Revenge Against My Ex-husband
Chapter 167 Never Have I Ever Felt This Helpless

Seeing Edric leave, Loraine bought the honeysuckle she was looking for and left the pharmacy too. On the way back, she called her son. "Tommy, are you sure he doesn't replace anything suspicious?" "Don't worry. We aren't related in any way. There's no possibility that he'd put the two of us together," Tommy answered.

After hearing that, Loraine felt much relieved. The only people who knew that Tommy was her son were Deborah and herself.

As a matter of fact, both Deborah and she were from the same village. Back then, Loraine herself was also from Cat Alley. Moreover, she was only a few years older than Deborah; thus, it made sense if they were friends.

There were all sorts of people who lived in Cat Alley. People who were born there found it hard to escape the clutches of it. Loraine's family wasn't rich, so naturally, her childhood wasn't an easy one. Their family earned a living by setting up a food stall by the roadside. They would wake up in the wee hours of the morning, yet they barely earned enough to make ends meet. As her parents grew older, Loraine could no longer stand living in that disheveled house of theirs.

Just as she was cracking her brain on how to support the family, a ruffian took advantage of her young age to prey on her. He would give her some money every now and then to win over her. Which young girl out there wouldn't like the feeling of being pampered? Lured by his sugarcoated words and succumbed to her own materialistic mind, Lorraine soon moved in with that ruffian and even gave birth to Tommy before they got married.

Loraine's parents were old and frail; eventually, both of them passed on. After their passing, she and Tommy followed the ruffian everywhere, but the good times did not last. Soon after she gave birth, he was sent to prison. As a single mother, Lorraine had no means to raise Tommy. Later, she listened to the advice of others and gave him away to the Lewis family.

After adopting the child, the Lewis family arrived at an agreement with Loraine. Their only condition was that Loraine would never look for Tommy. Afraid that the ruffian would come to look for her, she agreed to their condition without a second thought. The Lewis family had a pretty decent background, thus, they could afford to pay her off.

Failing to make a living in Cat Alley, Loraine was forced to look for a job somewhere else. While she was working her fingers to the bone, she got to know Duncan. When the time was right, they got married. In the beginning, they had their good days. Later, when Duncan heard about her previous pregnancy, he started to abuse her. Knowing that she was in the wrong, she accepted his beatings. However, this further fueled his wrath. He married her thinking she was a virgin; but since she wasn't, he felt deceived. To appease his own anger, he started seeing other women outside of their marriage.

Feeling as if she had no choice, Loraine just gave in to his devious ways. However, Duncan took advantage of her silence to bring other women back home.

That, of course, became the last straw that broke Loraine. When she finally voiced her fury and disapproval, Duncan turned a deaf ear to all her opinions. Instead, he proceeded to beat and bash her. He was so violent that he made Loraine's face completely black and blue. Duncan did not put her in her eyes at all. However, little did he know that Lorraine was a fighter. With all the rage inside her, she grabbed the iron beside her and smashed it on his head, killing him while doing so.

Because of this, she was sentenced to a lifetime in prison. After being in prison for ten years. Loraine was given parole for her exemplary behavior. In order to survive, she began to look for a job everywhere. It was then that she met Deborah, who was already Steven's wife. Seeing that they were from the same village, Deborah took the initiative to help Loraine land a job as a servant.

After working as a servant for many years, Deborah wanted her to work as the servant for the Myers family. Compared to her normal jobs, being the servant for a prestigious family was certainly a huge opportunity for Loraine.

Although she was just a servant for the Myers family, the benefits and bonuses she received were much better than anyone else. In order for her to maintain a job in the Myers family, she went through all sorts of means to get on Margaret's good side. No matter how many times Margaret lost her temper, Loraine would put up with it. Obviously, Margaret liked this characteristic of Loraine, and therefore, Loraine managed to secure her position in their family till this day.

After working with the Myers family for about three years, she decided to return to San Fetillo one day to look for Tommy. What greeted her wasn't good news. She soon learned that Tommy was going to be punished for a car accident he caused. Armed with desperation, she turned to Deborah for help. To her surprise, not only did Deborah manage to dispose of Tommy's jail time, but she even sent him to driving school and appointed him as Steven's driver.

It wasn't until later on that she learned Deborah had her own intentions for inserting her into the Myers family. She was merely a pawn in Deborah's game. Loraine was no fool, but she knew she owed Deborah a favor and Deborah was holding that against her. Little by little, she became Deborah's accomplice. Irene's fertility problems were probably at least half of her doing.

Originally, she planned to leave the Myers family after Irene and Edric got divorced. However, Deborah persuaded her to stay. Deborah told her that Lily would marry into the family very soon and would require her help. Therefore, Loraine had to continue working there.

Although Margaret was snobbish, she never treated Loraine badly. Initially, Loraine's plan was to work for the Myers family for a few more years to save up enough money. Then, she'd move to some desolate village and live the rest of her life there. But recently, Margaret began to become more demanding. Perhaps, it was partly contributed by Margaret's foul mood and hospitalization. Loraine ended up having to endure her verbal assaults.

