A Second Chance at Forever ( Eleanor Shultz )
Chapter 1503

Peterson had always harbored a bit of resentment towards Starry. He could sense that she had feelings for him, yet she married someone else. The guy she chose was nothing but a silver-spooned layabout, whose only redeeming quality was his family's wealth. Peterson could never wrap his head around what Starry saw in him.

But now, he understood. Starry was drawn to the man's talent for sweet-talking women, and his darker side that Peterson had never wanted to see. In a moment of bitter reflection, Peterson scoffed at the mess Starry had gotten herself into. He thought she had made her bed and now had to lie in it.

Yet, deep down, Peterson was troubled, especially when haunted by dreams at midnight. He would see Starry with a bruised face, begging him for help.

Sleep would elude him, and he'd replace himself standing by the window, gazing at the room across the yard where Starry lived before her ill-fated marriage.

His memories were filled with the dream version of Starry, clutching his hand, pleading, "Peterson, save me, I'm dying... please come save me..."

He couldn't fathom what these nightmares meant until he heard the news of Starry's suicide attempt. That's when he realized the depths of despair she had been living in.

Since marrying Alan, Starry had been enduring domestic abuse. When it became unbearable, she would seek refuge with the Sharp family, but Peterson's mother, citing familial bonds, would urge her to endure, to avoid divorce, and explicitly warned her not to tell Peterson.

Starry had no choice but to suffer in silence until Alan's behavior escalated. Not only did he have affairs, but he also grew more violent, accusing Starry of meddling and then beating her, starting with fists and escalating to weapons. Their eight-year-old daughter was not spared either. After a particularly brutal beating that left the child convulsing, Starry mustered all her strength to resist Alan.

In the struggle, Starry decided she'd had enough and pulled Alan towards the balcony, intending to end it all. But Alan, with his superior strength, grabbed the railing and stayed up, while Starry fell, breaking he leg.

The incident blew up, making headlines, and it was only then that the Sharp family realized the torment Starry had endured. Peterson, upon learning the truth, went to Alan's house with an iron rod and his face set in stone. Without a word, he let his bodyguards restrain Alan and proceeded to shatter Alan's legs and, in a pretended accident, castrated him. After delivering this retribution, Peterson warned Alan that this was the price for harming his sister.

Alan pressed charges, but Peterson got him imprisoned for domestic violence. Peterson himself spent a short time behind bars before being released. Once free, he hunted down Alan's family business like a mad dog until he devoured their entire enterprise.

After settling the score, Peterson hesitated but eventually mustered the courage to visit Starry in the hospital. Coincidentally, he overheard a conversation between his mother and Starry, revealing that his mother had been the one meddling in his affairs all along.

Enraged, Peterson confronted his mother, and after a heated argument, he asserted his authority as the head of the Sharp family and warned her to stay out of his business or forget their mother-son relationship.

His mother ended up in the hospital from the stress, and Derrick, realizing the advice Yates Sharp had given him before his death, began to persuade Peterson's mother to let Peterson be. Peterson, who had decided to be single, found his heart aching unbearably at the sight of Starry's desolate figure in the hospital bed, staring out the window as if life held no more charm for her. He pushed open the door to her room and stepped inside. "I sent lawyers to file for your divorce. You're no longer tied to that bastard."

Starry turned her gaze from the window, looking worn and fragile after the storm she had weathered, a stark contrast to Peterson's poised and polished demeanor.

"Thank you," she said, the only words that seemed to fit the moment.

Peterson, standing at the foot of her bed, was equally at a loss for words. They remained silent, letting time quietly slip by.