บททั้งหมดของ Silenced Bride, Relentless Love: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 10

The rain had been falling for so long that the sound of it no longer felt separate from the house. It blended into everything the walls, the floor, even the silence. Ava Carter stood by the window, one hand resting against the glass, watching the water trail downward in uneven lines that never seemed to reach the end. Her reflection looked faint. Almost like it didn’t fully belong there. She shifted slightly, the weight in her body pulling her attention back inward. The dull ache low in her abdomen had been there all evening, not sharp, not urgent, but steady enough to make her uneasy. She pressed her palm lightly against it, as if she could quiet it that way. He said he would come early. Her eyes moved to the driveway again. Nothing. The gates stayed closed. The lights outside flickered once, then steadied. No sound of a car. No movement. Ava lowered her hand slowly. Her fingers hovered in the air for a second before they began to move out of habit, forming words no one

The night passed slowly, though Ava barely noticed the hours. The hospital remained quiet in that distant, controlled way, where even footsteps sounded softened and voices never rose above a certain level. She stayed awake longer than she should have, sitting upright against the bed, her daughter asleep in her arms, her thoughts moving in steady circles that no longer felt chaotic but deliberate, as if something inside her had already chosen a direction and was now simply working out how to follow it.She looked down at the small face resting against her, studying it again, not out of disbelief this time, but with a kind of focus she hadn’t had before. This wasn’t just something she needed to protect. It was the reason she couldn’t afford to remain the same.The notebook rested beside her, slightly open.Three words.Money. Work. Leave.They didn’t look like much.But they were enough.Ava shifted slightly, careful not to wake the baby, then reached for the notebook again. She stared

Morning came slowly, and the light that slipped through the curtains felt softer than the weight in Ava’s chest, because she had not slept much, not after Adrian left the room the night before, his words still lingering in a way that did not hurt the same way anymore but refused to disappear completely, she lay there for a while before moving, listening to the quiet breathing of her daughter, letting that steady rhythm pull her out of the heaviness that tried to settle in her mind, and when she finally sat up, her body protested, slower than before, reminding her she was not fully recovered, but she did not stop, she could not afford to stop now, not when everything around her was already moving without waiting for her.She carried the baby carefully and walked toward the window, pushing the curtain aside just enough to let the morning light in, her eyes resting on the grounds outside the house, wide, controlled, almost too perfect, and she realized again how small her place was withi

The following morning began without any announcement, yet Ava felt the shift the moment she opened her eyes, not because anything around her had changed but because something inside her had settled into a quieter, firmer place, she remained still for a moment, listening to the soft breathing of her daughter, allowing that sound to steady her before she moved, and when she finally sat up, the discomfort in her body was still there, but it no longer slowed her the way it had before, she had already decided that waiting for full recovery was not an option she could afford.She carried the baby carefully and moved toward the table, placing her gently in the crib before opening the notebook again, her eyes moving over the words she had written, each one now carrying more weight, not as ideas but as tasks she needed to turn into something real, her fingers tightened slightly around the pen as she added another line beneath the others, her handwriting steady despite the tension beneath it.F

By the time the car returned to the gates, Ava already felt it, not from anything she could see but from the stillness that settled around the house, the kind that did not feel natural, the kind that waited, she stepped out slowly, adjusting her hold on her daughter, her movements steady even as her mind prepared for what would come next, because she understood that leaving had not been the difficult part, returning would be.The door was already open.Ava stepped inside.The air felt colder.Not in temperature, but in atmosphere.Eleanor stood in the living room, her posture straight, her expression composed but sharper than usual, and beside her, Adrian stood with his hands in his pockets, his gaze already fixed on Ava the moment she entered, not surprised, not relieved, just… waiting.No one spoke at first.The silence stretched long enough to make the weight of it settle fully.Ava walked forward anyway.Slow.Calm.As if she had expected this.“Where did you go?” Adrian asked fin