All Chapters of A Marriage Beyond Reach: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

The reason why Ian Langham visited the hospital was to treat his migraine, even though it had been ten years since he suffered from it. However, he did not expect to see me at the hospital as well.Ian's childhood crush, Jewel Hersch, was dressed exquisitely, and she had her arm around Ian's while looking at me daintily. It was as if I, Ian's legitimate wife, did not exist in that hospital ward. I laid quietly in bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze."It's just an argument. Can't you be more gracious about it?" Ian turned to look at the sign on the door, which stated 'Traumatic Orthopaedics', and he continued sarcastically, "Where's the trauma when none of your limbs are broken?" When the car crash happened, the car tires crushed my hands. Those were the same hands that had massaged Ian for ten years. My right hand suffered a fracture, while my left was starting to feel numb. However, none of my hands suffered any surface wounds.Ian pulled Jewel gently into his arms when a nurse

Chapter 2

I paused a moment before saying softly, "Let's get divorced, Ian."It was true that I was an uncouth woman. I grew up in the orphanage, and I had no family other than the old orphanage director. Three days ago, the director passed away and was scheduled to be cremated, and I asked Ian if he could accompany me to the funeral, but he was busy accompanying Jewel and did not pick up any of my calls.I ran in the rain, trying to get a taxi, only to end up in an accident right outside the building of Langham Corporation. My hands were crushed under the car tires. When the ambulance failed to arrive, I begged the passersby to call Ian.Ian refused to pick up my calls, but he picked up the call of the kind passerby right away. "Is this Mr. Langham? Your wife got into an accident downstairs…""Is this another one of your tactics to reach me when I refuse to pick up your calls?" Ian did not believe the words of the passerby, and I could even hear Jewel's condescending laughter in the backgro

Chapter 3

He had a black cloth as his arm band, and was looking solemn, while Jewel had on light makeup, and her foxy features bore a tinge of sadness. An elder of the Herschs had recently passed, and it became major news in the city. However, no one found it strange that Ian was the only outsider among the Herschs and their extended family members attending the funeral.I bowed at the director's tombstone alone, a stark contrast to their huge group. The director was the one who had helped me find someone to teach me massage techniques through various connections. When Ian left the Langhams, the director became worried for us, and she transferred half of her meager pension to me for six months.Ian was a man who harbored gratitude, and he was the only person aside from me who truly respected the director. After she retired from her post, he made sure that the orphanage received higher donations than before. However, she was now gone, and the respect she once had followed suit.It was not ea

Chapter 4

Ian was shocked. His lips moved slightly, trying to say something, but it was as if he had been struck by a blow so huge that he lost his voice. It took him a long time before he managed to say something, "How…"He grabbed my wrist, but quickly retracted his hand upon touching me as he realized he could have hurt me. Ian released my hand awkwardly, but kept his hand around my wrist with a gap in between. "Why didn't you tell me about this? Do you still treat me as your husband? Why did you hide something so serious from me?"I laughed in anger, but my laughter only made Ian even more puzzled. He frowned, and before he started berating me, I took the opportunity to take the words from his mouth, "Why can't I take good care of myself? You paid a lot of money to protect my hands, but I allowed this horrible injury to happen to them?"How can you hurt yourself like that just because you're jealous, Tiana? How immature can you be?"Ian choked back on his words as he listened to my mocki

Chapter 5

Each of my accusations tore apart Ian's persona as a discerning and considerate man. "You have never given me any chance, Ian. I have always been a troublemaker from your perspective, and everything I did was a nuisance to you. To you, all of my actions are driven by only one reason, and that is to be at odds with Jewel, and now you're suddenly acting like a spurned husband? How much more laughable can you be?" Ian was initially shocked by my words, but he eventually turned silent, and I could not fathom the change. I wondered what was going through his mind. Could this moment of regret allow him to continue listening to my hurtful accusations? It had been a long time since I said so much to Ian, and I suddenly felt exhausted."Tiana, Ian only accompanied me that day because I had an urgent document I needed to hand over to him. Why must you make things sound so serious? It's enough that he's having a hard time at work. You have no idea how much he's sacrificing for the company.

