I stared blankly at the man in front of me, and all at once I was back in that night eight years ago.
My brother, ten years younger than me, had hidden in my room to sneak a cigarette, and accidentally set my bed on fire.
By the time I woke, I was already trapped in a sea of flames.
To stay alive, I had no choice but to jump from a window three floors up.
I was lucky. Thick snow caught my fall.
But when I dragged my broken body over to my parents and my brother, who had already escaped, all I got was the hatred blazing in my mother's eyes, and her curses.
"You little wretch, are you trying to get us all killed? And smoking, too, how dare you. Why didn't the fire just burn you to death!"
I tried to explain, but the words had barely left my mouth before my father's hand slapped them back in.
He pointed at the burned, ruined clothes hanging off my body.
"Look at the state of you. A girl with no shred of virtue left. What man would ever want you after this?"
"This house burned because of you, so from now on, even if you have to go out and sell yourself, you'll pay that money back double!"
I heard those words for so long, so long that I began to doubt myself.
Even later, after William rescued me, I would still shut myself in my room every day.
I would take a small knife and slash at random over the burn scars on my arm.
Just to scrub away those "stains."
That was the first time William ever lost his temper with me, and the ache he couldn't hide showed in those ink-dark eyes.
"Isabella, you listen to me. None of this has anything to do with you. You didn't start that fire. It's all that pack of selfish, son-favoring people deliberately brainwashing you!"
"Don't listen to anything that hurts you. They don't care at all what happens to you. They only care about themselves!"
My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a huge hand, a dull, smothering pain spreading through it.
I couldn't help pressing my hand softly to my chest.
William, so now you've become just like those people too, caring only about yourself?
I forced down the bitter, aching pain inside me and spoke to him.
"William, I want a divorce."
That was something he taught me, too.
When you feel uncomfortable, you leave.
William went still for a moment, but it was quickly replaced by a face full of scorn.
"Divorce? Isabella, with the mind of a six-year-old, who do you think would ever want you once you left me?"
"Don't be foolish, Bella. The only thing waiting for you if you leave my protection is being snatched by those people and used to threaten me. But Bella, you know I can't give up what's rightfully mine every single time just because you throw a tantrum."
The ring of a phone suddenly cut through our argument.
William took the call, and his face turned serious.
"All right, I'll bring her there right away."
He hung up, his gaze landing on me.
"Astrid says she accidentally cut herself on a cherry pit. I have to go see her."
He rubbed his brow wearily.
"Bella, you know my heart and I will always belong to you. She's just a child. I'll have Astrid bring her over more often so you can see her, that's all. Stop making such a fuss over nothing."
I watched him standing there, anxious to rush off and rescue Astrid, and my heart felt pierced through by countless silver needles.
He only remembered to go to the injured Astrid, never knowing that today was also our tenth wedding anniversary.
William once said he would never forget this special day.
We first met in a freight elevator.
Back then William wasn't yet the formidable Mr. Delgado.
He'd been so hungry he stole a bite of his brother's bread, and his stepmother chased him with a broom, beating him.
The twelve-year-old boy fled into the freight elevator, and the next second someone threw the power switch.
No one knew that in that cramped little space, besides William, there was also me, hiding inside because I'd wandered off to play.
"Don't cry, big brother. I'm here with you."
He cried very quietly, but I could feel his small body trembling with fright.
To comfort him, I gave him the only thing I had on me, a ring with a faint glow to it.
William listened to me clumsily telling corny jokes, trying to make him laugh, and somehow his emotions miraculously settled.
He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, his gaze falling on the small ring on his finger.
And he made me a solemn vow.
"Bella, one day I'll buy you a ring bigger and brighter than this one!"
After that, William became the only light in my life.
I clung to him like a plaster you couldn't peel off, and he loved it, spoiling me to the skies.
William said I had given him a chance to be reborn, so he even chose the date I saved him for our wedding day.
No one could have imagined he'd marry me, a fallen heiress.
Not even me.
"William, are... are you sure you haven't made a mistake? My family isn't what it used to be..."
He bought the largest diamond ring in the city and slid it onto my ring finger with his own hand.
Then he took my hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the diamond.
"That's right. So now it's my turn to protect you, my little princess."
