7
My heart seized up.
Victoria seemed thoroughly invested in seeing me look so distraught
“How could the Shen family allow you and Caleb to truly marry? After all, you’re a stain on the Shen family. How could they let a
stain remain next to the Shen heir?”
“Ha.”
I laughed self–deprecatingly. Yes, Victoria was right.
How could I ever be worthy of being by Caleb’s side?
He was a high–and–mighty young master, but me, I was just a country girl.
“Since I’ve told you so much, I might as well tell you: Caleb originally wanted to overcome all difficulties and marry you directly. It was I who deliberately made the Shen family propose this bet.”
“It was also I who, all these years, whenever Caleb wanted to confess everything to you, made him persist in deceiving you. In fact, the person you should hate most isn’t him, but me.”
Victoria’s eyes gleamed with triumph, but she noticed my gaze wasn’t on her.
Her expression stiffened for a moment. She slowly turned to look behind her.
Caleb, seething with rage, walked towards Victoria. Her arrogant demeanor vanished instantly.
3:24 PM d
<
“Caleb! Let me explain!”
Caleb slapped Victoria’s face and body, making her head snap to the side. He roared,
“You venomous witch! Was it you who got me drunk that day and made me crash…?”
Caleb couldn’t bring himself to say the words. He glared at Victoria.
“If you dare to lie, I’ll make your life a living hell.”
“So what if it was? She was just a girl, what does that matter to the Shen family?”
I watched it all with a cold sneer.
At this point, who should I hate?
Should I hate Caleb for concealing everything, leading to our family being bled dry by him like vampires for all these years?
Or should I hate Victoria, who instigated Caleb through all of this, seemingly doing no direct harm, yet being the cause of it all?
But ultimately, I should blame myself for being blind and trusting the wrong person.
Not only did I make my mother, who should have been retired, continue to do embroidery work, making her unable to sleep for days and nights.
I also made my daughter mocked by her classmates as a beggar, so poor she had to wear hand–me–downs.
“You deserve to die!”
Caleb kicked Victoria hard in the chest, showing no mercy for her gender.
Victoria coughed up a mouthful of blood, a mocking expression on her face.
“But the murderer was clearly you, so why do *1* deserve to die?”
Caleb slowly crouched down, clutching Victoria’s jaw.
“If it weren’t for you! They wouldn’t have died.”
Victoria’s voice was strained as she squeezed out words. She scoffed,
“Do you think I was acting on my own? Would the Shen family allow a useless woman’s worthless offspring to stay by your side? After all these years, you’re still as naive as ever! Fool!”
Caleb looked stunned, mumbling,
“But I already told my parents. Once the bet was over, I’d bring them all home. They wouldn’t suffer anymore.”
Victoria didn’t waste any more words, just looked at Caleb mockingly.
Caleb seemed to realize something suddenly.
“My parents made you do this?!”
The veins on his forehead bulged. His grip tightened.
I didn’t want to be involved in this farce anymore. I wanted to just leave.
<
Caleb flung Victoria aside and grabbed my hand.
Meeting his pleading eyes, my heart no longer stirred.
“Harper, please don’t leave.”
“Did you feel the calluses on my hand?”
I suddenly asked Caleb.
He rubbed the calluses on my palm, saying helplessly,
“Harper, I know you’ve been through so much. I won’t let you suffer like this again.”
“Your illness was fake, wasn’t it?”
My tone was firm. Caleb couldn’t utter a single word in rebuttal.
A wave of icy dread washed over me.
“I actually had a good job offer after college. If I had taken that job, would my hands not have these calluses now?”
I was asking Caleb, but in reality, I was asking myself.
If I hadn’t felt sorry for Caleb back then and brought him home, would my life have been completely different?
“I’m sorry.“”
