Gradually, Stanley calmed down.
After a brief hesitation, Sharon couldn't help but ask, "Why did your father..."
"He is not my father. I don't have such a father. I don't mind if you directly call him by his name," Stanley interrupted her before she could finish.
Upon thinking for a while, she nodded. "Why did Isai Jones not care about his family at all? How could he do all those things? It's just hard to believe."
As soon as she finished her words, Stanley laughed with a mocking gleam in his dark eyes. "All you have met in your life are just normal people, and the worst you have come across was someone like Harvey who would do all sorts of bad things. However, there are more individuals out there who are worse than Harvey. You can't possibly treat Isai as a normal person. He had long lost his humanity in order to attain his current authority. As inhumane as he was, he did not care about the family at all, for he only cared about things that benefited him and would wipe out those that were unimportant to him. Do you know why my mother had been ill for so
many years?"
This was the first time for him to talk about his family affairs, so she looked straight at him and shook her head calmly. "I have no idea about these things. Four years ago, you did tell me a few things about your mother and Isai, but in a very casual manner, so I have no idea about the cause and effect."
Upon hearing that, Stanley guffawed. "I didn't tell you before because you were too young, and I didn't want to scare you. Your younger self wouldn't be able to mentally process the disgusting things that Isai had done."
That startled Sharon.
In response, he stretched out his hand to touch her face, and his deep gaze was fixed on her, "Are you sure you want to listen?"
"Yes." Sharon nodded without hesitation. "I want to know how bad a person can be."
Following a chuckle, he thought for a while and continued, "When I was about ten years old, Isai suspected that my mother was unfaithful to him. At that young age, I accidentally saw him kill a man who was a little intimate with my mother. It was not an ordinary murder, for he tormented the man and caused him to suffer in pain for a long time before he died. That was the first time I witnessed a living individual being tortured to death by him."
W-what?
Sharon jumped out of her skin when she learned that macabre past.
"After I told this to my mother, she decided to divorce him, but he didn't agree. Nevertheless, my mother was so determined that she sneaked away one day. Unfortunately, she was caught by him and was put under house arrest."
Sharon's hands couldn't help but tremble because of the appalling revelation. How could Isai have done such a thing?
The most gruesome of all was how Stanley had actually witnessed those terrifying things when he was ten years old, which formed a stark contrast to her childhood when she would run on the grass with bare feet... She didn't dare to continue thinking about it, nor did she wish to continue reimagining it. Her heart inevitably ached for him, and this was the first time he had such a pity for a man.
Reaching out to hug him tightly, she put her face on his chest and listened to his strong heartbeat. Despite Stanley's scary experiences, he was not influenced by his father's distorted character, which was a relief for her.
Seeing that she was not willing to leave, he was stunned for a moment before coming to his senses. The corners of his mouth then lifted as he smilingly said, "These were all in the past."
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