Chapter 3Betrayed Once, Destroyed Again

I sat in the rain, staring at the intertwined figures through the window as my eyes gradually blurred. For a moment, I thought I was looking at Henry from three years ago.

Back then, I was like the living dead, not talking, crying, or smiling. I spent every day staring at the ceiling blankly. Henry had tried every way he could to cheer me up. He bought me flowers, but I wouldn't even look at him. He took me to the seaside, but I didn't react. He cooked for me, but I wouldn't take a single bite.

That was until one day, he disappeared for the whole afternoon. When he came back, his face was covered in clown makeup, a red ball balanced on his nose as he clumsily performed magic tricks in front of me. He fumbled around and dropped the balls three times.

Henry was the sole heir to the Tate family. He had been serious and reserved since childhood, always carrying himself with an air of importance wherever he went. Yet he was willing to put aside his pride just to make me happy.

I smiled for the first time since everything happened.

Later, he got into a fight with someone at a bar because of me. He threw all that dignity he'd been taught since childhood out the window just because someone insulted me over my past with Yves.

Henry even cried in front of the whole company. That time, I'd thrown a tantrum and said I didn't want him anymore, and he grabbed my wrist and begged me to stay.

Yves couldn't stand my tantrums, but Henry always put up with them. He said, "I love you no matter what."

I couldn't understand why the man who loved me so much had suddenly changed.

I stood there numbly until all the lights went out, then turned around and left for the hospital.

While I was lying on the operating table, I heard the nurse call my name and say that my card had been frozen.

She complained, "You can't afford surgery. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

I awkwardly climbed down from the operating table. My wedding dress was soaked through, clinging to my body as I shivered from the cold. I kept apologizing, but all it did was draw even more contemptuous looks.

"Getting an abortion in her wedding dress? She must've done something shameless."

"Maybe she's pregnant with another man's baby. That's why the groom left her."

"How shameless. Even if she gets rid of the baby now, the man still won't want her."

That wasn't how it was. I gripped the card so tightly my knuckles went white, unable to say a word.

I didn't know where I could go, and somehow, I ended up back at our house.

The moment I opened the door, I saw Henry leaning against the doorframe with a cigarette between his fingers, his eyes full of mockery. It was as if he had already assumed I would come running back.

"Helena, why did you marry me? Was it because you love me, or because you wanted to get back at Yves?"

His question caught me by surprise, and for a moment, I didn't know what to say.

Henry's eyes reddened, and he gripped my shoulders, shaking me violently. "Helena, how can you not be upset after everything I've done to you? Why aren't you making a scene like you did when you found out Yves cheated on you?"

The violent shaking made my stomach churn, and I couldn't help gagging.

Henry shoved me away, and a cruel smile appeared on his face. "You think I'm repulsive?"

The next second, he lifted Rebecca's chin and kissed her right in front of me. Rebecca let out a soft moan, her voice so sickly sweet it made me want to gag.

Henry looked up with Rebecca's lipstick mark on the corner of his mouth. "Let's see how long you can keep this up."