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Chapter 39
Huling Na-update:
2025-04-07 03:57:35
Kaugnay na kabanata
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 40
The dawn filtered softly through the curtains, printing shiny patterns across the bedchamber floor. It filled the room with a warm, dreamlike light, gliding over the ornate furniture, the golden moldings, and the pair entwined in the vast bed.Silvia stirred, blinking against the unfamiliar richness around her. This wasn’t her cramped little room tucked away in the servants' wing at the back of the mansion. A place she'd occupied from the beginning. The sheets beneath her were unrealistically comfortable, bedding opulent in a way her bed never was. Silk sheets clung like a whisper, pillows like clouds. Comfort this profound felt almost illicit.Then she realized someone was behind her. The weight of his arm around her waist and the rhythm of his breath against her nape worked to remind her of everything they did last night. Last night hadn’t been a dream.Her breath caught as heat rushed to her cheeks. She dared not move, as if any motion might shatter the fragile reality. Behind her
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-08Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 41
The fine china bell clinked against the table in the dining room as Silvia set down her teacup. Three days had passed since the staff had learned of Ralph's revelation...and therefore, three days of adjusting to her new reality. The household moved in a state of cautious readjustment.The new cleaning staff had been hired; Donna, the head staff, maintained a professional demeanor in assigning them their duties. Silvia was left floating in a household that previously provided her days of meaning but now had only empty hours. Ralph had to go back to work in spite of his obvious reluctance to be away from her.Each day, he had kissed her good-morning with a possessiveness that left her breathless, promising to be back early, making plans for their evening.She traced her fingers along the rim of her teacup, contemplating on what she would do with so much time in her hands.Silvia turned her gaze towards the late morning sunlight streaming through the large windows. The sunlight was warm
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-09Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 42
The papers were scattered on the coffee table where Silvia had laid them two hours ago. She had read every one of the pages three times, underlining the most damning paragraphs, taking in everything that Rebecca had revealed. The grandfather clock in the hallway tolled six in succession, its deep tones echoing in the empty house. Ralph would soon be back. Silvia rose from the couch, her fingers trembling as she smoothed her dress. She headed to the liquor cabinet and served herself a sizeable amount of Ralph's fine scotch. The amber liquid seared her throat, though it seemed to calm her nerves. Silvia did not drink frequently, yet tonight seemed to demand liquid courage. The distant crunch of gravel beneath tires made her clench her belly. She sipped again, then set the glass on the table. Footsteps across the front steps. Clank of keys. Loud thud of the dense front door shutting. "Silvia?" Ralph's voice called from the room in warm, eager tones that made her own heart hurt again in
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-10Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 43
The papers were scattered on the coffee table where Silvia had laid them two hours ago. She had read every one of the pages three times, underlining the most damning paragraphs, taking in everything that Rebecca had revealed. The grandfather clock in the hallway tolled six in succession, its deep tones echoing in the empty house. Ralph would soon be back.Silvia rose from the couch, her fingers trembling as she smoothed her dress. She headed over to the liquor cabinet and served herself a sizeable amount of Ralph's fine scotch. The amber liquid seared her throat, though it seemed to calm her nerves. Silvia did not drink frequently, yet tonight seemed to demand liquid courage.The distant crunch of gravel beneath tires made her clench her belly. She sipped again, then set the glass on the table. Footsteps across the front steps. Clank of keys. Loud thud of the dense front door shutting."Silvia?" Ralph's voice called from the room in warm, eager tones that made her own heart hurt again
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-11Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 44
Silvia followed Ralph around the twisting staircase, dizzy. What evidence was there of the genuineness of his love? What was there that would overcome the damning coincidence of his conversion?He did not lead her to the master bedroom she and he had occupied the last three nights, though, but towards his study—a room she had only entered to clean during her months as his maid. Ralph's inner sanctum, which was always locked when he was not present. Even now, his hand went to the small key in his pocket to unlock the solid oak door.The air was perfumed with sandalwood and leather, masculinity and unmistakably Ralph. Her eyes drifted across the comfortable furnishings, the enormous mahogany desk, leather-bound bookcase, and plush chairs in front of the fire. All seemed normal and nothing especially enlightening.He headed over to the desk and unlocked the bottom drawer with a second key in his pocket. He took out a chunky leather diary and held it in his hand for a moment, a soft spot
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-11Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 45
