All Chapters of Twelve Years Gone, Like The Wind: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The doorway was dead silent. The door was not fully closed. Miles’ two friends, who had sent him home, stood there looking uncomfortable and tried to calm things down.“Jenna, Miles is truly not himself today because of the fever. He didn’t mean to snap at you.“Besides, you spray him with alcohol every single day. Nobody would put up with that. Just let it go.“Yeah, he broke it off entirely with that drunk hookup a long time ago.”Just the mention of the incident made my stomach lurch with a violent surge of nausea.At sixteen, I was dragged into a dark back alley by my stepbrother and his group of friends.While my clothes were being torn apart, eighteen-year-old Miles had rushed over with teary eyes and chased them off with a brick.He had taken off his school jacket and wrapped it around my shaking body.He had held me and cried even louder than I did. He had comforted me and said that he would beat up anyone who dared to touch me.Because of that nightmare, I was extre

Chapter 2

#Early the next morning, Miles was still asleep when I left the house with a thermos.Even though this marriage had already fallen apart, I still went to the city hospital.My mother-in-law, Ruth, had been hospitalized for nearly a year with severe kidney failure.I had been taking care of her day and night.I considered it my duty as a daughter-in-law.When I entered the hospital room, Ruth was complimenting me to the family members who were visiting her.“I’ve gotten through this illness all because of Jenna. She’s a hundred times more devoted than my own real daughter could ever be.”When she saw me come in, she smiled broadly and quickly asked me to take a seat.I ladled out the soup I had simmered all night and placed it in her hands.“Ruth, drink it while it’s hot. Miles had a fever last night. I have to get back and check on him in a bit.”Ruth took the bowl of soup and drank it. Her phone was propped up on the small table, playing a video for her to watch. It sudden

Chapter 3

The next day, I requested time off from work. I stayed home to pack my luggage.There was not much to take. A few changes of clothes and my identification documents were enough.Just then, the doorbell rang.I thought it was the courier delivering the divorce agreement via local same-day service. When I opened the door, I was stunned to see Wendy.She wore a pure white cashmere coat, holding the little boy from the video by the hand.I gripped the door handle so tightly that my knuckles turned white from the pressure.“Jenna, aren’t you going to invite me in?”She studied my pale face with undisguised smugness.“I don’t think I made myself clear enough in our previous video call. So I brought Harry here specially to see you.”She deliberately pushed the child forward as if she were showing off.“Harry is about to start kindergarten. Miles is always feeling bad that his son doesn’t have a complete family.“He said that since Harry is the Lumb family’s firstborn grandson, he

Chapter 4

His grip was so tight that I could not breathe. I desperately slapped his hand.“Cough... Harry?”Miles flung me aside in a rage. He kicked the coffee table over with one stomp.“Wendy told me everything! You went after her like a psycho this afternoon!“She took Harry to the pharmacy to get his cut bandaged. The second she turned around, he was gone!“Who else would kidnap a three-year-old besides you?!”I coughed violently. I looked at the enraged Miles in disbelief.“I never even left the house! Miles, are you insane?!”“You’re the insane one!”He looked extremely anxious. He pointed at me and yelled, “You’ve been spraying me with alcohol every single day for six months. You’ve been messed up in the head for a long time. Now, you won’t even leave an innocent kid alone!“Call the people you hired now!”I gritted my teeth and stepped backward. “I told you I haven’t seen him! If you can’t handle it, then divorce me!”I turned to grab the divorce papers off the table.“Yo

Chapter 5

His eyes locked on the blood spreading through the bathtub. Then he finally managed to speak, as if he was shaking off a daze.“Blood... Jenna, why is there blood?”Miles stumbled toward the bathtub with shaky hands.He frantically tried to undo the leather belt around my wrist. The metal buckle was stuck tight.He tried several times but could not get it undone. His voice trembled with desperation.His panic and fumbling triggered a sharp pain in my lower abdomen that radiated through my entire body.“Get lost...” I said weakly. Even breathing hurt at that moment. As my consciousness began to fade, I felt him finally pull the belt free.He lifted me out of the ice-cold water and held me tightly against his chest.His body shuddered when his hand touched the warm blood between my legs.“Jenna, don’t scare me like that. I’m getting you to the hospital right now!”He grabbed a bath towel and wrapped it around me. He carried me out of the house.He trembled the entire way the

