Chapter 2

I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails were embedded deep in my flesh, but I couldn't feel a single ounce of pain.

I knew that she was telling the truth.

Now I am no longer the high and mighty Miss Carr family.

I'm just a woman who was abandoned by her husband and left to be bullied.

I closed my eyes weakly as two lines of tears slid down the corners of my eyes.

Then, to Sally's shocked gaze, I slowly bent my knees.

The moment his knee touched the cold floor, the door opened.

Frank's tall figure appeared in the doorway.

He was stunned for a moment.

Eyes moved back and forth between Sally and I, finally settling on me with a complex, indistinguishable look.

"Ruth, it seems you went abroad to reflect well."

He let out a soft laugh, his tone inaudible.

The word "foreign" stabbed me like a needle.

The body shuddered instinctively.

Those days and nights in Leafshire came like a tidal wave.

Dragging me back into that dark abyss.

Not having enough to eat or wear and sleeping on the streets is the norm.

I even had to fight wild dogs for a piece of moldy bread.

With no language and no family, I was like a beggar on the edge of life and death.

Even scarier were the unsuspecting glances.

They were like wild animals that smelled blood, ready to tear me apart.

I'll never forget that night when a group of refugees surrounded me.

Dirty hands ripped at my clothes and I fought back desperately, but to no avail.

In desperation, I touched a piece of broken glass on the floor.

Slash hard at your own wrist.

Blood instantly stained my arm.

"Don't come over! Come any closer and I'll die!"

I shouted at the top of my lungs, my voice hoarse with desperation.

Perhaps intimidated by my determination, they eventually backed off.

I was able to get away with it.

But the scar stayed on my wrist forever.

Like a centipede, hideous.

A constant reminder of that unforgiving past.

And it's all thanks to him!

I snapped my head up and looked straight at him, the hatred in my eyes almost consuming him.

"Ruth, what's that look in your eye? Don't you know what's wrong?"

Frank saw the indignant look in my eyes, and his tone turned suddenly cold, like a frozen blade.

"If you don't know, get the hell out of the country immediately and come back here to die?"

He warned sternly.

I was instantly deflated, like a poked balloon.

All the anger and hatred turned into powerlessness.

I dropped to my knees on the cold floor and kowtowed to Sally one at a time.

What was once pride and self-respect was now crushed to powder.

"I was wrong, I was wrong, I'm sorry, please don't send me abroad again ......"

I begged incoherently, my voice quivering with a heavy nasal tone.

Sally took Frank's arm, pouted, and looked at me condescendingly.

Like looking at a lowly mole cricket.

Scarlet blood oozed from his forehead and stained the floor.

Like a demonic flower on the other side, it stung my eyes.

It was as if I saw the same stubbornness that kept him from sending me away six months ago.

At that point, he said, "I just want you to calm down and think about what you did wrong."

"You're so jealous, and don't you forget that the Carr family is broke and your parents jumped to their deaths. You're not the star-struck young lady anymore!"

Now, he said, "Ruth, recognize your place in the future and don't ask questions you shouldn't, or next time it won't be sending you overseas."

I nodded flabbergastedly, numb to his judgment.

Like a puppet on strings, at the mercy of others.

I watched as the two of them walked like glue into the bedroom that was once mine.

Backstabbing.

Like a sharp blade, it tore what was left of my dignity to shreds.

Once, it was our love nest, but now, it's a painful memory for me.