All Chapters of Signed to Suffer, Destined to Love: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

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 controll

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

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 nothing

By the time they finally broke from their hug, morning had already arrived. Morning light's gentle glow quietly cast soft glows through the windowsHand in hand, they made their way back to the bedroom, the magic of their second honeymoon ruined. Silvia stood by the door while watching Ralph change the sheets to fresh ones. She felt bad as she watched him struggling to ensure that she was comfortable. Working silently, he changed the sheets, redoing the bed with intense concentration. He said nothing, his expression unreadable as he removed the bedding and rummaged in the closet for fresh linen. It struck her just how practiced his movements were, like muscle memory, as though he hadn’t just signed away his birthright to the father who betrayed him.He eventually produced a pile of sheets, soft pale pink with delicate flower prints. Ralph glanced at them for a moment, frowning, obviously not used to seeing them."Did you pack this? It doesn't look like your style, though," he mused,

“What happened?” Silvia pushed her food aside, standing up behind the counter. Ralph rushed to her, lifting her by the waist and settling her back in the chair like she weighed nothing.“I've got it under control. Don't worry your pretty head about it.” He kissed her pout, but she shook her head, refusing to be swayed from her enquiry.“You are hiding something. Tell me what happened.”“Okay,” Ralph relented and pulled away from her when she would not listen to reason. “Fine, I'll tell you, but eat, please. Please,” he insisted and stared at her pointedly until she picked up her spoon and resumed eating.He dug his hands into his mussed hair, doing more damage to it, but somehow, it still looked good. His bottoms rode low on his narrow hips no matter how many times he lifted it and Silvia felt like poking out an eye when she kept ogling that happy trail.“My father moved back into the house and started making changes immediately. He retained the old housekeeper, but the drivers and k