A Journey from Bitterness to Truth

Yvan felt a chill run through his veins as he looked at the woman before him. Matilda, the woman he had shared his life with, now seemed like a stranger.

When had a chasm so wide formed between them? NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

With a heavy heart, Yvan stood up. Facing Matilda now gave him a sense of denial, as though he couldn’t confront the illusion of their estrangement.

He fled Matilda’s hospital room, his steps almost a sprint. He had stayed awake for two restless nights, only to falter the moment she woke up.

As the door to her room clicked shut, Matilda let her eyes fall closed once more. She collapsed back onto her bed and let the tears cascade freely down her cheeks.

Outside, Yvan lingered in the hallway. Though only several feet separated them, it felt to him as though an entire world lay between them–a world so distant it was unattainable.

Two days after being admitted, Matilda insisted on being discharged. Yvan couldn’t dissuade her, and even Keaton had no luck. “You know they say a miscarriage is like going through a mini postpartum confinement,” Keaton said, concern creasing his brow. “Do you really want to risk your health like this?”

Matilda offered a wan smile. “What does it matter if this body gets a little more broken?”

It was already imperfect; a cracked vessel might as well shatter completely.

Keaton’s frown deepened. “The hurt may come from others, but the body is yours to cherish.”

Matilda remained silent, steadfast in her decision to leave.

Unable to force her to stay, Yvan helped her out, though he had initially thought that she could be cared for just as well at home. But Matilda wanted to return to her own place.

In the car, Yvan turned to her. Her pallor was sickly, her eyes chillingly cold. “I said I’m going back on my own!”

“Where can you possibly go in this state?” Yvan exploded, his patience frayed to its limit. “Do you have to completely ruin yourself to be satisfied?”

“What does it matter to you?” Matilda shot back from the back seat. “You wanted a son, and I gave you one. You locked me up in the Boyd family home because I was pregnant. Now that there’s no child, what else do you have to threaten me with?”

Yvan felt as if his heart had been gouged out. “Matilda, do you really think I’m being kind to you just to hold something over you?”

He just wanted her to recover in the safety of his home!

05:56

To his surprise, Matilda laughed a bitter sound.

“Kind to me? Are you making a joke?” Her fingers clenched tightly at her sides as if mustering all her strength to counter Yvan. “Weren’t you always only concerned about your precious Rachel? Wasn’t I just a wretched person in your eyes? I thought you wouldn’t bat an eyelid even if I died. And now you’re telling me you’re being kind to me? How laughable!”

Her counterattack made Yvan instinctively floor the gas pedal. He roared. “Matilda, don’t be ungrateful! I am doing this because you…”

But Matilda cut him off. “Let me out! Stop it right now!”

She sensed his acceleration, terrified of being trapped again in the Boyd family home, that suffocating feeling of being unable to escape. She couldn’t bear Yvan’s imprisonment any longer.

“Stop the car!” She screamed like a cornered animal. “Let me out!”

Yvan didn’t listen and pressed the pedal even further. “Matilda, let me tell you, the Boyd estate isn’t a place you can just come and go as you please! If you’ve tangled with me, be ready to face the consequences!”

But the only response he got was a faint whisper, followed by Yvan’s pupils constricting. Within seconds, he watched in horror as Matilda flung the car door open!