Chapter 230: Disgrace Of A Husband

Esme’s world shattered. She could not believe what she was hearing.

Isaac replied in a nonchalant, almost bored tone.

“Don’t worry, Rufus. We’ve already sound-proofed this place and made sure no one saw us come here. What’s wrong with taking my time with her?”

He looked at Esme with openly lascivious eyes.

“After what that damn bastard put me through, I want to savor every moment and enjoy your wife thoroughly.” He sneered at Rufus. “And honestly, in the past I was always quite fond of her too.”

“Even though she was already a mother, there was something about her I just couldn’t get out of my mind.” He said fondly. “I always wanted to bully her, make her suffer, make her plead to me. And now that she’s gone and ended up like this, there’s no way I’m letting the chance slip away.”

He chuckled darkly as he gave Rufus a side-eye and asked,

“You’re not going to blame me for having such thoughts toward your wife, right?”

To Esme’s utter horror, Rufus simply scoffed.

“Who the heck cares about her? I stopped considering her my wife the moment she decided to side with that bastard. She’s no one to me now.”

He looked straight at Esme with nothing but disgust in his eyes.

“She’s just a diseased woman who I have nothing to do with anymore. You can do whatever you want with her.”

Esme could not hold back any longer.

“Rufus…how? How could you say something like that?”

Her voice cracked with genuine disbelief, as if her entire world had been ripped apart.

“Even though we don’t get along, we used to be husband and wife.” She clutched Lisa tighter, tears spilling down her cheeks. “Even your daughter is right here. Do you really want something like this to happen while she’s just lying there?!”

Rufus did not care in the slightest.

“My daughter? I don’t care about that little bitch either.”

He said coldly, to Esme’s fresh shock.

“She also sided with that filthy Hero. The way she looks at him…it’s like she’s looking at her actual father instead of me. She simply frowns whenever she sees me.” He grit his teeth in frustration. “So why should I even think of that brat? I don’t know her.”

He crossed his arms and added,

“I also gave up on you the moment you became disgusting. The moment you sided with him. You’re a lost cause.”

His voice grew colder.

“And more than anything, I want revenge for what that Hero did to me. So why not let my brother enjoy himself?” He patted Isaac’s shoulder. “I get my revenge either way.”

Esme’s world shattered.

The man she had once called husband, the father of her child, had just handed her over to a predator without a second thought.

He didn’t care about her. He didn’t care about Lisa. He only cared about his wounded pride and his hatred for the hero who had humiliated him.

While Esme was doubting her life, Isaac chuckled, turning to Rufus with a mocking grin.

“You truly are a brother to me. Giving up your own wife so I can enjoy her in your place? Who could find a man as gracious as you?”

Rufus dodged the attempted embrace, glaring.

“Shut up. I’m not some man who enjoys sharing his possessions. I don’t let others use what’s mine.”

He glanced at Esme with pure disgust.

“But she’s not mine anymore. She’s discarded goods. Worthless.” His eyes hardened. “I want revenge against the Hero, and this is the optimal way to get it.”

He pointed a finger at Isaac’s chest and added,

“Don’t you dare think I’d give my woman to you in the future, or ever. This is a one-time thing.”

Isaac raised his hands placatingly. “Of course, Rufus. Of course. I’m just so excited about what’s about to happen. I got carried away.”

He licked his lips, turning back to Esme.

“But, judging by what you said…you don’t care what I do to her anymore? I really want to play with her. She’s so weak right now. I want to break her down, make her scream in pain.”

His voice dropped to a cruel whisper. “I might even snap a few bones to make her tremble. You wouldn’t mind that, would you?”

“Do whatever you want.” Rufus shrugged. “In fact, go as far as you can. I want the Hero to come here tomorrow and see what state she’s in. How ruined she is.”

“I want him to rage and cry, to shiver at the sight of something he healed being completely destroyed.” A vicious laugh escaped him. “That would be true satisfaction. That would be my ideal revenge.”

Isaac stared at him with something almost like admiration.

“Wow. You’re ruthless. I didn’t think you’d go that far.” He laughed. “But who am I to complain? I’m the one benefiting. I’ll make sure to thoroughly ruin her.”

He stepped toward Esme.

Fear paralyzed her for a moment. Then something else surged through her—protectiveness. Her daughter was right beside her.

She lunged for the syringe on the nightstand.

“Don’t even think about it.” Rufus snapped. “You’re weak right now, and your daughter is right there. I don’t want anything to do with that brat, but if you do anything drastic…”

“…I won’t mind giving her to Isaac as well.”

Esme’s blood turned to ice. Her own husband, the father of her child, threatening to let his accomplice molest their daughter.

The words were so monstrous, so utterly beyond comprehension, that her mind nearly broke.

Isaac glanced back at Rufus, genuinely surprised. He had no such taste, but he wasn’t about to argue.