Chapter 6

I packed up all my things and stuffed them all together into the luggage bag, but even then, they only filled up a small luggage bag. I did not have much, as most of the things in the room were bought by Ian. I did not want any of them since I had decided to leave. All I took were some items I brought from the orphanage, except for the wooden sculpture placed on the corner of a shelf in the living room. That sculpture was handmade by Ian and me at a roadside stall on our first date.It was crudely made as neither of us was particularly artistic. It looked quite funny as the colors we put on it were horrendous, but we cherished it a lot, and we placed it in the most prominent spot in the living room.Ian said to me back then, "It doesn't matter how much more valuable things we will have in the future, as none of them will be as meaningful as this one because it's the first thing we made together." He cherished the sculpture so much that he would wipe it carefully every day, and ev

Chapter 7

Now that I had decided to leave him, I had to make sure he suffered as I did. Only then would we be considered even. Why not leave him a few words that would make him toss and turn in bed at night if I had the power to do so?Sheila was relieved to see that I was determined not to get back with him. "By the way, I've told my husband to help you look out for anyone who can treat your hands."Her husband was a doctor at a hospital. Even though their love story was not as dramatic as Ian's and mine, they had a stable yet happy family. After finding out about my injury, they showed great concern and started helping me look around for a good doctor to treat my hands. However, there was nothing I could do to repay them."An orthopaedic specialist from my husband's hospital is returning from overseas soon. He’s helped you make an appointment on Saturday for a consultation." I considered rejecting the offer as I lowered my head. I had nothing to my name to thank them for the help, but my

Chapter 8

I agreed readily, but when we turned a corner, we bumped into Ian, who was at the hospital for a check-up. His migraine seemed to have gotten even more serious, and he looked quite exhausted. When he saw me, his miserable-looking eyes lit up. "Tia…""Do you know each other? Do you want to invite him for lunch as well? We'll just be talking about your treatment plan anyway." Myles' hand was held up protectively behind my back to prevent others from knocking into me, but it looked like provocation to Ian.Ian came up to push Myles' hand away, and he placed his hand around my waist. "I'm Tia's husband, her hands…"I pushed Ian's hand away and distanced myself from him. "He's not my husband, I don't know him well."After lunch, we confirmed the next appointment, and Myles walked me to the hospital entrance before leaving for his next consultation in the afternoon. As I expected, Ian was waiting outside for me.Ian opened his car door to reveal a bouquet of cornflowers, my favorite, in

Chapter 9

The recovery process with orthopedics was extremely painful. Even though Myles used every trick in the book to distract me, I still cried tears of pain. He tried everything he could think of to keep my spirits up, even going as far as using candy on me like a child.I thought it was the way he treated his patients, until I witnessed him being all business-like with his other patients by accident. That was when I knew that his ridiculous methods to comfort me were used only on me.Myles treated me as more than a patient, and it had crossed the line of a doctor-patient relationship. I started to consider drawing a line between us and keeping my distance by visiting the hospital when he was not around, and getting his assistant to help with my rehabilitation instead.However, the first time I attempted it, Myles noticed it right away. He did not shy away from the issue when he saw me trying to keep my distance. "Are you avoiding me?" His candor made it difficult for me to hide from i

Chapter 10

That was until one day Ian appeared at my front door. He looked haggard, and his face was covered with stubble. I found out that he had put all his energy into work after I left.Jewel stayed by his side every day, but he never made it official between them. Ian refused to give in despite his mother pushing him day after day about Jewel's status. This continued until Jewel made a fatal mistake that cost the company more than two billion dollars. She ran off with the company's money and vanished after that.The Herschs were as good as an empty shell, but no one knew about it because the family did a good job of hiding their predicament. However, they were exposed only after what happened with Jewel, and the news was splashed on the headlines of every major media outlet.I glanced at the news once, but read it like a normal piece of news that amused me, and forgot about it later. I did not expect Ian to suddenly come looking for me at such a critical moment in his career. "Tia, I've

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