Old Mrs. Laird said nothing more, only sighed and left the room.

I traced my fingers over the small cuts on my hands, retreating to pack up my things.

By now, I understood that it didn’t matter if I was married to Tina or not – this place was never my home.

A decade spent hoping, convincing myself otherwise, and it had all been one-sided.

I should have left a long time ago.

As I reached the doorway, Tina’s voice called me back. “What are you up to now?” she sneered. “Running away from home? Haven’t you humiliated yourself enough?”

I stayed silent.

Over the past month, I had been stranded, penniless, in a city torn by war and flames.

Every day was a new bombardment, a new struggle for food, a constant battle for survival.

I had watched people, some of them fleeing by my side, drop one by one, bodies mangled beyond recognition.

In a hellish place where death loomed at every corner, surviving no longer felt human.

Pride? It meant nothing.

Seeing my silence, Tina grew annoyed and tried to grab my suitcase.

“I told you – I’ll keep supporting you, no matter what. You don’t need to challenge Vincent for everything.

“After all that’s happened, have you learned nothing?

“Or do you actually want to go back to that place?”

Under the harsh light, her shadow loomed over me, swallowing me whole.

That familiar terror crawled over my skin, filling my mind until I couldn’t even process her words.

Without thinking, I clutched the suitcase closer and sank my teeth into her hand, tears streaming uncontrollably down my face.

“This is mine!”

She gasped in pain and shoved me hard.

Tina probably didn’t realize how fragile I was, despite my height.

A single push sent me tumbling down the staircase.

My head struck the railing as I landed, reopening old wounds and tearing fresh ones open.

Blood soaked my shirt in heavy patches.

“James!”

She rushed over, reaching out as if to examine my injuries, but I pulled back, keeping a firm grip on my suitcase, recoiling from her touch.

Annoyance crept into her expression, and the concern in her eyes hardened.

“That ratty suitcase matters that much to you?” she scoffed. “You really can’t wait to leave the Laird family, can you? You’re just an ungrateful stray!”

My legs trembled too much to even try to stand.

The memories I’d worked so hard to bury rose again, taunting me.

Time after time, in the depths of despair, I’d imagined Tina breaking down doors, saving me from hell.

With the Lairds’ influence, with her connections, I’d believed it would be easy for her to come to my rescue.

But as the days bled into weeks, as the agony stretched on without end, I stopped hoping. Stopped dreaming.

All I could do was fight like hell to survive.

“James,” she said, exasperated, gripping my wrist tightly, “I’m giving you one last chance. Come back with me.”

Her touch, skin against my skin, sent a chill through my bones, pulling me back to the day my father had fallen gravely ill ten years ago.

I remembered him, in his final moments, entrusting everything we had to the Laird family.

I remembered Tina kneeling by his bedside, holding my hand, vowing to protect me.

“I, Tina Laird, will never betray James.”

But on a foreign street, under the assault of chaos, these same hands had chosen another’s, leaving me to sink into a dark and endless abyss.

A flood of memories overwhelmed me, a swirl of warmth and fear merging until I could no longer tell illusion from reality.

Panic set in, and I lashed out wildly at the person in front of me.

“Don’t touch me! I just want to go home!”

“Why did you leave me there…

“Tina, I don’t love you anymore. I don’t want to marry you. Don’t leave me here.

“I know I messed up…

Tina looked stunned, staring at me with wide eyes. There was a faint scratch on her cheek where my ring had grazed her skin.

“James, what’s wrong with you? Who’s been messing with you? What’s got you acting like this?

“Didn’t the embassy staff take care of you the whole time?”

Something in her gaze shifted as she took in my state, finally seeming to realize what had happened.

Her movements softened, and her voice turned gentle.

“I never meant to hurt you,” she murmured. “We’re married now; we have a life together.

“This is the Laird home. As long as I’m here, you don’t have to be afraid.

“Just calm down and tell me what’s wrong, okay?”

She crouched down, slowly reaching a hand toward me.

But just as her fingers brushed the air between us, a crisp voice shattered the moment, yanking me back to the present.

