Chapter 588
Newton poured a glass of warm water for Jasper, handing it to his grandson, who sat
across from him.
“Thank you, Grandpa.” Jasper gratefully took the glass, sitting up straight. He cupped the
glass with a
hand around the body and another at the base.
“How’s your injuries, Jasper?” Newton asked gently.
“They’re mostly surface wounds but have healed a lot,” Jasper replied, masking most of
his weakness and
pain. “Don’t worry about me, Grandpa. I’m stronger than you think. I was in the army
once, after all.”
“Then why didn’t you fight back when your father hit you?” Newton scowled. “That vixen,
Sophia, clearly
influenced him to hurt you for no good reason. Why didn’t you just snatch the whip away
and hit her back?!
He’d called Jasper over just to question him about this.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtJasper looked down at his glass of water. To Newton’s surprise, he stayed silent.
After a moment, Newton asked in a softer tone, “You’re my grandson, Jasper, and blood of
blood. You
don’t still feel like you owe it to our family, do you?”
Jasper’s lips pressed into a thin line.
When he was five years old, he once had to survive in a filthy, narrow little slumhouse with
his sick and
frail mother. It was a stormy night when those cars arrived outside the house. Rainwater
had drenched
the building, and the biting cold wind numbed their fingers.
Jasper had been sitting by the bed, trying to feed her mother some water.
Javier had been younger then, clad in a smart suit and tie as he walked into the room. Not
even his
leather shoes had a drop of rainwater on them.
All Jasper had in mind at that time when he saw this man was-
“Please. Please save my mom, sir!”
Javier had marched over to the bedside. Tears welled up in his
eyes as he hugged Jasper’s thin and sickly
mother. He cried out, “Oh, Anne! My sweet Anne! I’m so sorry it took me so long. I’m so
sorry! I’m finally
here for you and our son.”
Jasper still vividly remembered his father’s devotion to his mother, insisting on marrying
her no matter
the pressure from his family and the public. Thus, Jasper, a child born out of wedlock, was
legitimized.
+15 BONUS
He never understood, though. Did Javier really love his mother? If he did, why would he
turn his affections elsewhere, causing his mother to commit suicide when she crumbled
under her depression?
Jasper often wondered whether it would have been better for his mother to die on that
cold, stormy night sick in bed or from the torturous existence the love of her life had
caused her.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm“You don’t owe a single thing to us, child. We’re the ones who owe you.” Newton placed a
hand on Jasper’s shoulder, unshed tears in his eyes. “I’m the one who’s to blame for what
happened all those
years ago.
“I knew just how much your father loved your mother, but the economic crisis had just hit
us. We would have faced bankruptcy, what with the projects we took on being halted and
our assets worth diminished. That’s why I had your father marry the Dutton girl from
Minestrom-your brother’s mother.
“It’s all my fault, dear child. The suffering that you had to go through when you were a kid
“No, Grandpa. You were only doing what was best for the family and the company. I can
empathize with
your reasons. It’s okay.” Jasper didn’t blame Newton at all.
Newton didn’t have to hear him say it out loud to hear it. He sighed long and hard in
response.
“I didn’t fight back earlier because of Justin,” Jasper said. ‘Before he left the city for
Mosgravia,
that I don’t get on Javier’s bad side too much, for his sake.”
he asked