Chapter 8
1158words
My legs gave way, and my entire body slid downward.
Dominic caught me.
He crushed me against his chest with enough force to break bones.
All around us were prying eyes, camera flashes, and suffocating whispers.
I couldn't bear to be here.
I couldn't stand these people seeing me as a spectacle, seeing my scars.
"Take me away..."
I clutched Dominic's collar, my voice as weak as a wounded animal.
"Please... get me out of here."
Dominic's entire body trembled.
In the next moment, he swept me up into his arms before everyone.
"Move!"
He roared at the gawking crowd.
The sea of people parted instantly.
With me in his arms, he strode out of the suffocating ballroom.
…
In the backseat of the Rolls-Royce.
As the car door slammed shut, the world finally went quiet.
In the confined space, only our ragged breathing broke the silence.
He cradled my face, studying me intently in the dim streetlight filtering through the window.
His hand still bled, but he paid it no attention.
"Why..."
His voice was hoarse and broken, his eyes wild.
"If you were forced, if you knew he was scum... why didn't you run during these five years? Scarlett, why did you stay?"
"Why didn't you come find me? Even if you hated me, why didn't you come put a bullet in my head?"
I collapsed against the leather seat, completely drained.
Why?
I'd asked myself that a thousand times.
But before answering, I needed to ask him something first.
"What about you? During these five years, did you ever look for me?"
"Yes," he admitted without hesitation.
"In my second year of business, I made my first million and rushed back to find you."
"But... I saw you in a fur coat, arm-in-arm with that bastard on Fifth Avenue, looking blissfully happy."
I froze, shaking my head in anguish.
"That wasn't real..."
"It was all for show—he forced me to play the happy wife so he could secure high-interest loans."
"That day after we got home, because I hadn't smiled enough in public, he held my head underwater in the bathtub..."
Dominic's fist clenched with a sickening crack of knuckles.
He stared at me, his eyes wild with pain, as if someone had gutted him.
"Bathtub?" his voice trembled. "Just because you didn't smile enough?"
"So, Scarlett... if it was hell, why didn't you escape?"
I gazed out at the passing streetlights, tears sliding silently down my face.
"Because I thought you didn't want me anymore."
"When I woke up after that night, I felt utterly defiled."
"The whole world had abandoned me, and only Brad was there."
"He said he didn't mind what happened. He said he'd take responsibility. He called it love."
Dominic's hand trembled violently.
"For a woman who thought she'd been sold out by the man she loved and left in the gutter, it was the only lifeline I could grab."
"Even if that lifeline was poisoned."
"We did have some decent times... before the gambling addiction took over. I thought if I just tried harder, endured more, things would get better."
I closed my eyes, tears sliding into my hairline.
"But then something happened to Lily."
At the mention of my sister, my heart constricted painfully.
"Three years ago, I almost got hit by a car, but Lily pushed me out of the way. I owe her my life."
"I begged Brad to borrow money for her treatment, and he agreed at first."
"But then the gambling addiction took over, his temper worsened, he started drinking heavily, became violent..."
"When I tried to leave, he threatened me with those nude photos and Lily's oxygen tube."
"Run?"
I laughed bitterly, turning to face Dominic.
"I tried running. The first time he caught me and dragged me back, he broke three of my ribs."
"The second time, he cut off Lily's oxygen for three minutes."
"I couldn't risk it again."
"I didn't know how much longer I could hold on. I thought maybe when Lily recovered, or when I finally couldn't take anymore..."
I met Dominic's anguished gaze, my voice eerily calm.
"I'd take Brad to hell with me."
"That's why I wasn't afraid to smash that bottle tonight."
"Dominic, I gave up on living a long time ago."
Dominic stared at me.
The pain and remorse in his eyes would have broken anyone.
Especially someone who still loved me.
"Scarlett..."
He suddenly leaned forward and kissed me.
Urgent, burning, desperate—as if he wanted to consume me whole.
He was seeking redemption through this kiss.
Using it to confirm I was still alive.
Trying to bridge the five-year chasm between us.
I wanted to kiss him back.
I wanted to tell him I still loved him.
But...
The moment his lips touched mine.
I felt only an overwhelming tide of sadness.
It was too late.
Every day and night of these five years.
Every beating.
Every moment of despair.
All stood like an insurmountable mountain between us.
I was just... tired.
Too exhausted to even respond to a kiss.
I turned my head away, avoiding his lips.
Dominic froze.
His lips brushed my cheek, then found only air.
He stared at me in disbelief, something in his eyes shattering.
"Scarlett? Don't you love me anymore?"
Did I still love him?
Yes.
Looking at his bleeding palm, my heart ached so badly I could barely breathe.
"Dominic..."
My tears fell onto the back of his hand, mixing with his blood.
"These five years have been too much."
I choked, struggling to form words.
"We've lost five years... even if we understand the truth now..."
"Those days of being broken and trampled can't be undone."
It turns out there really is a kind of damage that even love can't heal.
Dominic watched me crumble.
He finally understood that what he'd lost wasn't just five years.
What he'd lost was the bright-eyed, unbroken Scarlett.
Now I was shattered.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."
He pulled me tightly against him, burying his face in my neck.
As if by holding me tightly enough, he could fill the emptiness inside me.
"I won't pressure you... I won't force anything..."
"Scarlett, I'll help you find yourself again. Everything you've lost, everything you deserve—in this life and the next—I'll give to you."
"From this day forward, no one will ever hurt you again. Not even God himself."
"I've already paid for Lily's surgery. The best specialists are flying in.
"As for that animal Brad, I'll make him pay a thousandfold for what he's done to you."
His embrace was warm and secure.
But I was beyond exhausted.
My nerves, stretched to breaking point for five years, finally snapped.
Darkness rushed in like a flood.
Before losing consciousness, I heard Dominic's panicked shout:
"Hospital! Now! Get us to the hospital!"
I slipped into darkness.
But the nightmare was finally over.
