---- Chapter 10 The Barkers were on the verge of collapse. The only way for me to avoid being dragged down with them was to divorce Simon. John had no interest in power struggles or getting caught up in chaos, yet he had stepped into this mess because of me. A shiver ran through me as I sighed softly. "Ryan is impossible to read." We had once been engaged, and I had given him my whole heart back then. Maybe in our youth, there was something real between us. But in his eyes, none of that mattered compared to power and gain. Inestled close to John with lingering fear in my heart. "Thank goodness things didn't work out, and it brought me to you." He was nothing like Ryan or Simon. ---- He would never treat me like a pawn. John's ears flushed slightly as he pulled me tightly into his arms. "I'm sorry for not stopping you from marrying Simon and letting you suffer so much." I smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "I'm not suffering anymore." In the second year of our marriage, I became pregnant. After the painful abortion I'd endured before, John took extra care of me, afraid something might go wrong. One night, overwhelmed with emotion, he even choked out through tears, Irene, let's not have the baby. All I want is for you to be safe." I laughed softly and took his hand, resting it lightly on my belly. 'I want to have the baby-our baby." ---- John's mother had died in childbirth, leaving deep trauma. So, he insisted on taking me to a little chapel hidden in the woods to pray. Outside that quiet chapel, we unexpectedly ran into someone. Ahomeless man with a broken leg was dragging himself along the ground, blocking our path and asking for change. His clothes were ragged, his hair wild and dirty. He looked like a stray dog. John tried to pull him away, but, wanting to doa good deed, he pulled a few hundred-dollar bills from his wallet and tossed them at the man. "Take the money and go. My wife's timid. Don't scare her."" He wrapped his arm around my waist and started to walk off. But the man looked up sharply, his eyes full of sorrow as they locked onto mine.