Chapter 6

Just then, the hospital room door was pushed open.Ruth walked in hurriedly with Wendy’s support.“Miles! I heard Jenna was taken to the hospital. What happened?”Wendy peeked at me lying in the hospital bed. A hint of gleeful satisfaction flashed beneath her eyes.She masterfully put on a worried expression and looked at Miles with teary eyes.“Miles, is Jenna okay? We found Harry. It was all a misunderstanding.“Please don’t get mad at her because of Harry. I’m sure she didn’t mean it.”Miles stood up abruptly when he heard Wendy’s voice.He then stared coldly at her. Ruth chimed in from the side.“Yeah. Jenna has a bad temper.“Since she can’t have kids herself, of course, she’d be jealous of Wendy. Just talk some sense into her.”Miles’ hands clenched into fists so tight that his knuckles cracked audibly.His voice shook as he said, “Mom, Jenna had a miscarriage.”Ruth froze. She stared at my stomach in disbelief.“A m-miscarriage? She was pregnant? Since when?”We

Chapter 7

Miles closed the hospital room door and walked back to my bedside.“Jenna, I’m sorry. I didn’t know my mom would say that. I won’t let them bother you anymore. Let’s start over. I’ll do whatever you say from now on. Okay?” he pleaded.I calmly lowered my gaze. I did not look up at him again.“Miles, sign the divorce papers.”He stifled his breathing and refused with a trembling voice. “I’m not signing it.“I won’t agree to a divorce. What happened to the baby is my fault. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. You’re not well right now. You need someone to take care of you.”“I don’t need you.”I reached under my pillow and found my phone. I called a nursing agency to hire a full-time caregiver for myself.Miles just stood there watching the whole time.After I hung up, he said in a hoarse voice, “Fine. I won’t upset you. I’ll be right outside the door. Call me if you need anything.”With that, he stepped out.During that week in the hospital, he truly never lef

Chapter 8

He stopped three steps away from me. He did not dare to come any closer.I looked at him calmly.“Have you looked over the agreement? Sign it if there are no issues. If you have any requests, please take them up with my lawyer.”“I’m not signing it.”He looked at me desperately and said, “Jenna, don’t leave me. I admit I messed up a lot over the past six months. But whatever Wendy told you... I never once said those things.“I checked the surveillance footage. She had drugged me that night. I never chose to sleep with her.”He then pleaded, “Jenna, I was tricked. I’ve only loved you from the very beginning.”A gust of wind blew and swept up the fallen leaves on the ground.I listened to his whole speech and just found it amusing.“Are you done?”He froze for a moment before nodding blankly.“Miles,” I said. My voice was as cold as the breeze.“Do you really think that if you prove you didn’t cheat, prove you didn’t want the kid, prove you never said those things, then you’r

Chapter 9

It was Wendy.She wore an old, washed-out coat. Her hair was a mess, and her skin looked sickly. Gone was that put-together, glamorous look she had six months ago.She dropped to her knees right in public with a thud the moment she spotted me.People leaving work and people just passing by stopped and stared with curiosity.“Jenna! Please, save me!” She cried out loudly as she reached out to grab my pant leg. I stepped back and avoided her.“Miles wants nothing to do with us anymore. He gave you every penny he had! Ruth’s kidney failure got worse. She’s in the ICU right now. It costs a fortune every single day!”She cried with snot and tears streaming down her face, looking utterly pitiful.“Harry is sick, too. Jenna, I know you have all that money. You’re a good person. Even if it’s just for the sake of how Ruth used to take care of you, please spare me some money. Otherwise, we’re not going to make it!”The onlookers started whispering among themselves.“Wendy,” I said in a

Chapter 10

I turned and saw Miles.After several years without seeing him, he had aged significantly.He had deep crow’s feet around his eyes, and his hair had gone gray in places.He was using a metal crutch, and his right leg seemed stiff.He stood there, looking at me with anxiety and an unrelenting bitterness.“It’s been a while.”I did not avoid his gaze. I simply nodded calmly. “Yes. It’s been a while.”The atmosphere felt tense.His fingers gripping the crutch turned white from the pressure.“I... I got transferred here to do logistics desk work now,” he said with a trembling voice.“How... how are you?”“I’m good,” I replied.His lips moved, and he seemed to want to ask something else.“Mommy!”A little girl ran out from the play area and threw herself into my arms.She looked up as she held a small bear she had won from a claw machine. Her eyes sparkled as she said excitedly, “Mommy, look! I got one!”I smiled and patted her head. Then, I took out a tissue and wiped t

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