Chapter 11 She No Longer Wants the Man She Loved for Ten Years

Thea hadn't expected that simply stepping on Elaine's hand would make her cough up blood and pass out. Only then did she remember that Elaine had been forced into getting an abortion two days ago and still had severe burns over large areas of her body. Getting drenched in a downpour like this would be unbearable for anyone. As Thea panicked and tried to slip away, Skylar had already come outside. She gripped the umbrella handle tightly. After a brief moment of hesitation, she threw the umbrella away and dropped to her knees beside Elaine in the pouring rain, crying out anxiously. "Ms. Shelton, are you okay? It's all my fault. I shouldn't have come to see you…" Skylar stepped closer, holding his umbrella over Thea's head. He looked at Elaine, who lay unconscious on the ground. "What happened?" he asked. Thea explained uneasily, "I saw how hard the rain was falling. Since Ms. Shelton was still badly injured, I was worried about her, so I brought my umbrella out to shield her. But as soon as I held it over her, she just…" As she spoke, she scrambled to her feet in a panic. "Sky, it's all my fault. I knew Ms. Shelton didn't like me. I shouldn't have come out and made her upset. Hurry and carry her inside. Have Dr. White come and check on her." Before she could finish, Thea's legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground. Clutching her abdomen, she looked as if she were in excruciating pain. Skylar quickly helped Thea up. His voice was cold as he gave instructions to Lucy, who had just rushed over. "Help Ms. Lancelot inside to rest. Get Dr. White here to check on her. She just had a miscarriage and shouldn't be out in the rain." Lucy supported Thea toward the house. She asked in concern, "What about Ms. Shelton?" "Elaine fainted the moment Thea tried to shield her with the umbrella. I think she was either feeling guilty or counting on Thea to plead for her." Skylar cut Lucy off icily, asking her to take Thea inside. Once they were gone, he reached down and yanked Elaine up from the ground. "Drop the act. I told you before that if anything happened to Thea or the baby, I'd kill you myself. The baby's gone now. Thea's grieving the loss of her child. And all you've done is kneel in the rain for a while. That's already letting you off easy. You can't even handle that?" He had grabbed her left arm, the one still covered in burns. After getting soaked in the rain, the wounds were likely starting to fester. His harsh grip was like salt grinding into raw flesh. Elaine jolted awake. Her body shuddered as she gasped sharply. She tried to pull her arm from his grip. Skylar let go of her in disgust, his expression turning cold with sudden realization. "What's wrong? Can't keep up the act anymore? Weren't you supposed to be passed out, never waking up again? Elaine, your acting skills are downright pathetic." A fierce pain clutched her chest. The burns on her neck and arm felt like they were rotting. Her lower abdomen throbbed from the recent abortion. Thea's heel had crushed the flesh between her thumb and index finger. It was bleeding, but the rain kept washing it away. A thousand different kinds of pain burrowed into her bones like insects gnawing her flesh. For the first time, Elaine felt how close she was to death. Yet Skylar repeatedly pulled her up and forced her to kneel, making even death a luxury she couldn't afford. Blood trickled from the corner of her lips. Staring at his cold, distant face through the rain, she suddenly let out a laugh and said, "I regret it." Skylar frowned. At last, he slightly tilted the umbrella toward her. He bent down and asked, "Feeling guilty now? Do you finally admit your mistake?" Her words were labored, yet she struggled to make them clear. "I regret it. If I could choose again, ten years ago, I would've starved or frozen to death in the orphanage rather than go to the Frey family with Mrs. Frey Senior. "Three years ago, I should've done what Thea said. I should've married a beggar off the street rather than care for, or marry, a cripple like you." Skylar crouched down, grabbing her by the throat. "So, you're finally admitting it. If it wasn't for money, you wouldn't have agreed to marry me three years ago. Cripple? I don't think Thea ever said that. That's just what you thought, no?" Elaine didn't struggle. Her entire body was wracked with pain, but none of it matched the stabbing heartbreak and bitterness in her chest. It wasn't that she resented not getting his love and trust. What she couldn't accept was that all the devotion and affection she'd poured out for so many years had gone to waste. The rain grew heavier, and her eyes were rimmed red. "It has been three years. You were paralyzed for a year after your car accident, stuck on a hospital bed in a vegetative state. For that entire year, I never left the hospital. I learned how to massage your muscles, to bathe you—even to clean up your filth. Skylar, even your own father was too disgusted and impatient to do those things, but I did them day after day for a whole year." Tears mixed with rain as they streamed down her face, invisible beneath the downpour. "When you woke up after a year, you married me just to spite Thea. Then, you spent another year in a wheelchair. I remember clearly that we went through 12 housekeepers because none could satisfy you. So, once again, it was me. "I had just found a job I loved, but I had to resign and stay home to take care of you. You couldn't move around easily, so your temper was terrible. You loved smashing things. More than once, you slipped and hit me with something. I had to go to the hospital in the middle of the night alone to get stitches. But I never uttered a single complaint." Skylar's frown deepened. Elaine looked at him, the man she had loved for ten years. At that moment, she suddenly couldn't love him anymore. "Skylar, people are made of flesh and blood. My body isn't made of steel. Just because I never said I was in pain or exhausted doesn't mean I'm invincible." A flicker of something unreadable crossed his eyes. His voice finally sounded slightly uneasy. "Everything you did doesn't justify how you've hurt Thea repeatedly. Those are two separate matters. Hurting her was wrong, no matter what." Elaine gave a low, bitter laugh. "So you'll never remember what I've done for you. You'll only remember and deeply believe every word Thea says. You're so sure I hurt her, and you're using that as an excuse to wipe out everything I've ever done for you…" She took a deep breath but didn't continue. "Forget it. Let's just leave it at that. Whether you believe me or not, nothing I say will change a thing. All I ask is that if you ever regret this one day, don't you dare come crying at my grave. I'd find that disgusting." Skylar replied coldly, "What's that supposed to mean? Why are you bringing up graves? Are you trying to pull another stunt and play the victim again?" At that moment, Lucy rushed out in a panic. "Mr. Frey, Ms. Lancelot suddenly fainted!" Skylar stood up and ordered coldly, "Keep kneeling." He then turned and left. Just before he went inside, his eyes fell on the wound between Elaine's thumb and index finger. It looked like it had been caused by someone stepping on it. As he entered, he asked Lucy, "How did Elaine hurt the back of her hand like that?" Lucy hesitated for a second. Skylar's voice dropped, turning icy and low. "Lucy, you'd better tell me the truth." After a brief silence, she finally spoke up, her voice trembling slightly. "Mr. Frey, I just saw Ms. Lancelot..."