Unable to bear it any longer, Loraine turned to Tommy for help. After some discussion, she expressed her idea of wanting to leave the Myers family, but Tommy told her to hold on for a bit longer. When he learned that Margaret was going through a rough time, Tommy suggested for them to drug Margaret. That way she'd be asleep half the time and wouldn't be able to scold anyone. With their gameplan in mind, the two of them headed to the pharmacy to obtain some drugs. But, little did they know they'd run into Edric.

Even though Tommy said that Edric wouldn't suspect anything, Loraine was still a little terrified. Knowing that she had committed so many sins, it was practically improbable for Loraine not to feel guilty. When she returned to the hospital, Margaret was having a tantrum in the room. When she saw Loraine walking in, she scolded the latter, "And where the hell have you been?"

"I just dropped by the pharmacy to get you some supplements." Loraine smiled apologetically. "I ran into Mr. Myers earlier; he said he would drop by sometime soon."

Even though the doctor claimed her injuries would take some time to recover, they weren't that serious at all. After a few days of treatment, the doctor found no alarming complications. The only reason why she was still lying in the hospital was to gain Edric's sympathy. However, instead, it had the opposite effect. Edric had already checked with the doctor about her condition. After learning that she wasn't seriously injured, he decided not to visit her. Rather, he went to look for a doctor for Eden.

Recently, there wasn't even a trace of Edric's shadow, not even a phone call. Seeing this, Margaret was blistering with rage all the time. But when she heard Loraine mention that he would drop by later, her mood lit up almost instantly.

As expected, Edric came by to see Margaret in the afternoon. Magaret couldn't help but break down into tears. "Edric, where the hell have you been? Do you know how long I've been lying in this hospital bed, barely alive? How could you treat me like this? How dare you abandon me for that woman?"

"Mom, what are you talking about? I went to look for a doctor to treat Eden." Seeing Margaret upset made Edric feel guilty.

"How is Eden?" Margaret wiped the tears off her face.

"For the moment, there seems to be nothing worrying. The doctor has prescribed some medicine for Eden for the time being," Edric answered. Looking at her, he continued, "Mom, I just consulted the doctor. He said he could discharge you today so you can rest at home. I've hired two nurses to take care of you at home."

Margaret had intended to put on an act in front of him. What she didn't expect was that Edric had already talked to the doctor about her condition. Blushing, she didn't know what to say. Noticing Margaret's silence, Edric quickly beckoned for the two orderlies to bring her home.

With Edric by her side, Margaret's mood was a lot better. In the car, she kept asking about Eden. Edric knew that Margaret was a woman with a sharp tongue, but a soft heart inside. Therefore, he showed her the photos of him playing with Eden earlier in the day.

Margaret couldn't help laughing when she saw Eden's adorable face. If Eden could be with her every day, she would be the happiest person on earth. With this in mind, she made the request to Edric, "Edric, can't you bring Eden over so I can play with him too?"

"I can't," Edric rejected her proposal flatly.

"Why not? Eden's my grandson. Why can't I, his grandma, see him?" questioned Margaret.

"Mom, do you think he would want to see you after how you treated him the last time?"

Recalling how Eden had resisted her, Margaret felt a little defeated. She muttered, "It's all Irene's fault. If it weren't for her, would I be separated from Eden?"

"Don't blame Irene. She's not as bad as you think. She promised me that as long as Eden gets better, she'll allow him to spend some quality time with me. When that happens, wouldn't it be easier for you to see Eden too?"

"Did she really say that?" Margaret felt doubtful. "Edric, are you sure she didn't just say that to please you?"

"And why would she?" Edric's eyes were now fixed on the photo too.

"It's hard to say. It might be her tactics. If it weren't for the fact that I'd sued her, she would've brought Eden overseas and married Nathan by now." Margaret crossed her arms in front of her chest.

Edric looked away, unspeaking. It was true that if the court hadn't put a restraining order against Irene, she would've fled abroad with Eden and married Nathan. Thinking about this, Edric's face fell too, his chest feeling heavy.

"I don't mind if she remarries Nathan, but the child has to stay behind. I won't allow Eden to recognize someone else as his father," Margaret added.

Edric was a little vexed at her statement. "The best way to prevent Eden from calling someone else his father is to let Irene marry me. Otherwise, you can never stop Irene."

"Who said that? Wouldn't it be easier if we fought for the custody of the child?" Margaret didn't replace her statement inappropriate at all.

Edric couldn't help sneering. "Mom, do you think you really can obtain Eden's custody from Irene?"

"Why not?" Margaret squealed.

"Put aside the fact that Irene raised Eden alone for so many years, Eden has the choice in this too. You couldn't even take on Mr. Cook, yet you think you can snatch Eden from Irene without him interfering?" Margaret was rendered speechless. How could she forget that Irene's biological father was Steven? Edric did have a point. As long as she had Steven on her side, Margaret could continue dreaming about obtaining guardianship over Eden.

But if she gave her blessings to Edric and Irene's marriage, she knew she'd always feel unsettled underneath. Irene was no longer the submissive and obedient girl as she was before. If she did marry into the Myers family, their days would surely be filled with endless arguments and quarrels. There would never be peace in their household again.