Chapter 379
379 Secret That Can Not Be Said
As Isabella spoke, her eyes turned red, “My mom held me under a big roof to get out of the rain. She cried and told me that she was useless and wanted me to sleep in her arms. She said she would send me to my grandma’s place in the countryside at dawn, but...”
Joseph saw Isabella’s tears and reached out to wipe them away. He gently pulled her into his arms, “Let bygones be bygones.”
“No. I must tell you everything!”
Isabella hugged Joseph tightly and said, “But I happened to have a fever after being caught in the rain in the middle of the night. My mom had no choice but to go back to beg Carl to save my life. Because of that, we no longer had the chance to leave the Smith’s. I am the one who caused this to my mom!”
Joseph found that Isabella was trembling in sorrow, so he rested his chin lightly on her head and slowly stroked her back to comfort her, “It’s not your fault. You were wounded, and it was inevitable that the wound would be infected due to the rain. Don’t feel guilty, it was not your fault.”
“If we had successfully left at that time, we might not have suffered for so many years. But after my mom gave birth to John, everything began to become worse and worse. When Carl saw that John was a boy, he was afraid that my mother would run away. He began to think of ways to restrict my mother’s freedom. When he felt that something was wrong, he would hit and scold my mom. Gradually, my mom lost her hope of leaving that place... She didn’t think about fighting back except when the thing was related to me...
Isabella wailed, “My mom didn’t want to marry Carl in the beginning. It was because a debt collector told my mom that if she didn’t repay the money, he would strangle me. That was why my mother decided to marry Carl. She became like this because of me. Her life became worse and worse because of me...”
Isabella grabbed Joseph’s clothes tightly and sobbed, “Joseph, I’m not greedy for money. I don’t want those disgusting old men to touch me. I just don’t want my mother to suffer because of me anymore. I want to buy her a house and let her live there peacefully. And then she will never live on the streets at night... But I’m especially useless. I’m already an adult, but I can’t let her live happily yet. I’m so useless...”
Joseph hugged Isabella tightly, listening to her cries.
.....
He knew a little about how Isabella was abused in the Smith family.
Although Gerry’s investigation had encountered unexpected obstacles, Joseph could tell from the clues that Carl, the seemingly elegant and smart man, was a freak in secret. He often beat and scolded Isabella. At that time, Joseph felt that it was because Isabella was not Carl’s biological daughter. Only now did Joseph understand that Isabella had suffered this, too.
That meant that Carl was a terrible man who often committed domestic violence. Then Joseph thought about Isabella’s unhappy childhood...
Joseph suddenly understood everything. His mood darkened as he hugged Isabella. He continued to caress Isabella’s back with his big palms, telling her not to hold back her feelings.
It was good for Isabella to vent her feelings.
She had held these sad memories and secrets for so many years. She must feel grieved and it must be difficult to share secrets with other people.
Joseph was the first person Isabella was willing to share with because he had completely become her most trustworthy person.
Joseph was the closest person to her, and in the future, he was all she could count on.
Joseph closed his eyes and imagined the scene of a 5-year-old little girl and her mother crying together under the roof of the rain. Suddenly, he felt very sad. He wished he could get to know her earlier and fall in love with her earlier and become her support earlier.
Although Isabella was very emotional before she slept, the negative emotions that had been suppressed in her heart for many years were vented, and Joseph was by her side, so Isabella slept tight at night.
She felt unprecedented happiness.
However, as expected, Isabella’s eyes swelled like two red walnuts the next morning.
Joseph went out to do his morning exercise. After changing his clothes, he turned around and saw Isabella sitting on the bed in a daze. He couldn’t help but pinch her nose and said, “Sometimes, I doubt my taste when I see you.”
Isabella pouted and stretched her legs unhappily, “It’s so early. Are you going to do your morning exercise? You’ve said you didn’t have a good rest these days.”
Joseph checked the time and teased, “I do exercise for you, you know? If I sleep every day like you do, I will be fat like you, then it will be hard to breathe.”
After a pause, Isabella threw a pillow at Joseph, and then went back to bed, “You’re so annoying! I want to sleep! Don’t disturb me!”
Joseph took the pillow and then pulled Isabella with a smirk, “Let’s exercise together, honey. It will help for our sex.”
“Stop!”
Isabella got up on the wrong side of the bed. Seeing Joseph pull her arms, she wriggled her body and kicked Joseph hard, “Don’t you love me? If you love me, let me sleep. I need some sleep. Can you be gentle to me? Who would wake up the person they loved in the early morning? Shouldn’t you kiss my forehead and comfort me by saying, ‘honey, sleep a little longer’?”
“But you slept for eight hours. You’ve had enough sleep.”
Joseph smirked and grabbed onto Isabella’s legs. Seeing that she was struggling, he suddenly lifted both of her legs to his shoulder. He leaned over to press her down and kissed her on the forehead, “However, I can give you a forehead kiss.”
The posture made Isabella surprised and nervous. She knew Joseph was about to do something and stared at him with big eyes.
“I always thought that you only have a flexible body but no brain. However, it seems that your practice of dancing is useful.”
Joseph smiled evilly and pinched Isabella’s butt. Then, he deliberately rubbed against Isabella and said, “Don’t look at me like that. We used this posture several times the day before yesterday. It’s quite impressive. If you forget, I will help you review tonight?”
Isabella moved her feet in an instant and clamped Joseph’s neck, and then she twisted her feet.
Joseph didn’t expect that and tilted to the side.
Isabella immediately got out of bed. “Joseph! Your behavior is so annoying this morning!”
Joseph looked at Isabella running into the bathroom with a red face. He stroked his painful neck and couldn’t help but laugh.
He enjoyed such a life that he was full of vitality and made little jokes about his loved one. He felt happy to be with Isabella. It seemed that every day he was with Isabella was full of joy and surprise.