“Please, let me touch you,” his voice breaks, pleading.

I laugh, overwhelmed by the irony of the situation. Because the very man who persecuted me so much is now the one reduced to nothing before me.

His hair is a mess, eyes baggy with dark circles that note the sleepless nights. Those eyes once only reflected hatred for me, but now they’re begging desperately.

“Why won’t you just let me come to you? Why does that bastard have to be near you all he wants but I’m not given any moment to even smell you?!!”

His rage is laced with pain, his voice filled with bitterness and evident fear. 

Fear of losing me.

“Why?” I ask. My voice is low, but steady. “Why should I let the man who’s abused me for so long come anywhere near me? Why should I give the man who’s watched his family and everyone humiliate me every moment of my life a chance?”

My eyes burn with rage, tears welling up as I think back to the countless torture I had to endure.

“Tell me why I should come back to the man who’s questioned my dignity and let another woman take my place!!!”

“No, Lei, no,” his voice shakes, quiet as though every word costs him.

The sound of his voice is barely audible, like it is drowning in regrets too heavy to undo.

He draws near, hands trembling with eyes wide with guilt and regret.

“It’s all over now. Sign the divorce papers if you still have a bit of a conscience left inside.”

His quivering face turns tight with anger.

“Why? So you can run off to those good for nothing goons who leer lustfully at you?!”

His voice lowers, but remain steady and stern.

“I will never let you go, Lei. Never!”

I smile. My defiant eyes alone telling all there is to know. Because for me, there is never going back to him.

••••••••

Leiara Rhys, the sole heiress to the Rhys Development, has always faced life head-on with one motto: “If it isn’t death, how bad can it be?”

When she’s forced into an arranged marriage with Colson Hayes, heir to a rival company, she braces herself like always, determined to bury the fear, the pain, the grief deep inside.

But nothing prepares her for the cold hatred in her husband’s eyes. A hatred rooted in a grudge she doesn’t understand. 
As Colson quietly vows to ruin her, Leiara becomes a pawn trapped between two powerful families and impossible expectations.

Abused and subjected to all sorts of violence by her husband, family and his lover, Leiara’s carefully guarded heart begins to fracture. After all, the human heart isn’t a diamond that cannot break, nor a barrel that cannot overflow.

When Leiara discovers that she isn’t the main character in this marriage but merely the mistress, the world she built on pain begins to crack.

Forced to coexist with the main character, the true focus of her husband’s affection, she must remain in the background as she always has.

But just when she’s ready to stop hoping and let go, something utterly unexpected happens. 

The very man whose eyes once reflected only her mistakes and imperfections now holds a tenderness and longing she doesn’t know how to trust. A boundless love she cannot seem to fully explore. 

And for Leiara, the irony of it all is just too cruel, yet too breaking to ignore.

I can still remember it as clear as day. That particular day, Colson had been so harsh toward me. I'd been insulted and humiliated by Helen as well.


It had been going on for days, but it piled up so much I couldn't take it any longer. So I cried to dad.


My appearance that day as I can still remember was a total mess just like now. My eyes were red and filled with pain. Even my voice was weighed with many emotions as I recounted everything to dad.


"It isn't easy being a grown up, I know Lei. To get things, sacrifices need to be made. We are finally getting to a better place honey, and it can't be possible without your help. Dad has struggled so much after mom abandoned us when your were just 4. And now that you're grown, you can support dad and make things easier," said my dad softly as he patted my back.


Chapter 20 - All for Dad | A Kind Gesture