Chapter 56 Thinking Of Kendall
Kendall saw the marks on Olivia's body, and her expression tightened. "These injuries look severe, but they are actually just surface wounds, they don't even count as a minor injury."
Olivia slowly pulled down her sleeves. Hearing Kendall's words, she almost started crying again. "You're right. I went to the hospital before, hoping to get an injury assessment, but the doctor said they were too mild, the assessment wouldn't be useful."
James worked at a famous state-owned enterprise, and his position was quite senior. It was precisely because his work income was high that Olivia listened to him and quit her job after she became pregnant.
Of course, there was another reason, if both of them worked, no one would be able to look after the child. So Olivia compromised.
She had originally thought James's income was substantial, and with one person handling the home and the other handling the outside, they would surely be a happy family of three after the child was born. However, after giving birth, she found her life turned into a living hell.
Initially, James was just unpleasant toward Olivia, he didn't physically strike her. Then, one time, he came back from a work dinner, reeking of alcohol, and sat on the sofa. Olivia kindly went up to help him go wash up, but James pushed her away.
In his gloomy mood, James yelled obscenities at Olivia, and then he got physical.
Once domestic violence happens the first time, the second and third times will not be far off. Olivia didn't know when it started, but as soon as James drank, he would come home and abuse her to vent his frustration.
Before, James would even kneel on the floor and beg Olivia for forgiveness after sobering up, but in the last six months alone, James clearly started treating Olivia like a servant he could insult at will.
He was cautious with his abuse, he wouldn't hit and kick Olivia, but he would use slippers or other soft objects to pin her to the floor and beat her, only leaving her with bruises and swelling, without causing serious harm to her body.
This led to Olivia's few attempts to get an injury assessment at the hospital all ending in failure.
Olivia had also called the police, but the police were helpless with these types of domestic disputes, they could only mediate and give James a verbal warning. Olivia sought help from the Women's Federation, but the result was the same.
What scared her even more was how well James could pretend. When he was in front of the police and the Women's Federation, he would look sincerely remorseful.
As soon as the police and the Women's Federation left, James's eyes would instantly turn cold, and he would drag her into the room, choking her neck, and silently abusing her.
Olivia shivered with fear, recalling James's insidious methods behind closed doors. She sat on the sofa, tears falling, looking somewhat hopeless.
"I don't know what I should do. My daughter is only three years old, many times I've wanted to divorce James, but the one time I brought it up, he viciously refused. If he doesn't agree, and without special evidence, I simply can't get a divorce."
"Also, I grew up in a single-parent home, I clearly know how sensitive and insecure a child raised in a single-parent home can be, I don't want Ivy to be like that either."
"If he doesn't agree to a divorce, you can think of other ways to make him agree, as long as you truly want the divorce," Kendall said. "Are you sure that letting her grow up in a home like this will cause less psychological harm than being in a single-parent home?"
Olivia looked dazed. Kendall didn't continue, she just let Olivia calm down and think for herself.
At the same time, Kendall didn't entirely trust Olivia's words, after all, everything Olivia said was from her own perspective, it was Olivia's one-sided story.
Kendall mentally scrolled through the information the system had sent her.
While some details were slightly different from what Olivia said, the general chronology was the same.
James was a domestic abuser who was skilled at deception!
If Olivia didn't divorce him, James would become more arrogant, his abuse of Olivia would become an addiction, and he would eventually kill Olivia by mistake three years later.
James would turn himself in, and their daughter, Ivy, would be raised by James's parents. James's parents were particularly patriarchal, valuing sons over daughters, so Ivy's childhood growing up with the two elders was predictably tragic.
The system's task for Kendall was to help Olivia escape the abusive James. Kendall looked at the silent Olivia sitting on the sofa and spoke. "Think about it carefully, once you've made up your mind, if you want a divorce, come find me, I'll help you."
Olivia sighed in relief, nodding with some hesitation.
After Olivia left, the system was confused.
> [Host, why didn't she just say she wanted a divorce?]
Seeing Olivia cry so desperately, the system had been watching, assuming Olivia would immediately say she wanted to divorce James.
It had already sent the task to Kendall, as long as Olivia spoke up, Kendall would definitely help her.
Kendall carried the tea Olivia hadn't finished from the coffee table into the kitchen and poured it out, responding, "You definitely don't have children."
The system: "..."
'How could a system have kids!'
Kendall's tone was certain. "You haven't raised a child, and you don't have to worry about putting food on the table."
The system: "..."
'What is she even talking about?!'
The system unilaterally went silent, hiding in a dark corner to frantically catch up on human knowledge.
Kendall was unconcerned. She pulled up the system screen to check her personal information.
Host: Kendall
Good deeds level: 0 [4/10]
Karma: 153
Then, Kendall swiped her finger and opened the system store for the day.
The system store's daily flash sale updated with new products every morning at six o'clock. Kendall opened it for a look every day. The first item always started at a million karma, which Kendall couldn't afford right now. She let her gaze drop, looking directly at the second and third items.
Item 2: [Truth Pill 2]
Description: The user will truthfully answer one question.
Price: 80 karma
Item 3: [Nightmare Potion]
Description: The user will suffer continuous nightmares for one week, the specific nightmare content depends on the individual.
Price: 20 karma
Kendall's gaze landed on the third item. She liked something so morally questionable.
Without a word, she reached out and clicked to buy it. As for the second item, although the price was a bit high, it seemed like it would be useful in the future. Kendall thought for a moment and bought that one too.
———
Inside the huge Sinclair family villa, Nathan woke up early. He hadn't been addicted to his phone before, but now he carried it with him all day long.
Since adding Kendall's number, the first thing Nathan did every morning after waking up was reach for the phone on his bedside table. He opened the chat, looked at the empty message box, and dropped his gaze in disappointment.
'Thinking, thinking of Kendall...'
(End of Chapter)