived just in time to stop Lawrence from dealing the final verbal blow, and he stopped Hannah from hurting herself further.

Jackson held her tightly, soothing her manic frenzy. Hannah collapsed into his arms, her eyes bloodshot. A comforting embrace—a tender kiss to the top of her head—was all she had ever craved.

But Lawrence had never given her that. His constant evasion kept her fragile mental state teetering on the edge of collapse. Lawrence still walked out that day, the sound of Hannah sobbing hysterically against Jackson's chest echoing behind him.

"Jackson had come to beg her to return to the dance company. From that day on, she seemed a lot more stable. Shortly after, she sent the baby back to our home country. I honestly thought getting back to dancing had given her a distraction, leaving her with no time for the baby and no energy to obsess over me."

But Lawrence later found out from the nanny that Jackson frequently spent the night. The new nanny, unaware of the twisted family dynamics, awkwardly hinted to Lawrence about his sister's affair.

Hearing that brought Lawrence a massive wave of relief. The suffocating weight on his shoulders instantly vanished. He thought Jackson's presence was finally pulling her back to reality. As long as Lawrence was no longer the center of her delusional universe, they could fix this.

Lawrence let out a bitter laugh. "I genuinely thought she was getting better. After keeping an eye on things for a few days, I told her I was moving back... It sparked another explosive argument. She relapsed instantly. Jackson begged me not to rush things. She was wildly unpredictable. The second I mentioned leaving, or if I stayed away too long, she would resort to anything to force my hand."

Lawrence instinctually shied away from memories of that era. It was infinitely more terrifying than the months before she gave birth.

"We did her so dirty... but you, too, Lawrence. How could you use her like that? She loved you so much. She trusted you."

It messed with his head so badly that sometimes Lawrence couldn't tell reality from her hallucinations. He was too terrified to go home. He found every excuse to avoid the house, drinking heavily, numbing himself. The only clarity he found was when he was outside smoking a cigarette, yet the moment he was alone, a paralyzing dread would seize him.

He hunched over, burying his face in his hands, his voice violently trembling. "My parents would call. They weren't in the States, so they had no idea what was really happening. They just knew her condition was hard to treat, and they kept begging me to hold on just a little longer. Then Jackson would corner me, lecturing me on how I needed to spend more time with her, how hard she had it. Everyone was backing me into a corner..."

"But I just didn't get it. I went back to the house to grab some stuff. I don't know when the nanny got fired, but the place was empty. When I passed the dance studio on the second floor... I heard Hannah and Jackson. They were... they acted exactly like a couple deeply in love. Quentin, can you really sleep with someone you don't love? Can you fake that level of intimacy without feeling a single thing?"