Chapter 4 Darkness Before Dawn

Elodie's voice choked with emotion, "Keira, what happened to you? How did you get hurt so badly?"

She had watched Keira grow up since childhood and would worry herself sick whenever Keira suffered even the slightest injury.

Keira weakly shook her head, her eye throbbing with pain, her vision more blurred than usual.

She knew her weak vision was deteriorating, but nobody in the world cared anymore.

"Elodie, what are you doing here?" she asked, fighting through the pain.

Elodie wiped away her tears, "You should be grateful I happened to be nearby, you silly girl."

In reality, someone had called Elodie to come, but she didn't want Keira to feel burdened.

"Was it the Colemans? How could they treat you like this?" Elodie's tears flowed freely.

The Keira she knew was an exceptionally kind and gentle soul who had always been good to her—helping her grandson find a school, taking her to doctor's appointments.

How could such a wonderful person face such cruelty from fate?"Elodie!"

Keira gently tugged at the woman's sleeve.

"The Coleman family is too powerful. We can't fight them. At this point, I just want to leave quietly."

Elodie clenched her fists, her face filled with indignation.

"But you sacrificed so much for them."

"I owed him," Keira interrupted, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Consider it a debt repaid."

That night, Keira tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

Her left eye throbbed with waves of pain, as if something inside was shattering.

She remembered her wedding night, when Aiden discovered she hadn't bled and the look in his eyes.

Cold, disgusted, as if looking at something filthy.

He said he despised betrayal most of all, that she was just like her disloyal grandfather, repulsive to him.

That hint of potential infidelity had magnified the hatred that had long been lurking in his heart.

She had tried to explain, but he wouldn't believe her, didn't even bother to verify before casting her aside.

It was just an excuse.

He despised her, so he tortured her in the most humiliating way possible.

The next morning, her phone rang with a piercing sound.

Keira fumbled to answer, her left eye nearly blind now.

"Keira, you'd better be on your way already." Aiden's ice-cold voice came through the receiver. "Nine o'clock sharp, at the courthouse. Don't keep me waiting."

She asked Elodie for the time—it was already eight-thirty.

As she hurriedly got up, a wave of dizziness struck her, the pain in her left eye making it difficult to stand steady.

"Keira, should I come with you?" Elodie asked worriedly.

Keira forced a smile. "No need, Elodie. I can handle it."

She feared Elodie might become collateral damage and face retaliation.

Keira arrived at the courthouse at nine-twenty.

Aiden stood on the steps, his black suit accentuating his tall, imposing figure, his handsome features frozen in a layer of frost.

"Finally decided to show up?"

He sneered, "Or were you planning to pull another stunt like before?"

Keira lowered her head, her long hair concealing her visually impaired left eye. "I'm sorry I'm late."

Aiden grabbed her wrist, his grip painfully tight.

"Keira, don't think putting on this pitiful act will change anything."

As he spoke, his gaze fixed on her face, his narrowed eyes scrutinizing. "Your face?"

"It's none of your concern," she quickly interrupted, biting her lip to hold back tears.

Explanations meant nothing now. He never believed her anyway.

The divorce proceedings went remarkably fast.

When the clerk brought out the divorce decree, Keira felt a sharp pain in her heart.

She had once cherished this marriage so deeply, even knowing Aiden had married her only for revenge.

Aiden coldly took his copy of the divorce decree and walked toward the exit without looking back.

Keira's fingers trembled as she accepted her copy.

Just then, her phone rang again.

"Keira! Where the hell have you been?" Martha's shrill voice came through. "Get back here and pick up your junk! Don't expect me to deliver it to you!"

"I'm coming right now," she replied, taking a deep breath.

"Hurry up! Stop acting like some princess. If you weren't still somewhat useful, I'd have thrown you out long ago."

Keira silently hung up and walked toward the door.

Aiden's car was already gone, without a trace of lingering attachment.

The Lynn family mansion remained impressive, though not as magnificent as it once was.

Keira rang the doorbell, and Martha opened the door with an impatient expression.

"Your things are in the storage room. Take them and go." Martha looked her up and down. "Divorced, huh?"

Keira nodded.

"Didn't even get compensation? Useless!" Martha scoffed.

Her gaze was so contemptuous, but Keira understood why.

She was the product of an affair, a living reminder of Martha's failed marriage.

The more Martha had once dreamed of an ideal marriage, the more she now hated Keira.

But since she was Kevin Lynn's daughter, Martha couldn't use more cruel methods to exact revenge on Keira beyond verbal abuse.

Keira endured the heartache and silently walked toward the storage room, her left eye's pain intensifying, her vision almost completely black.

She fumbled around until she found her two suitcases, struggling to drag the heavy luggage toward the exit.

"Wait!" Martha called after her. "Is there really no chance of reconciliation with the Colemans?"

Keira stopped, her heart sinking to the depths. "Mom, we're already divorced."

Martha's tone turned caustic.

"I knew I couldn't count on you! Raised you all these years for nothing—you can't even hold onto a man! Should have had you entertain more businessmen back then. At least we could have profited from it!"

The words stabbed into Keira's heart like a knife.

She recalled how Martha had repeatedly sent her to those dinners with older men, claiming it was for the family's benefit.

In reality, she was using her smiles to exchange for favors.

"I'm leaving," Keira said, her voice trembling as she quickly pulled her suitcases away.

As she descended the steps, her left eye suddenly experienced excruciating pain, her vision going completely dark.

She missed a step and fell hard, her knee scraping against the rough stone stairs, instantly drawing blood.

"What an embarrassment!" Martha stood at the door, coldly observing. "Who are you trying to impress with this act? Get up and get out!"

Keira struggled to stand, but the pain in her eye made it impossible to see clearly.

She groped for the suitcase handle, barely managing to pull herself up, limping toward the street.

The wound on her knee was deep, each step sending shooting pain through her body, but it couldn't compare to the agony in her heart.

A taxi stopped beside her, and the kind-hearted driver helped load her luggage into the trunk.

Once inside the car, Keira finally broke down in tears.

"Where to, ma'am?" the driver asked.

Keira froze.

Where could she go? She had no home anymore.