Chapter 653

The beating lasted a full minute before the belated intervention of the public security officers finally pulled the two apart. Nate’s face was swollen, and clumps of his hair had been torn out. Alice, having vented her fury through the thrashing, suddenly broke down in tears the moment she was dragged away. "It's all my fault," she sobbed, her voice cracking with guilt. "I never should’ve talked Sister Eva into staying in our village back then. If it weren’t for me, she wouldn’t have suffered like this. I kept her here, but I couldn’t protect her—not even the child she left behind. Aiden, your auntie failed you!" Her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground, wailing uncontrollably. She had always known Nate treated Eva poorly, but she never imagined the depths of his cruelty. After Eva was forced into marriage with him, Nate forbade her from leaving the house. He never left visible marks on her body, reserving his physical abuse mostly for Aiden. Alice had assumed the bastard was