When I found out my father had died from donating his bone marrow, grief crushed me so fiercely I miscarried right on the spot.
Yet while I lay broken in that hospital bed, my husband was nowhere near me. Instead, he was with Helena Dalton, his first love and the very woman who had just received my father’s bone marrow.
It wasn’t until the alarm of a scheduled event went off in my ward that I remembered.
Today was our fourth wedding anniversary.
My husband, Heinry Lorrimer, had said he was preparing a special gift for me just the day before. It was just that I never imagined that special gift would cost two lives.
Tears uncontrollably poured down my cheeks and my heart felt like it had been ripped apart.
I thought back to the first year of our marriage, when he abandoned me because of Helena. He wasted his days at home in despair. It was I who tirelessly cared for him, nursing him with warmth, until he gradually came back to life.
The second year, when his company nearly collapsed, I stubbornly knelt before my greedy mother for three days straight, begging her for money and that money actually saved his company.
The third year, when he suddenly demanded a child, the doctor warned me that pregnancy could kill me. But for his sake, I bravely risked my life just to give him a beautiful daughter.
Everyone said I was the perfect wife, that I loved him with all my heart and soul. And yet, no matter how much love and devotion I gave, his heart remained cold.
Now, with his company thriving, he had driven my father to death.
The next morning, I woke to find Heinry standing by my bed. His face was pale, his voice low as he whispered.
"Yoanne… Helena is dead."
From that day on, he spent every night drowning in bars. Until one day, my own husband brought home a bar girl who looked exactly like his first love.
"If it weren’t for your useless father’s bone marrow, Helena would still be alive. From today onward, Wanda will live here. You’ll serve her and take care of her. I want you to watch as we love each other every day. Seeing her face will remind you of your guilt. That will be your punishment, Yoanne."
I just nodded without a word of protest.
What he didn’t know was that my silence wasn’t weakness. It was because the plan I had been preparing for years was finally about to succeed.
In just ten days, the truth that would destroy Heinry’s name would finally come to light. And that would be my last gift to him.
***
Perhaps the look on my face displeased Heinry. His brows knitted, his expression turning darker.
"What are you standing there for? It was only a miscarriage, not death. Go kneel before Helena's portrait and beg for her forgiveness. That’s what you have to do now."
"And if I refuse?"
I lifted my gaze, resentment burning in my eyes as I stared at the man before me. This man had driven my father to his death just to save his woman and now he wanted me to kneel before her portrait and beg for forgiveness.
My shoulders shook violently with grief and anger, tears spilling uncontrollably down my cheeks.
Yet, Heinry remained unmoved. His bloodshot eyes blazed like a wild beast.
"This isn’t up to you. Your father is gone, so you’ll kneel in front of my Helena for him. Get down!"
My body was still frail from the miscarriage, blood loss leaving me weak even after being discharged from the hospital.
He showed no mercy, yanking me from the bed and dragging me into another room, where Helena’s portrait stood like an entire sacred shrine.
"Kneel!"
He shoved me onto the wooden floor. The sharp pain shooting through my knees, but the agony in my chest was worse, like thousands of needles piercing straight into my heart.
One bow. Two. Three.
"Heinry, let me go! Don’t force me to hate you!"
Tears blurred my vision, my teeth clattering as I trembled. Seizing a brief moment when he caught of guard, I grabbed the incense burner from the table and hurled it against the wall. It shattered, shards flying everywhere.
The broken pieces cut across Heinry’s cheek, slashed my ankle and even nicked Wanda Myers, who had been lurking at the doorway.
"Ah! My arm!"
"Yoanne, your father killed Helena. Do you want to kill me, too?"
The moment her words left her lips, Heinry’s eyes went blood-red. His hand closed around my throat and he slammed my head against the wooden floor.
"I'll help you with the last apology!"
Dizziness swept over me. My body slumped onto the floor.
Through the haze, I saw Heinry lifting Wanda into his arms, carrying her out of the room. Warm blood trickled down my leg as my consciousness faded.
Heinry, I don’t want you anymore. When your company holds its celebration banquet in ten days, that will be the day everything between us ends.