Chapter 45That night Silvia did not go to sleep.Except for the infrequent creak of ancient wood and the gentle ticking of the grandfather clock downstairs, the house was quiet. With Ralph's diary cradled in her lap once more, its worn leather warm under her fingers, she sat erect on the bed.She had read it twice now. Still, her head battled her heart.Could she trust it? Trust him?Her gaze snapped toward the window at which dawn was just starting to menace the horizon with a gentle indigo tint. Barefoot, she stood and moved to the door with the journal still pressed against her chest.A high, sharp ring ruptured the calm just as her hand touched the doorknob.The landline. The hallway. That phone was rarely used.As she dashed toward it, her heart lurching, she seized the receiver before the second ring could be heard."Hello?"; pause.Static.Then—"Silva?"—she paused. The voice was undeniably familiar.Rebecca."Since I figured you would want to know—you have just seen one possi
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-12Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 46
His finger brushed softly against her cheek kindling heat through her, the physical spark igniting the emotional connection growing between them. Something in her longed for escape, to keep the distance between them, which protected her. Something else growing with increasing urgency, wished she could believe in him.Silvia’s lips parted, her voice barely a breath:"Then show me this isn’t just another lie. Show me that this is happening."His eyes narrowed. In one fluid movement, Ralph stepped toward her—heart pounding, hands shaking, unsure if she’d let him in…or shut him out forever. He walked around the table, drawing her to stand before him. Fingers framed the curve of her face in tenderness. Yet doubt lingered in the back of her mind—could she truly trust him after everything?"I am a fool," he breathed, his thumb tracing the curve of her face. "A foolish, obstinate fool who nearly lost the most precious thing that had ever crossed his life path."Her own heart raced in her c
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-13Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 47
The hospital corridor seemed to stretch out endlessly in front of Silvia. The scent of antiseptic hung thick in the air, a sharp contrast to the faint floral notes of the bouquet in her mother's room as she paced back and forth in front of her mother's room. The hospital's corridor fluorescent lights above buzzed subtly on white walls that felt like they were closing in on her. The monitors' continuous beeping broke her thoughts; every beep brought her mother's weak condition back to mind. Her gut felt like shredded emotions of fear and anger.She struggled with a whirlwind of feelings—resentment towards Rebecca for invading their lives and uncertainty over her own love of Ralph. Could she honestly depend on him when secrets lingered in their past? Doctors passed by in the last hour with professional composure. Ralph stood at the window, his body taut against the light, one hand hovering over his phone as he talked in low, insistent murmurs."I want tapes from all those cameras on t
Huling Na-update : 2025-04-15
Pinakabagong kabanata
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love CHAPTER 78
Silvia froze in Laurent's hold, her eyes wide open in obvious fright. She clenched and unclenched her fists, sweat beading on her forehead in tiny dots. Then, just as suddenly as it had died, the light flared back on with a harsh, yellowish-white glare, illuminating the nightmare once more.Laurent’s grip remained iron-tight. The gun was still there, pressed against Silvia’s temple like a threat carved from steel.The tears she had been holding back broke loose when she saw the defeated look on Ralph's face."Time is ticking, boy or maybe you need more incentive, huh?" Laurent Laurent growled, the gun shifting slightly as he toyed with the trigger.Ralph subconsciously took a step forward, a hand stretched out—not in surrender, but in silent desperation. "Not another step closer, Ralphie unless you want to see what the inside of her head looks like."Silvia whimpered again, her teary eyes seeking reassurance from Ralph. Their eyes met and his lips pressed together into a thin line.
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 77
Ralph pinched the bridge of his nose, careful not to make any sudden movements that would give his father any crazy ideas. His father...who knew that they would have such an unexpected reunion and in such an aggressive manner?His father, waving a gun at him and his daughter-in-law as if they were not his family because he wanted the rights of a company he abandoned? Nothing made any sense but all he knew was that he could not put Silvia's life in danger for something she knew nothing about."Let her go," Ralph croaked, scratching his suddenly itchy beard. The room was stuffy and hot because the windows were locked. But for the flashlights on, the room would have been pitch black."What?" Both his father and Silvia asked simultaneously, whipping their heads around to look at him with a mix of confusion and disbelief. Silvia gulped down the rest of her courage and shrank into her husband's side when her crazy father-in-law glared at her with so much piercing intensity."She has nothin
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 76
"Did you hear that?" Silvia's hold on Ralph's arm tightened as she stared down at the dark hallway in their country house. The lights had flickered a moment, leaving the old house with an eerie half-darkness lit only by the dim brightness of backup lights.Ralph's voice faded away, his senses immediately on high alert. The tranquility of their weekend escape had been abruptly disrupted. "Listen to what, sweetheart? Just the wind, I guess. The old house creaks with every breeze." He tried to sound soothing, but a trickle of nervousness had started at the back of his neck."No, it wasn't the wind," Silvia insisted, her voice little more than a whisper. "It sounded. nearer. A footfall on the landing."He listened attentively, the only noise the constant ticking of an old grandfather clock in the distance. "I don't hear anything now." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Most likely just the house settling. It's an old house, keep in mind?""But I'm sure of it," Silvia insisted, her gaze f
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 75