He turned back to Esme, his expression softening into something mockingly gentle.

“It’s all right, Esme.” He cooed softly, almost gently, as if trying to soothe a frightened animal. “It’s only going to hurt a little bit.”

He shook his head, correcting himself with regret.

“Okay, maybe more than a little bit. Quite a lot, actually. But you’ve already gone through such a dangerous illness and suffered so much already. This is just a little more suffering you’ll have to bear—not for your sake, but for your daughter’s.”

He reached out his hand slowly, eyes gleaming with evil delight.

“I’ll start off by feeling those cheeks of yours. Just a couple of days ago they were so sallow and hollow, but now they’re full and flushed. They look so soft I just want to peel them off your skin.”

Esme recoiled instinctively, every fiber of her being screaming to back away, to fight, to do something—anything.

But then her gaze fell on Lisa’s peaceful, sleeping face, and the fight drained out of her in an instant.

No matter how terrified she was, no matter how

much she hated what was about to happen, her daughter was her absolute priority.

She had to protect her at all costs.

With fresh tears spilling down her cheeks, she gave up all resistance. For the sake of her own child, she would bear through every ounce of suffering that was coming.

She only hoped that in the future, when Luca looked at her once again, he would not hate her for what she had endured.

She prayed he would not look at her differently—that he would still see her with the same warmth and care.

So she closed her eyes tightly, accepting her fate, body tense and trembling as Isaac’s hand drew nearer.

But just as his fingers were about to brush her skin, a miserable scream suddenly tore through the room from behind them.

“AHH—! AHH—! AHHHHHH—!”

It was Rufus himself.

He stumbled backward and crashed to the ground, his face twisted in pure terror as if he had seen a ghost—or something far worse.

Both Isaac and Esme turned in confusion, staring at him. Isaac’s expression shifted to one of pure annoyance.

“What the hell?! You’re the one who said to hurry this up, and now you’re interrupting me?! If you can’t watch, go outside!”

But Rufus did not even look at him. Instead, he pointed a trembling hand toward the corner of the room, his voice cracking.

“Look…look…it’s…it’s…” He could not even finish the sentence, teeth chattering too hard.

Isaac glared at him with even deeper disdain.

“What the hell are you talking about? What exactly is so scary in that corner over—”

The words died in his throat.

His body froze on the spot, eyes shrinking into pinpoints, breath turning shallow and ragged as if he had seen something truly horrifying. And he had.

Right there in the corner of the room, standing as silently as a shadow, was Luca.

No one knew how or when he had gotten in—there had been no sound, no creak of the door, no footstep to betray his arrival.

Yet he was simply there, hands clasped casually behind his back, watching the entire scene unfold with an amused little smile on his face and a dark, unreadable glint in his eyes like he had been watching a particularly entertaining show and was waiting for the finale.

But despite the smile, there was something in it that made Isaac’s blood run cold.

While Isaac and Rufus stared at him as if he were some sort of demon summoned from the depths of hell, trembling uncontrollably with fear, Esme felt something entirely different.

The moment her eyes landed on him, relief flooded through her like a warm, saving light. Tears burst from her eyes as she cried out, voice breaking with raw emotion.

“L-Luca! You’re here! You’re finally here!” Sobs wracked her body. “They—they wanted to—they were going to—I couldn’t—”

Luca crossed the room in three silent strides. He knelt beside the bed, his hand coming up to cup her cheek. His thumb wiped away a tear.

“It’s alright, Esme. It’s alright.” His thumb brushed away her tears. “You don’t need to say anything else. I already know what was happening. I’ve been watching.”

His eyes flickered toward the two men, and for just a moment, the warmth vanished, replaced by something cold and deadly.

“I wanted to pull their heads off the moment I knew what they were planning. But because of those stupid restrictions, I had to wait until their intentions were clear. I had to let them speak their vile words, let them show their true faces.”

He looked back at Esme, his expression softening again. “I’m sorry I put you through that scare. I’m sorry you had to endure even a moment of fear.”

Esme did not pull his away. Instead, she grabbed onto his hand with desperate strength and pressed it harder against her face.

Unlike Isaac’s approaching touch that had filled her with disgust, this felt like the complete opposite—pure warmth, safety, and comfort washing over her.

She wanted to rub that same warm hand all over her body, to let it chase away every last trace of fear.

Luca smiled gently and wiped her tears with his other hand.

“You can’t start crying like this, Esme. Lisa is still sleeping right next to you. What if she wakes up and sees her mother crying?”

He tilted his head playfully. “That would be quite embarrassing for you, wouldn’t it?”

Esme tried to point at the two men again, voice shaky. “But they…they…”

Luca gently cut her off, his tone calm yet laced with chilling finality.

“It’s all right, Esme. From here on forth, you don’t need to worry about them anymore. After all, from this moment…”

“…they simply won’t exist to bother you anymore.”

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