Chapter 8

The projector continued to replay the footage of Marlow and Josette together. The thought of Marlow harboring such suspicions toward Ameera made her feel stabbing pains in the depths of her heart.

Soon, the projector played a new video of Marlow cooking for Josette. His previous hateful glower was substituted with a warm and doting smile. He looked at Josette with so much tenderness and love. It was the same look he once reserved for Ameera in the past.

"Ameera, when can I finally call you my wife?"

"Ameera, my dear, I love you so much. Hurry up and marry me already."

"I, Marlow Brunsfield, will love you forever. Whoever tries to pick on you will have to go through me."

"Honey, I'm a great cook. Let me cook you all three meals. You're the only one in the world who gets to eat my cooking. Not even my parents have that right!"

"Honey, Josette saved your life and mine, too. She's an orphan, so let's take care of her."

"Of course, I'm serious about Josette. All she asked for was a lifetime together. I can give her that much at the very least."

...

Everything Marlow once said continued to replay in her mind. His promises, his heartfelt confessions, and his lies stung her ears like a thousand needles.

The man who loved her in her memory was a far departure from the man she was looking at on the screen. In her mind, the distance between them could not be reconciled.

The sky had darkened completely by now. She lay helplessly on the ground and allowed the darkness, along with the cold, to consume her.

When she regained consciousness, she tried to drag her lethargic body. The dried blood pooled beneath her body and streaked across the floor as she moved.

She had lost all feeling in her lower stomach. Nevertheless, she forced herself to get up and walk out.

Even the warmth of the sunlight could not warm up her body or her soul. She eventually collapsed on the side of the road before someone took her to the hospital.

"Miss Meyer, you sustained serious injuries in your lower abdomen, and your uterus has ruptured. We need to perform a surgery to remove the damaged tissue."

Ameera listened to the doctor's advice with hardly a trace of emotion. Ever since she lost her baby, she had accepted the fact that she was never going to conceive again.

So be it...

At least, she got away from Marlow alive.

As soon as she regained consciousness after the surgery she found herself gagged with a cloak thrown over her head. She was yanked to meet Marlow.

"Josette, she's here. After you teach her a lesson, no more sadness, okay?" Marlow regarded Josette with a tender look as he spoke.

Josette kissed Marlow and asked with a coy wink, "I can do anything to her?"

"Yes, whatever you want. I'm here with you." Marlow indulged her. He would take care of things even if someone ended up getting killed.

Josette clapped his hands triumphantly and ordered the bodyguards to bring the urns over.

Ameera recognized the urns immediately. They contained the ashes of her parents.

"What are you doing?" She tried to speak, but her voice came out as muffled groans.

"Marlow, I'm going to destroy the ashes of her parents as punishment." Josette grinned coyly and turned to Marlow for approval.

"Alright."

"Stop it, Marlow! Look! These are your parents-in-law. You were the one who made the urns yourself! Please, you have to stop her!" Ameera was crying hysterically and squirming desperately, but everything she said was muffled.

However, Marlow only had eyes for Josette the entire time. He hardly noticed the urns she held.

Ameera felt nothing but dread as she watched the ashes scatter in the air. Her heart was in pieces.

'Marlow, why do you only have eyes for Josette?'

She was restrained by the bodyguards and could not even budge a muscle. The pain in her body was too much for her, and soon, she passed out.

Upon seeing this, Josette scattered the remaining ashes.

"Let's go, Marlow. I'm not upset anymore."

"Alright." Marlow carried her away. He suddenly slowed down his pace as they drew near the unconscious Ameera. Regardless, he didn't even spare a look at her. He barely even turned to acknowledge her.

When Ameera woke up, the ashes on the ground had all but vanished. She palmed the empty urns. Her tears had run dry.

After she returned to the house, she collected her newly processed documents and took one last look at the house where she had spent five years of her life. A cynical smile curled upon her lips.

Then, she grabbed a baseball bat and proceeded to smash the Lego sets they had built together. She ruined the couch they bought together, then the television they bought together…

She used the final ounce of her strength to destroy everything in the living room. After she was done with her rampage, she looked at the chaos and broke out into a jaded chuckle.

Then, she threw the baseball bat aside and scribbled a long sentence on the wall with her lipstick.

"Marlow, do you remember telling me that the punishment for betraying someone true to you was to swallow ten thousand needles? The greatest regret in my life was falling in love with you!"

With that, she left the house without turning back, leaving everything she once had with Marlow in ruins.