Chapter 14
It was still raining outside, as I stood in the dimly lit stairwell, my back pressed against the cold wall. Henry’s imposing figure loomed before me, his gray eyes filled with contempt.
“Why did you become so domineering?” My voice trembled despite my efforts to stay strong. “Five years ago, the first feeling you gave me was warmth.”
Henry’s laugh was cruel and sharp. “Warmth? You think you deserve it?”
I watched him, remembering how tenderly he’d held Isabella at the hospital, cradling her as if she were made of crystal, hanging on her every word. The contrast between his treatment of her and his disdain for me was stark enough to take my breath away.
“I used to think,” I whispered, more to myself than to him, “that if I just tried hard enough, if I was patient enough, you might…” I shook my head, letting the thought die unfinished. “But I understand now. When a man doesn’t love me, even my breathing seems wrong to him.”
“Spare me your self–pity,” Henry snapped, his expensive suit rustling as he moved closer. “You got exactly what you wanted, the Harding name, the lifestyle, the security.”
“self–pity? I pressed on, fighting to keep my voice steady, “Fine, Since you always say how much you trust Isabella, why not be with her openly?”
His face darkened dangerously. “What right do you have to talk about proper relationships? Weren’t you the one who schemed your way into the Harding family?”
“Schemed?” I felt hysteria bubbling up in my chest. “Is that what you think? I never schemed anything! I…”
“Don’t try to deny it,” Henry interrupted my explanation.
“And now you’re spouting these noble words about love and honesty? His voice dripped with sarcasm. “Isn’t it a bit late for that? Five years, Sophia. You’ve wasted five years of my life!”
My legs trembled beneath me, a combination of exhaustion and emotion making it hard to stand. The memory of years ago rose unbidden in my mind – the long, dark hotel corridor, the hand over my mouth, the room spinning..
night five
blackness…
I swayed slightly, my vision blurring. Before I could fall, Henry’s strong arm shot out, catching me around the waist. For a brief moment, I felt the warmth of his body, so familiar yet so foreign.
The sudden blaring of his phone shattered the moment. Isabella’s name lit up the screen, and Henry released me as if I’d burned him. His entire demeanor transformed, his voice softening into that gentle tone I’d never once heard directed at me.
“Isabella?” The tenderness in his voice made my heart ache. “Don’t move. Wait there for me.”
Through the phone, I could hear Isabella’s voice, trembling with tears. “Henry, I’m scared… it’s so cold…”
“I’m coming,” he promised, already turning away from me. “Just stay where you are.”
I watched Henry stride away, his steps quick and purposeful. He didn’t look back once,
Later, alone in our bedroom, I lay on the massive bed that had never felt like ours. The heating was on full blast, but my lower body felt frozen, as if I’d been cut in half one part wrapped in warmth, the other consumed by cold.
My mind drifted back to five years ago, when I was still a second–year medical student at Columbia. My honey–blonde hair had reached my waist then, and people often commented on my sweet smile. I’d been working part–time at a luxury hotel, balancing
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Chapter 14
studies and work, determined to make my parents proud.
At that time, Thomas had just received his acceptance to Cambridge Come with me, he’d pleaded. “We can build a life there together.”
But I couldn’t leave my parents behind. They’d sacrificed so much for my education. So I watched Thomas leave, never telling him about my feelings.
Then came that night. The hand over my mouth in the hotel corridor The room spinning into darkness. Waking up alone in a destroyed room, biting my lip until it bled, trying to deny what had happened.
Two months later, the morning sickness started. The hospital visit confirmed my worst fears, I was pregnant. The world collapsed around me that day. I remember standing on that clifftop, the waves crashing below, thinking it would be easier to just…
But Henry had pulled me back from the edge. “I’ll give the child legitimacy,” he’d said. “I’ll give you both the Harding name. But when the woman I love returns, we divorce immediately.”
It seemed simple then. A transaction. A way to save my child from shame. But when Henry brought me to the Harding mansion, he’d discovered William had already arranged our marriage. That’s when everything changed. That’s when he started believing I’d orchestrated the whole thing.
The rain continued its relentless assault on the windows. I touched my throat where Henry’s hands had been earlier, wondering how we’d ended up here. Five years of trying to earn his love, of hoping he might see me as more than an obligation.
But watching him cradle Isabella at the hospital had finally opened my eyes. The way he listened to her every word, the tenderness in his touch, I’d never had any of that. I was nothing to him. I’d always been nothing.
The bed felt impossibly large, the room cavernous and cold despite the heating. Somewhere in this massive mansion, Billy slept peacefully, unaware of his mother’s broken heart. And somewhere out there, Henry was with Isabella, giving her all the warmth and tenderness he’d never shown me.
I curled into myself, finally letting the tears fall. The truth I’d been avoiding for five years crashed over me like a wave, when a man loves someone else, no amount of trying will make him see me. I can share his name, live in his house, but I’ll never be more than a shadow in his life.
The nightmares of the past were like crazy vines, wrapped around my heart, and in the darkness, it was as if a pair of invisible hands had grabbed my throat, and I was about to suffocate.
Exactly, I was nothing to him.
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