---- Chapter 15 Nicola's face was pale. She took several deep breaths, and Jerold supported her carefully to seat her on the sofa. Jerold let out a derisive snort. "Luckily, you have expected it." Nicola lowered her gaze. "Lachlan is incredibly stubborn. He won't give up so easily." Jerold's expression grew darker. "I'll beat him every time he is here." Nicola let out a faint, ironic laugh. She repeatedly caressed her abdomen. Perhaps the baby sensed her worry, and the dull pain in her belly gradually went down, and she let out a long sigh of relief. After she received the call from Ellen that day, Nicola indeed went to the hospital. She had contemplated terminating the pregnancy. She genuinely didn't want to continue having any connection with Lachlan because of the baby. But it was her baby, and she couldn't bear to lose it. Just before lying down on the operating table, she regretted her decision and managed to obtain that document instead. ---- However, as her belly would grow day by day, she couldn't hide it forever. Nicola had already had a plan. She hadn't expected Lachlan to return the next day after being driven away. Plus, he brought Cassie with him. He arrived with several bodyguards and blocked the entrance of the Hayes's family home. Nicola heard the noise and stepped outside, only to see Lachlan's bodyguards holding Cassie. Cassie was in a pitiful state. She knelt on the ground. She cried and cursed, "Lachlan, I'm your woman. Wasn't it enough for you to send me to another man's bed? Now you bring me here to humiliate me in front of Nicola. How can you treat me like this?" She was brimming with sadness and anger. She had no lingering love for Lachlan. She only had resentment. Nicola glanced at Cassie indifferently, which shattered the latter's dignity completely. Nicola hadn't expected Lachlan to bring Cassie there, either. She looked at him impatiently and asked, "What do you want now?" Lachlan walked up to her and said with remorse, "Nicola, | ---- know no matter what | say, you won't trust me. But during this time, I've thought a lot and deeply regret how I've treated you. When we got married, | was genuinely moved by you and loved you. At first, | felt sorry for you as | watched you tirelessly manage the company's affairs. But somehow, everything changed. You were a perfect woman. Even though you were my wife, | still felt insecure." Later, | kept hearing others say | owed you. They told me that | was relying on you. | wanted to prove myself..." He couldn't continue. In just three years, he had lost himself. His previous feelings had changed. He found one lover after another. He became increasingly brazen in front of Nicola. He even let Cassie hurt Nicola. Looking back now, he realized how absurd his actions and thoughts had been. He had tried to hurt Nicola to prove his place in her heart and to make her bow to him. Only after losing everything did he realize what he had truly lost. He agonizingly confronted the depths of his own depravity. Then he took a deep breath and looked at Nicola. "l know | was terribly wrong. | don't expect you to forgive me now. | just want to make it up to you. Cassie hurt you and slapped you ---- over twenty times back then. I'm making her pay it back now." Cassie looked at him in disbelief. "Lachlan, you're a madman. You... Ah!" Before she could finish, Lachlan's bodyguard slapped her face. Cassie's head swung to the side from the slap. The bodyguard showed no mercy, delivering four or five dozen slaps before stopping. Cassie's cheeks were swollen, and even the corners of her mouth were bleeding. She looked up at Nicola, who was dressed impeccably. Cassie herself was so disheveled. She couldn't hold back her sobs. While crying, she furiously cursed Lachlan. "Lachlan, you're not aman. You pampered and indulged me, gave me hope, and made me believe | could replace Nicola and bully her. Every time | sent videos of us to Nicola to provoke her, you knew it and cooperated with me. Now you regret it and punish me to please Nicola. Do you think she'll forgive you for this? She won't. She'll only look down on you." Lachlan was infuriated by Cassie's words, and his face turned livid. He said to the bodyguards, "Take her back to the car now." The bodyguards silenced Cassie and dragged her back to the car. ---- Nicola watched their actions flatly. She didn't stop them from start to finish. When Cassie had attacked her, the former had been ruthless, even using stockings to blindfold her. When she reveled in the humiliation, did she ever consider her current fate? Nicola simply thought Cassie deserved it. However, the one who truly needed a lesson was Lachlan. Cassie was greedy and ambitious, which she could understand. 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