Time became a salve, soothing the rough edges of their shared trauma. The trial was over, Rebecca's sentencing a brutal ending to that dismal episode. The mansion shed its final trappings of ominous presence, supplanted by a warmth that radiated from Ralph and Silvia's remade existence.Ralph's memory kept its gradual, inexorable return, here and there by way of the most unexpected sensory details – rain on dry ground evoked by a covert mid-day walk, a whiff of a particular spice evoking a recalled taste at an impromptu, laugh-soaked community meal. Each fragment regained was precious, laboriously interwoven into the tapestry of their past.Their bodies approached one another, unguarded now but filled with tender depth and revived passion. Whatever pretenses still existed were erased by reciprocal exposure, and an unmixed, unvarnished connection was all that was left. There was a raw chemical reaction to every touch, an unspoken vocabulary of yearning and remembrance. Every touch h
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 73
The initial days with Rebecca's detention were a blur of legal hearings, police interrogation, and the agonizing, painstaking process of attempting to reconstruct Ralph's fractured recall. The mansion, once the background against which Rebecca's lies were enacted, felt stifling in its quiet, its immensity filled with the unwilling reappearance of Ralph and Silvia's collective past.Overjoyed to have Silvia back, Ralph was plagued by the deafening silence of the empty areas in his mind. Months of unfulfilled days stretched like a chasm between the man he once had been and the one he still sought to reclaim. With each passing moment of bliss spent with Silvia, however, came nagging reminders of the man he had become when he was under Rebecca's control and his attempt to bridge the soul gap that had formed during her absence.The memories didn't return in a rush of recall, only disjointed flashbacks – a witticism spoken, his burning palm where her palm had rested, her perfume in his no
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 72
The air in the library was electric with a new tension, the heavy weight of Ralph's increasing awareness pressing down on Rebecca like a physical force as Ralph's fragmented memories struggled to see the light.Rebecca's eyes protruded in terror as the mask she had built so carefully disintegrated, and she could no longer hide.She trembled as she tried to reach out to Ralph, her voice ringing in a desperate cry. "Darling, you're not thinking. This woman...this woman means nothing to you. I am here, I have cared for you, loved you."Ralph withdrew from her reach and gazed steadily at the silver locket he held. The smile of Silvia, whose face shone out at him with joy, seemed to give off a glow that pierced through the icy smog of his loss of memory, as the light of a lighthouse calls a man home to a world out of which he had unwittingly strayed."Loving me?" Ralph repeated, his voice laced with increasing doubt. He looked at Rebecca, his eyes challenging, questioning. "Or controlling
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 71
The tarnished silver locket, clenched tight in Ralph's fist, was physical proof of memories Rebecca had callously tried to bury. The smiling faces on its diminutive borders were constant reminders of an erased past, a tug on the fragile strands of his amnesia.Rebecca's attempts to brush off the locket as belonging to "old friends" sounded insincere next to Ralph's mounting sense of recognition brewing in his mind. The falsehood clung to her voice like oil on water.He was taken with the little photo, studying her face, her laugh humming at the back of his mind. The tiny photograph smiled up at him—two faces, one unmistakably his, the other a woman who stirred echoes in the hollow spaces of his fractured memory.He would run his thumb over the line of her smile, feeling loss and regret engulfing him, a sense of yearning for something he couldn't quite identify."Who is she, Rebecca?" Ralph would ask again and again, his tone growing more insistent. "Why does she mean so much?"Her re
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 70
The doubts sown by Silvia and Burke were beginning to sprout in Ralph's mind, creeping like ghosts into the darkness of his thoughts.He was increasingly plagued by the lingering feeling, a feeling something was terribly amiss in this laboriously built world provided by Rebecca. He would find himself staring off into space, a furrow on his forehead, trying to grasp a wisp of an image, a whisper of a recollection. It was at such times of unrest that Rebecca would reappear out of nowhere, her voice low and calm, anchoring him in the present, pulling him back from the brink of his own turbulent mind; back to her."What's on your mind, sweetheart?" she would say, her arm on his. "Don't worry about unimportant things. Just focus on getting better. Focus on us."And Ralph would try. He would concentrate on Rebecca's smile, her words of support, her worry-free assurance. Still, though, that nagging feeling remained an itch that couldn't be scratched.One afternoon, when Rebecca was on a lo
Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love Chapter 68
The uncertainty lingered, a stark contrast to Rebecca's commanding presence. The pen clattered sharply beside the contract, a bold reminder that his company's fate and his very future hinged on that decisive moment. The air crackled with tension as she prepared to take control of the situation, knowing that every second counted in solidifying her position. Her grip on his arm suddenly tightened ever so subtly. "Darling," she said softly, her voice a soothing comfort, her eyes masking an unspoken urgency, "after thorough discussions, we have reached a point where we need to move forward with the Spire proposal. It's important to embark on this direction we’re taking. Trust me."Ralph's gaze shifted from the contract to her reassuring smile. The familiarity of her, the absolute certainty in her voice, were lifelines amidst amnesia's sea. He had to believe her, must believe her. The disturbing encounter with the crazy woman, that haunting melody disturbing interventions into the neat
