Chapter 3

From the bedroom came an unspoken

Like a rusty knife.

Scraping my eardrums and lynching my heart one at a time.

I listened numbly, tears sliding silently down my cheeks.

It pooled into a small puddle on the cold floor.

How proud I was once.

For Frank, the poor boy from the mountains.

I broke with my parents, broke with my family, and even gave up my right to inherit the family business.

I thought we were in true love.

I thought he would cherish me forever.

"Frank, why did you marry me in the first place?"

"Because of love."

The way he swore in the beginning came to mind.

There was a deep love in the corner of his eyes.

"Heh, love?"

I laughed to myself as the tears welled up more and more.

If this is love, it's ridiculous.

As his career flourished, he came home less and less.

The women around him have changed in waves.

And me, from the high and mighty Miss Thousand.

He has become a yellow woman in his eyes, a bad wife who has abandoned him.

I couldn't stand it and messed with him over and over again.

In return, he intensified his coldness and disgust.

Until the time I scratched the face of his favorite little canary and he completely exploded.

He dropped me off in Leafshire, the middle of nowhere.

It's called "sharpening my temperament".

"Frank, you're so mean."

I closed my eyes and let the tears rage.

I hated his desperation, and I hated my own stupidity even more.

If I could turn back time, I would never have fallen in love with him, definitely not.

Sally appeared at the second floor stairway dragging her freshly graced body.

The corner of her eyes were full of insatiable flavor.

"Ruth, please make me a bowl of hot soup and send it up, I'm so tired and thirsty, hurry up oh."

Her petulant voice sounded like she was ordering a lowly servant.

I clenched my fists, my nails sinking deep into my flesh.

The pain in my palms is but a million times less than the heartbreak of this moment.

Once upon a time, I was the celebrity dame who didn't have to do housework.

And now, it is reduced to serving her husband's mistress.

I shuddered and dragged my body through a thousand holes.

Moving to the kitchen, I mechanically did the chores I once loathed the most.

The kitchen was heavy with water vapor, blurring my vision and my memory.

I thought I saw that youthful teenager, holding a true heart, making a vow of love to me.

"Ruth, I will be good to you for the rest of your life and make you the happiest woman you can be."

Now, the oath is still fresh in our ears, but the man is no longer the same.