Chapter 7 Domestic Violence

"If I don't beat you to death today, then I won't call myself Darren Lin!" After uttering these words, he whipped her, this time even harder.

Jessie sat on the ground, writhing with pain. She held herself with her hands and bit her tongue to stop herself from screaming. She remained silent as the whip continued to assault her delicate skin.

Her body was stained with blood. It was quite a horrible sight.

Just when she thought she would die, she felt a protective hand wrap itself around her. Those arms embraced her, keeping her body away from the whip. Jessie raised her head and saw a pair of gentle eyes.

"Mom is here, Jessie. Don't worry; you will be fine!"

"Mom..." Jessie said, her voice coming as a whisper.

"Don't be afraid. I won't allow anyone to hurt you."

Irene's pale face was brimming with care and love. Seeing this, Jessie couldn't hold back her tears.

She was often scolded and beaten by Darren. Ivy and Ellie gained pleasure in bullying her. While all this happened, Jessie wished her mother would come out to protect and comfort her. However, whenever she suffered from injustice and craved for her mother's love, her mother would give her the cold shoulder. Sometimes, her mother treated her worse than Ivy did, which broke her heart.

Today, she felt extremely happy, being protected by her mother. It felt like a dream.

Even if her father decided to beat her to death, she wouldn't mind. It was worth it!

"Irene, get out of my way!" Darren yelled at her. Looking around at the servants, he ordered, "Take this crazy woman away. Who let her out?"

In spite of his orders, the servants didn't move. They were scared .

"Darren, do you consider yourself a human? Jessie is your biological daughter! How can you treat her so cruelly? You can beat me to death if you please! But leave her alone! I won't let you hurt her as long as I am alive. Kill me first!"

Irene didn't care about her own life any more. Instead, she took a look at her daughter and pulled her in a tight embrace. She knew that Jessie had suffered a lot because of her. Not only did she neglect her duties as a mother, she had also done things to hurt her.

But she didn't mean to do any of it.

It was just that she went out of control.

When she was sober, she had once planned to perish with Darren. However, in the end, she could not make up her mind.

"You think I am cruel? Why don't ask her what she has done? She almost ruined the Lin family!"

Ivy nodded her head in agreement and continued, "Exactly! Just look at your daughter and her wretched behavior. We've tried hard to find her a good husband. Consider her lucky because Mr. Mark is willing to marry her."

"Shut up!" As she listened to Ivy's disdainful words, Irene's anger became worse. "Ivy, who do you think you are! Do you really think I don't know that you are forcing my Jessie to marry a cripple? If you are so impressed by this so-called Mark, why don't you let your daughter marry that man!" Irene spat back angrily. She took a small pause to catch her breath and went on, "Let me tell you, I may be ill and crazy, but I am still Mrs. Lin. And you're nothing but a shameless mistress! As long as I am alive, you can't become Mrs. Lin."

Listening to this, Darren couldn't hold back his rage any more. He took a step forward and slapped Irene hard against her cheek.

"Mom..." In spite of her pain, Jessie managed to stand up. She hugged Irene and roared at Darren, "Darren, how dare you hit my mother! You have no right to hit her. If you are angry with me, hit me. Leave her out of this."

"Do you think I am not going to do that? Don't worry; I will be hitting you as well,"

he retorted back and raised the whip, getting ready to hit her again.

Ivy watched them both getting beaten up. However, she felt no satisfaction. Irene's words had stung her. She clenched her fists and glared at Jessie and Irene, her eyes exuding viciousness.

The title of Mrs. Lin was something she had craved for since a very long time ago. She lived with Darren for many years in order to get into the Lin family and become Mrs. Lin. If it wasn't Irene, she wouldn't be in this humiliating position.

She had tried every means to persuade Darren into divorcing Irene. Instead of listening to her, he put forth thousands of reasons why he couldn't do it. He locked up Irene in a room and barely acknowledged her presence, yet he refused to file a divorce.

And today, Irene had blatantly humiliated her. This made Ivy hate her even more.

Irene had been locked up in her room for many years. She was sick and weak. There was nothing she could do to stop Darren from whipping her.

Her body became weaker and weaker. Slowly, she leaned against Jessie's body and passed out.

"Mom!" Seeing that Irene had lost her consciousness, Jessie held her with one hand, and caught hold of the whip with her other hand. She roared, "That's enough. My mother fainted, Darren! Does beating us to death make you happy?!"

"What..." Darren put down the whip, starting to feel a little anxious. Turning to his servants, he mumbled, "Go and ring the doctor. And carry Irene to her room."

Ivy watched Jessie and Darren walk upstairs. Her face contorted and turned ferocious. The seeds of darkness in her heart were beginning to grow.

Having received the call, the doctor came rushing. After he examined the patient, he prescribed medicine for trauma and left without speaking much.

Darren turned to Jessie and said, "As you can see, your mother has suffered a lot because of you. If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have gotten whipped."

Jessie's eyed turned wide. She couldn't believe he was putting all the blame on her. Yes, she had been the cause. But he was the one who had beaten her to a pulp. If he had an ounce of mercy, none of this would have happened.

Seeing that she hadn't given him an answer, Darren went on, "Listen to me. Go to visit the Lan family tomorrow. No matter what happens, don't come back without calming them down. If you don't listen to me, the consequence will be terrible."

Having made his point clear, Darren turned around and left. Standing next to the bedside, Jessie looked at Irene's pale face and her heart ached for her mother.

"Mom, I'm sorry. It's all my fault." If it weren't for her, her mother wouldn't have been injured today.

She had no choice but to listen to her father.

Jessie's thoughts suddenly went to her younger brother. He had been forcefully moved to a foreign country by his father.

'Do I have no choice but to submit myself to a cripple?'

Jessie thought, feeling devastated.

The next day, Jessie woke up early. For a few minutes, she sat on the bed, her mind reliving yesterday's incidents.

The brutal beatings she had received from Darren made her understand the extent of malevolence he was capable of.

In the past, she had thought if she ever ran away, Darren wouldn't take his anger out on her mother or brother. After all, one was his wife, and the other was his own son.

However, after what happened yesterday, she realized she had been too naive.

In Darren's heart, no one mattered. He only loved himself.

Jessie sighed deeply. She opened her wardrobe and found a light blue dress with long sleeves. In order to cover the wound on her legs, she put on a pair of black stockings. She let her long black hair fall on her shoulder. She applied a little makeup and her gaunt face looked so much better.

"Father, I'm going to the Lan family's house," she announced.

Darren, who was having breakfast cast a glance in her direction and nodded his head in approval. "Have you decided?"

"Yes, I have."

Hearing that, Darren felt relief wash over him. The Lin Group was doing terribly at the moment. If she failed to convince them, the whole Lin family would be doomed.

Deep down, he really hoped that everything would go smoothly.