Heather's POV
Night had arrived. After cleaning up the leftovers and tableware on the table, I sat in the living room, feeling exhausted.
Nathan wasn't back yet, so I left a dim light on for him. As it was nearly midnight, the sound of a car passing by came from the door.
Jolting up from the sofa, I trotted to the balcony and looked downstairs.
It was him! Nathan was back! I quickly opened the refrigerator, took out the food I had prepared, and got ready to heat up his supper. I wondered if he would eat it today. Although he usually threw the food I cooked into the trash can, I still cook for him every single day.
Nathan's handsome face looked gloomy as he walked in. I walked up to him and took his clothes. In a faint voice, I said, "Bella told me she wanted us to have lunch this weekend. Are you free? And Maria told me that she wanted to buy..."
"I have something to tell you." Nathan interrupted me as I was rambling on.
I looked back and saw the grim expression on his face. A bad feeling crept up on me.
"Dahlia has woken up. I plan to take her home and let her recuperate here. You need to move out tomorrow."
My heart sank to the bottom of the valley.
"What if I don't?" I was Nathan's wife. Why should I move out because Dahlia Everett was awake? That was ridiculous!
My husband, Nathan Witton, frowned.
Damn it! He looked extravagantly handsome even when he frowned.
"Don't forget how we got married five years ago. Our marriage is just a contract."
Yes, how could I forget?
Five years ago, Dahlia was in a car accident. I called the ambulance, and I was also the one who donated my rare blood to her. Nathan thanked me and promised to grant me a wish.
I didn't have any requests back then. I knew what Dahlia meant to him. I simply didn't want to see him in tears, and I happened to have rare blood, so I donated my blood to her.
However, my father secretly contacted Nathan and asked him to marry me. I didn't know about it at that time. One day, Nathan suddenly proposed to me after the doctor declared that there was no chance for Dahlia to regain consciousness.
There were no grand gestures or surprises, no ceremony or flowers, but I still broke out in overjoyed tears.
Nathan probably didn't know that I had been in love with him since high school, from the very first moment I laid eyes on him.
Looking back, I realize that I had been blinded by my infatuation, ignoring all the red flags that should have tipped me off. For example, why was my father so eager to bring us together? Why didn't Nathan seem interested in our marriage, and why did my grandfather always lock himself away in his study?
I didn't know anything. All I knew was I was going to become Nathan's wife.
That is, until tragedy struck. My father jumped off the building, my mother died of illness, and my grandfather went lost. All my family members were gone, including the illusion of my perfect happy marriage.
Yet I still couldn't accept it. We were married for five years! No matter cold he is, he should've opened up to me by now, shouldn't he?
"I'm your wife," I said firmly, lifting my chin to meet his gaze. "Why should I move out when she's coming back?"
Nathan's expression turned dark, his eyes narrowing with a terrifying intensity. "Why?" he spat. "Because Dahlia claimed that you were the one who hit her with a car five years ago."
I was stunned for a moment, and then I smiled. Well done, Dahlia. The first thing you did after waking up was to frame me. I flashed Nathan a bitter smile. "What if I say I wasn't the one who did it? Do you believe me?"
My heart raced as Nathan pinned me against the wall, his eyes piercing into mine. "Do you really expect me to believe you?" he asked, his tone cold and distant.
I searched his eyes, hoping to find a trace of the man I had fallen in love with all those years ago.
But I found nothing.
"It's all because of the trap you and your father set up. You split Dahlia and me!" A cold, grim look washed over Nathan's face.
I was shocked by the cruelty in his eyes.
It had been five years. Didn't he notice all the things I had done? My sacrifice was nothing compared to a single word by Dahlia after she woke up. How could he assume I was such a cruel person just by listening to Dahlia's words?
Suddenly, I felt disheartened.
"You can blame me, but don't say anything bad about my father! He must have his own reasons for doing that!" I could allow him to reprimand me, but I wouldn't let him slander my father. My father loved me the most in this world. I believed he had some hidden reason behind his decision at that time.
Nathan cast me a condescending look. "You are smart person. You should know what to do."
He headed back to his room, leaving me alone in the living room. The food in the microwave was heated, but the person who was supposed to enjoy it didn't even cast a glance at it.
I looked at my pale and exhausted face in the mirror. Where did the once proud lady go? Would my father be heartbroken if he knew I was in such a pathetic relationship?
How ridiculous. I slowly let out a sigh of relief. "It's time to free myself..."
The next day, I packed a few sets of clothes. After that, I found a long-forgotten mobile phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Hey, come pick me up now! I want to leave the Witton family!"
"You've finally come around! Yes, my queen!"
