Chapter 3 I Have Never Loved You

• As Aiden stared at the divorce agreement that lay shredded into pieces on the floor, an array of conflicting emotions flittered across his handsome face.
• Damn it, she's scarily stubborn!
• In the next moment, he abruptly flipped her over like a provoked beast. Yanking on her hair, he viciously pounded into her. All the while, the words that tumbled out of his mouth mercilessly ripped her to ribbons.
• “Ruth Adams, do you think I can't do anything about it just because you won't agree to a divorce? Mark my words. I'll make you regret the title of Mrs. Lane!
• “I've been using you from the very beginning, Ruth Adams! I wanted the shares in your hands so that I'll gain control of the entire Adams Conglomerate!
• “Wake up, Ruth Adams! I've never loved you! The person I love has always been your sister, Sadie Adams!”
• And so, the abuse went on and on.
• But no matter how callous his words and how violent his movements were, Ruth remained docile without the slightest resistance.
• “I've loved you for eleven years, Aiden Lane! You can dream on and forget about getting rid of me so easily!”
• Her voice was soft yet resolute.
• When she was young, she once chased after a butterfly. She climbed hills and ridges tirelessly just to behold a glimpse of its beauty.
• Likewise, her love for Aiden was pure and fiery. It was tantamount to an eternal flame that would never be extinguished.
• She still remembered the afternoon when she first met him. The sun was shining brightly when she spotted a dapper young man in white under a cherry blossom tree. Both the man and the cherry blossoms made a beautiful sight. It was merely a single glance, yet the memory of it was engraved in her mind.
• Back then, she was young and naive, with no knowledge of what love was. The only thing she knew was that her eyes and heart would be filled with his image alone for the rest of her life.
• From the moment she was born, she was the darling of the Adams family. Everyone loved and pampered her, but she only wanted to be a burr that clung to him, following him around shamelessly as she tugged on the hem of his shirt and asked him repeatedly, “Aiden Lane, I'll marry you when I grow up, okay?”
• Later, her wish came true, and she married him. She then became the Mrs. Lane everyone envied, luxuriating in his love and indulgence.
• She had initially thought that her whole life would be smooth sailing, and they would be living together happily ever after like the princes and princesses in fairytales.
• But never had she expected him to have set up such a trap for her. The lies he weaved painstakingly were like a glass of poisonous wine that snuffed out her life just when she was at the pinnacle of blissful intoxication.
• After Aiden left the hotel, the sky seemed to mourn her misfortune in commiseration. It suddenly darkened before the rain poured down in torrents.
• Dragging her weak and debilitated self from the torment she had been through, she wandered the streets in the pouring rain aimlessly like an abandoned waif.
• Huge raindrops pelted against her face as though slapping her time and again in a bid to jolt her awake.
• How I wish the rain could wash the filth on my body away and heal my wounded heart! That way, everything would return to how it was once when the rainbow appears after the rain...
• Ruth had no idea how she made it back to Lane residence. That was the place she called “home” and lived with Aiden for three whole years.
• And now, I might not be able to safeguard this “home” anymore.
• After she returned home, she ran a fever.
• As her body temperature was nearly forty degrees, her usually fair and petite face flushed bright red. She lay on the bed limply as she slipped in and out of consciousness, calling out “Aiden, Aiden...” relentlessly.
• When the housekeeper, Margaret Jones, saw her condition, she sighed in distress.
• “There's no need to bother about her. In fact, it'll be great if she just dies.”
• While she was half-conscious, Ruth could vaguely hear Aiden saying that on the other end of the phone.
• His cold and indifferent voice felt exceedingly foreign to her.
• “Haha...”
• She was in acute pain as she huddled in bed, yet she couldn't help the bursts of laughter that escaped her.
• “Huh... I really hope the fever isn't causing her any brain damage, with the way she's laughing incessantly.”
• Margaret was worried that Ruth had gone mad from fever, but she didn't dare phone the doctor because Aiden forbade her from doing so. Worse still, he even forbade her from sending Ruth to the hospital. In fact, he gave an order to just leave her to her fate and going as far as declaring that it was best if she died.
• Still, Ruth continued cackling crazily, appearing utterly insane.
• Haha, fine then. Since you abhor me to death, I'll just wait for death quietly. I guess you'll probably be happy if I die...