Chapter 6%
I never once brought up how I had saved Hugh back then. I didn’t want to remind him of those painful memories.
For a time, I truly believed that love, even the one–sided kind, could eventually melt the ice between us. But just when I thought things were finally getting better, Sienna, who had vanished without a trace for years, returned.
Hugh must have loved her with all his heart. Even though she abandoned him at his lowest, the moment she showed up needing help, he still rushed to her side like nothing had ever happened.
Unlike me…
I spent years trying to earn a place beside him, clinging to every scrap of warmth he tossed my way. Yet, in the end, all I ever had was a carefully constructed illusion–a self–deceiving fantasy of happiness that existed only in my own mind.
At least now, I was already dead. There was no longer any need to lie to myself. All those years, all those memories–I could just consider them lost, scattered like ashes in the wind.
The assistant’s unwavering insistence that the bodies lying before them were mine and my baby’s left Hugh silent. Even when Sienna, standing beside him, went pale at the sight of my corpse, Hugh didn’t seem to notice.
It was the first time Hugh had ever ignored Sienna. A flicker of resentment crossed her delicate face, but she quickly buried it, throwing herself weakly into his arms.
“Hugh, you don’t really believe this is Ava, do you?” Her voice was laced with disbelief. “You locked her in the attic for three whole days without food and she still survived. How could someone like her die from a simple drop tower ride?“>
Sienna’s words seemed to snap something inside Hugh. The hesitation in his eyes was instantly replaced with cold, cutting ruthlessness. With a single wave of his hand, his bodyguards forced his assistant to the ground.
“Exactly. A vicious woman like her wouldn’t die so easily.” His voice was sharp, each word dripping with disdain. “She must think faking her death with your help would make me let her go.”
At Hugh’s signal, the bodyguards‘ fists came down hard, beating the assistant mercilessly.
But no matter how much pain they inflicted, the assistant only groaned and gritted his teeth, refusing to change his story. He kept insisting that the body on the ground was truly mine.”
Standing unseen at the side, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt. I was the one who dragged him into this mess. But that brief guilt was soon swallowed up by cold mockery as I turned my gaze back to Hugh.”
It was laughable. I was standing right there–so close–yet he couldn’t see me.
It wasn’t until the assistant was barely conscious, his face swollen beyond recognition, that Hugh finally ordered the bodyguards to stop. Without sparing him another glance, Hugh ordered my body to be sent to the hospital.
“When the test results come back proving this body isn’t Ava, I’ll see what excuses you have left,” Hugh said coldly.”
Barely able to lift his arm, the assistant reached into his pocket and shakily pulled out a small USB drive.
“Sir… watch this. You’ll understand everything.” His voice was weak, each word trembling with pain. “I wasn’t lying to you…“}
****
My body was sent to the hospital for examination, but Hugh didn’t stay. He took Sienna home, as if none of it mattered–as if none of I mattered.”
And in the same bedroom that had once belonged to me, they tangled together on my bed.”
But today, something was different. Hugh, who had always treated Sienna like fragile glass, was rough and relentless. There was no tenderness in his touch, only an unrestrained, almost desperate need to vent everything inside him. Even Sienna’s tears did nothing to soften him.
Between gasping breaths, Hugh kept murmuring her name.
“Sienna… everything was Ava’s fault. You’re the only one who matters. If it weren’t for you, I would’ve died when I was eighteen… I’ll never forget what you said to me that day. Say it to me again, please?“@
His dark eyes were filled with expectation, desperately searching her face for some kind of reassurance.}
But Sienna’s gaze flickered, darting away in a brief flash of panic. She forced a smile, brushing her fingers across his face. “It’s been so long… who could possibly remember something like that?“}
Hugh didn’t seem to care. He crushed his lips to hers, as if trying to draw the words from her mouth.
But I remembered.
“As long as you’re alive, things will only get better. I’ll always be with you.“>
Those words struck me like a bolt of lightning, leaving me frozen in place, staring blankly at the scene before me.§
So that was it. That was why, no matter how much I loved him, no matter how much I gave, Hugh could never love me back.
At last, I understood where all his devotion to Sienna truly came from.
