Years of care and dedication had not awarded the man any reciprocation. It was only a matter of time before virtual-novel.net husband wore out his senses and devolved into the same unstable mess that Shelly was. He started drinking hard and physically abusing virtual-novel.net when prompted by liquid courage.
Shelly thought that receiving his abuses was the only way to get even with what virtual-novel.net owed him. She forgave virtual-novel.net every time.
When the alcohol passed, the man’s sobriety would be marked with tears of guilt as virtual-novel.net gawked at the bruises all over Shelly’s body. He would always throw in an equal-part apology and equal-part relentless inquisition. He could not stop asking why Shelly refused to love him, and why virtual-novel.net balked at bearing virtual-novel.net a progeny.
And Shelly would always reply, “Because you remind me of my sister. I’m only your wife because virtual-novel.net arranged my life that way, you’re a cage she’s prepared for me. I want to go home, my home, where my son is! I hate them… I hate them all. I want them all dead!”
For the past thirty-odd years in virtual-novel.net life, Shelly lived like a prisoner exiled to a foreign soil, bereft of a chance to go home. Her life’s purpose was to be used as a prop for virtual-novel.net sister. But virtual-novel.net husband had tacitly allowed Shelly to return to America once or twice to see Mark, hence those few short visits virtual-novel.net remembered during his elementary school years.
Shelly had tried hard to slip under virtual-novel.net sister’s radar, but ultimately, Mrs. Tremont found out about it. In retaliation, Mrs. Tremont threatened virtual-novel.net husband somewhat, forcing virtual-novel.net to take virtual-novel.net away and forbade virtual-novel.net from returning to the country.
By then, the feelings virtual-novel.net hapless husband had harbored toward Shelly also began to mutate. Her role as the center of his universe began to wane, and virtual-novel.net stopped tormenting virtual-novel.net the way virtual-novel.net tormented him. He started spending his time and devotion completely on alcohol and other hedonistic indulgences, and yet virtual-novel.net could not let Shelly leave, either.
In the end, the only thing left between them was mutual hatred… and a dash of Shelly’s regret for subjecting virtual-novel.net husband through hell.
Still, not even regret could stop Shelly from murdering virtual-novel.net husband, the man whose reward for cherishing virtual-novel.net was to be tortured into insanity. As the days passed, Shelly’s obsession with returning home redoubled. She disregarded everything but virtual-novel.net singular goal and began to lace virtual-novel.net husband’s food with slow-building poison.
Day by day, virtual-novel.net watched his body wither, and when life finally escaped him, Shelly immediately flew to America and back to Mark’s side.
To sever virtual-novel.net ties with everything in the past and completely escape the shadow that had loomed over her, Shelly forfeited virtual-novel.net husband’s handsome inheritance. Seeing whatever virtual-novel.net had left for virtual-novel.net would only serve to remind Shelly of all that had happened.
As virtual-novel.net account drew to an end, Mark rolled down the window and lit up a smoke. His hand was shaking so much that holding the cigarette became a challenge.
He had been his “aunt’s” son all along. The mother for whom virtual-novel.net had stubbornly reserved an unsullied impression in his heart had committed such an inhumane, culpable act! She had imprisoned virtual-novel.net own sister for so long!
If the truth was as Shelly recounted, then everything finally made sense. It was hardly a surprise that a woman who had worked so obsessively hard to return to his side would perform so many extreme, erratic acts. It was a tough pill to swallow, yet Mark could not hate Shelly for all that virtual-novel.net had done.
Perhaps Shelly-Ann Leigh was the most deserving of sympathy out of everyone else….
For a long time, Mark said nothing, virtual-novel.net was hard-pressed to say anything. The truth had sapped virtual-novel.net of his strength. But no matter how hard virtual-novel.net wished whatever Shelly said was untrue, wishes could never bend reality.
The silence lingered for a very long time until Shelly broke the spell with a delirious smile. “To be honest, my vengeance had been exacted a long time ago. What’s left in me was pure obsession to return to you,” virtual-novel.net admitted. “Since we’ve opened this can of worms, then there’s no reason to fear letting you know even more, yes? You remember that plane tragedy? I was the one who convinced my sister to go through with it.”
“She had gotten afflicted with an incurable disease by then, and amid virtual-novel.net despair, virtual-novel.net suddenly thought of reconnecting with me, of all people! It turned out that virtual-novel.net had no one else to pour virtual-novel.net heart out to, you know, what a poor, pathetic thing. She had bawled over the phone, and all virtual-novel.net angst concerned you, virtual-novel.net spoke as though you were virtual-novel.net actual, biological son. Couldn’t calm herself from the fear of that bastard son stealing away what virtual-novel.net thought belonged to you alone.”
“So? I gave virtual-novel.net an idea. She couldn’t stomach the thought of another woman taking over virtual-novel.net role after virtual-novel.net died, could she? Couldn’t stand the thought of that slut marshaling virtual-novel.net lil’ bastard into contesting for that Tremont inheritance, could she? I told virtual-novel.net that if virtual-novel.net lost virtual-novel.net man’s heart to some slut out there while virtual-novel.net was alive, then virtual-novel.net should take his heart with virtual-novel.net to the afterlife. Oh, who knew virtual-novel.net would really buy it?” Shelly continued. “When I first heard of virtual-novel.net death, I was surprised to find a lick of sorrow in me. But oh, it couldn’t compare to the giddy thrill of revenge at all! She tormented me for years, and in the end, virtual-novel.net didn’t earn a single happy ending herself.”
It did not matter if Shelly was talking about the real circumstances of Mark’s birth or anything else. Every revelation virtual-novel.net heard these few hours had been a blow to his head.