Vincent stepped out of Tina’s bedroom, wrapped in a robe. “Tina, the shower’s acting up again. Mind taking a look?”

I stared numbly at the door I knew all too well.

Every time I’d tried to step inside, Tina had reprimanded me, saying she needed her privacy, insisting on separate rooms after our wedding.

She wasn’t opposed to others in her room. She just didn’t want me.

Tears slid down my face, unbidden.

Tina hesitated, glancing between me and Vincent.

Vincent caught her look, then shot me a smirk. “James, you’re a grown man, not some kid. Stop throwing fits every time you see me and Tina together.

“We’re working, that’s all. The honeymoon? I was just there on business.

“No one owes you anything, you know. You’ve been fine at the embassy. Those bruises? That’s on you for sneaking out to take photos.

“We all have to own our choices. It’s time you learned that.”

Tina’s face shifted, her tenderness vanishing as she straightened up, shoulders back. “Apparently, you still haven’t learned your lesson.”

She turned to Vincent. “Let’s go. Don’t pay him any mind. Let’s see how long he can keep up this little act.”

Their figures began to fade down the corridor.

I opened my mouth, wanting to speak, but the bitter taste of blood pooled on my tongue.

“Tina!” I called after her.

She glanced back, and I tried to speak, but every word stuck in my throat.

In the end, all that escaped was a gasp, followed by a sudden rush of blood.

She paused, frowned briefly, then scoffed and walked away without a second look.

Only when they’d disappeared down the hall did I manage to stand, legs shaky. Watching where they’d vanished, I whispered softly, “Tina, don’t worry. I won’t follow you anymore.”

I was done loving her.

Dragging my suitcase, I hobbled away from the Laird estate.

Ten years ago, I had arrived with a full entourage, Tina personally welcoming me.

Today, I left alone and silent.

After a decade, nothing remained behind – only a small pool of blood on the ground, like a stain on Tina’s spotless life.

As I reached the street, I suddenly remembered the wedding ring still on my hand.

Pulling it off, I tossed it to the curb without a second thought.

When I loved Tina, this ring had been a precious symbol of devotion; now, it meant nothing.

I reached out, trying to hail a cab, but the pain I had been holding back crashed over me, bringing my body to its limit.

I felt myself lose balance and crumpled to the ground.

As my mind drifted, I could almost hear Tina’s voice.

“He only fell down the stairs! How could it lead to a spleen rupture this severe?

“Abused? That’s absurd! Has he bribed you to play along in this ridiculous act?”

Flashes of the past resurfaced. Back then, I had been that boy who’d fake illness just to have Tina’s attention.

I’d place the thermometer in hot water to feign a fever or draw bruises on my legs with ink.

How could I have known that, years later, all the imagined pain would come to life, magnified tenfold?

How could I have imagined that the boy who’d sought Tina’s notice at all costs would one day give everything just to escape her?

As the doctor’s voices faded, they rushed me to the operating room, and anesthesia coursed through my body, pulling me under.

Blurred memories surfaced like rapid-fire glimpses.

I saw myself pestering Tina, asking if she liked me; I saw her wearing a ring as we got our marriage license; I saw her abandoning me again and again for Vincent.

I should have known.

When she forgot my birthday that first year to work late with Vincent, her choice had already been made.

I would always be the one left behind.

But if that were true, then why agree to marry me?

Why stay in my life just to discard me?

My thoughts dissolved as the anesthesia finally took effect.

When I woke, the hospital room was empty, with bandages wrapped around me like a cocoon.

It was only after a long wait that a doctor entered.

He explained that besides multiple abrasions and bruises, I had severe gastritis and a ruptured spleen.

“Considering your injuries, surviving that fall is nothing short of a miracle,” he noted.

I managed a weak laugh.

After surviving the chaos of foreign streets, it was ironic to almost lose my life at Tina’s hands.

She truly was…the most formidable test of my life.

Throughout my hospital stay, Tina never once visited.

She must have been convinced that I was pretending.

The only visitor was Old Mrs. Laird, who came bearing two items that left me speechless: the divorce papers and my father’s will.