Shadows of Love and Vengeance

Five years ago, in order to save his family business, Zachary Ford was forced to abandon his first love, Kaylee White, and get married with me. For five years, he harbored nothing but hatred for me, wishing every day that I would disappear from his life.

Now, his wish was about to come true. I was about to die.

Before I passed, I called him for a final farewell, "Zachary, may we never meet in the next life, and may I never fall in love with you again."

He dismissively replied, "I couldn't agree more. Good riddance!"

Later, he held my urn, tears streaming down his face, "Darling, I was wrong. Can you forgive me?"

And that was when it all began.

The clock chimed midnight.

The food on the dining table had long gone cold, and the candles on the cake had burned out, leaving the words "Happy Fifth Anniversary" melted and blurred.

My wish to cook for him one last time and celebrate our anniversary together never came true. I knew he never loved me, but I couldn't let go. How foolish of me.

I laughed at myself, downing the red wine on the table in one gulp.

It was sour and bitter, much like our years of marriage.

Click! The door opened from the outside, and I knew from the footsteps that he had returned.

Zachary saw me drinking and looked at me with indifference and disgust, "You're getting more and more reckless, even learning to drink excessively."

I swirled the wine in my glass and smiled, "Wine helps numb the pain. When you're drunk, there's no trouble, no pain, and no... "

"Enough! Go to bed!" Zachary walked over, snatched the glass from my hand, but in his haste, he caused me to stumble. He just watched me fall, coldly indifferent.

I steadied myself, staring at him blankly, "Zachary, you must have forgotten, today is our fifth wedding anniversary."

Hearing this, Zachary paused for a moment, but his expression quickly returned to one of indifference and disdain.

He sneered, "Anniversary? What are we celebrating? Are we celebrating five years of a broken marriage?"

Heh, I laughed bitterly, taking out an envelope from the drawer and handing it to him, "So, I've decided to set you free on this special day."

When Zachary saw the words "Divorce Agreement" on the envelope, he frowned, "Maisie Ford, what kind of trick are you playing now?"

"For the sake of family interests, you gave up your true love and stayed with me for five years. It must have been hard for you. Now, with the Ford Family thriving under your leadership, you have nothing to worry about. I'm setting you free to find her." As I spoke, took out a photo and handed it to Zachary. It was a picture of him and Kaylee.

For five years, I had tried my best to be a good wife, hoping to replace Kaylee in his heart. Only now did I realize how naive I was.

"Who gave you the right to touch my things?" Zachary was furious, snatching the photo from my hand and pushing me down in the process.

Crash! The wine glass shattered, and I fell onto the shards, my calf pierced and bleeding profusely. My white dress was stained red, and I cried out in pain.

Zachary stood by, watching coldly, his lips curled into a cruel sneer, "Keep up the act! Keep pretending you're innocent! You've always pretended to be kind in front of me, but behind my back, you're a venomous person. Do you know how repulsive you are right now? So vile it makes me sick!"

The pain, mixed with heartache, made my tears flow uncontrollably, "Zachary, I'm dying... "

"Dying? Heh!" He laughed coldly, his eyes devoid of warmth. "Maisie, do you know? For the past four years, I've wished every day that you'd be out of my life! If you want to die, hurry up!"

Bang! Zachary slammed the door as he left.

Yes, he hated me as his wife, always wishing for my death.

Struggling, I managed to get up from the floor, blood streaming from my leg, my face ashen.

I hastily bandaged my leg and took out a medical report from the drawer. It showed that I was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer, with an estimated three months to live.

The results were glaring and painful to see.

"Zachary, you'll soon get what you wished for." I whispered to myself, tearing the report into pieces and throwing it into the trash.

I looked around the house where I had spent five years, filled with bitterness and sorrow, and silently began packing up my things before throwing them all away.

When the first ray of morning sunlight streamed through the window, I had finally finished.

I slowly took off the diamond ring from my finger and placed it on the table.

I opened the door, stepped out, and closed it behind me, leaving behind everything related to me in that house.

I took a taxi to Espoagro Bridge, standing on the bridge as the wind howled by the river, tangling my hair.

I dialed Zachary's number for a final farewell, "Zachary, I'm dying. May we never meet again in the next life, and may I never fall in love with you again!"

On the other end, Zachary's dismissive voice came through, "I couldn't agree more. Good riddance!"

"Zachary, who is it? Who's making you angry so early in the morning?" As Zachary spoke, I could faintly hear a woman's mumbling on the other end of the line.

As expected, he had gone to her last night and was still with her now.

I quietly hung up the phone, tossed it away, and jumped off the bridge, the wind howling in my ears, as if saying goodbye to the world for me.

"Zachary, goodbye. May we never meet again."

My marriage to Zachary was the result of a family alliance. Back then, the Ford Family's business was in crisis, and his father brought him to the Clarke Family to propose, asking for my hand in marriage.

Zachary was a well-known talent in Sadrium, the ideal husband in the eyes of many noblewomen.

Though I had only met him a few times, I had heard plenty of stories about him, and naturally, I was delighted.

On our wedding night, he confessed to me that he had someone he loved, and marrying me was to help the Ford Family through their crisis. However, he was willing to let go of the past and try to love me, to build a good life together.

And just as he promised, in the first year of our marriage, we were inseparable, with everything in harmony between us. Our relationship growing stronger with time, becoming the envy of many.

I thought we would be happy forever, but everything came to a halt on our first anniversary.

That day, I had prepared a candlelit dinner, waiting for him to come home and celebrate.

It wasn't until the candles burned out, and the night was silent, that he stumbled in, drunk.

He looked desperate, his face full of indignation. Stumbling into the house, he angrily overturned the table.

In an instant, chaos ensued.

I stood frozen in shock, my face full of disbelief, until Zachary, his face contorted with rage, grabbed my neck, "I've confessed everything to you, let go of the past, and I'm willing to live well with you. Why do you have to push Kaylee to the brink? Why? Tell me, why did you do it?"