To the Man Destined to Kill Me - Chapter 59

Scarlett could feel the little girl’s pulse pounding at her fingertips.

So fragile. Scarlett thought. Too fragile.

How pitiful must she have been, when she was even weaker than Abigail? The thought made her feel so sad. She had once been as weak and faint as this tiny heartbeat.

What did you think of me back then?

Scarlett’s empty eyes turned toward John. John spoke calmly.

“Let’s talk outside. Abigail is sleeping.”

Miraculously, Abigail was still asleep. John gently pulled Scarlett’s hand away and tried to lead her out.

“Let go of me!”

Then, with surprising strength from her small, fragile body, Scarlett screamed and shoved John away. He stumbled back and fell hard. Scarlett shouted.

“Your kid sleeping is important, but it doesn’t matter that I’m hurt?”

It was true. Scarlett was just his sister, while Abigail was his child.

Scarlett knew the difference well. She knew she came after Abigail and even after John’s wife, Amanda. Yet, she still felt so hurt.

At least she had always put John first. To her, John was like a parent.

“Aunt…?”

Abigail woke up. Normally, Scarlett would have smiled brightly and hugged her, but now she didn’t care. She just kept talking.

“You love your kid to death, don’t you? You’d do anything to protect her, right? Then why couldn’t Mother do that? Didn’t she love me? Why didn’t she protect me? Tell me! You hid everything—so explain it yourself, instead of that perfect mother of yours!”

“Abigail, go to your mother.”

John gave an order, but Abigail stood frozen. Scarlett’s terrifying mood scared her. She trembled and couldn’t move.

“You couldn’t even give me a hint? You couldn’t be honest with me? What were you doing all those years? I don’t even have many days left now, and you were going to keep it secret until the end?”

“What’s going on?”

The door opened, and Amanda came in, followed by Susan in a shawl. Susan gasped at Scarlett’s devastated face.

“Scarlett, what on earth—”

“I know I’m not your kid. Fine. I’m just a sister, after all.”

Susan, who had been walking toward her, stopped. Scarlett’s shoulders shook as she cried sadly. She looked like a pitiful canary abandoned by its mother.

“But if not you, then who will love me? Who will care for me? Mother and Father both chose Wifland over me. If you knew that, you should’ve been the one who didn’t leave me.”

“What do you mean, they chose Wifland?”

Susan asked with a pale face.

“If this is how it was going to be, why save me when I was a baby? You should have just let me die when I was born. Was it just useless guilt?”

Smack.

Before she even finished her words, John slapped her across the face. Scarlett was so shocked she couldn’t react.

Holding her cheek in a daze, she stared at John. Meanwhile, he picked up Abigail and handed her to the nanny. Abigail was already crying, scared by the grown-ups’ violent mood.

“Why did you hit her!”

The first to explode was Susan. At the same time, Scott rushed in, clenching his teeth, and charged at John.

“Are you insane? Hitting a kid? Who do you think you are!”

Scott grabbed John by the collar and punched him without hesitation. Blood quickly stained John’s face again where the punch landed.

John didn’t fight back. Half in despair, he let Scott hit him. But that only made Scott even angrier.

“You bastard. Who are you to hit her! Who the hell do you think you are!”

Scott kept punching him mercilessly. Susan didn’t even try to stop him. Instead, she went to Scarlett and hugged her tightly.

“Are you okay, Scarlett? …Oh my God. John White is crazy.”

“What the hell is going on! Stop it! I said stop, Scott White! Don’t hit him!”

Amanda, John’s wife, was the one who tried to stop Scott. She slapped Scott’s back and bit his arm, trying to pull him off, but he didn’t care. Blood kept pouring from John.

“Why did you hit her? Why! Get away from him! Guards! Get this man off him right now!”

Aaron, who had just come home drunk, heard Amanda’s screams. Smelling of alcohol, he stormed in, saw the situation, and grabbed Scott by the back of his neck to pull him off.

He pushed Amanda, who was still slapping and pinching Scott, aside with his big arm. Aaron said,

“Mandy, calm down and step back. Scott, have you lost your mind? Susan, why is Scarlett crying? What happened here? Damn, I’m sobering up fast.”

“John, John, get up! Are you okay? My God, Scott White, you lunatic! Why did you hit John!”

Amanda wiped the blood pouring from John’s nose and the cut near his eye with her dress. Scott, still pinned under Aaron, struggled to lunge at John again.

“Let go of me! Aaron White! That bastard deserves to be beaten more! If you knew what he was hiding, you wouldn’t say this!”

It was pure chaos. A true hell on earth, filled with blood, pain, and screaming.

And the one who finally stopped this horrible scene was none other than Scarlett.

“Stop… it.”

Scarlett shouted again.

“Stop. Stop it! I said, STOP!”

At her high-pitched scream, Scott, who had been furious, and Aaron, who was holding him down, froze. Even Amanda, who had been sobbing, turned to Scarlett.

Scarlett’s cheek was badly swollen. Yet among them, she was the calmest and most rational.

She looked around at her brothers with cold, sunken eyes and took a deep breath. Then, in an icy voice, she said,

“John, I can’t stay your good sister anymore. From now on, I’m not part of this family.”

“John White, apologize to Scarlett right now.”

At Susan’s demand, Scarlett shook her head and stepped back.

“No, it’s fine, Susan.”

“How is this fine? Why should you get slapped?”

“He slapped you? John, did you hit Scarlett?”

Aaron’s eyes blazed. Scott shouted angrily.

“Yeah! That bastard did it! So get off me, you idiot!”

John showed no emotions. He looked completely drained. But his lips tightened when he saw Scarlett’s swollen cheek.

“I’m moving out. I can’t live here anymore.”

“What are you talking about? Scott, you know something, don’t you?”

“He’s the one who should leave! Scarlett, don’t say nonsense.”

“I’ll have someone come pick up my things tomorrow.”

Scarlett sounded like someone who had given up everything. She walked past her brothers one slow, shaky step at a time. Scott called after her.

“Scarlett! Scarlett! Damn it, Aaron White, get off me!”

It was Susan who caught up to Scarlett and stopped her.

“What are you thinking?”

“…Exactly what I said, Sue. I don’t want to stay here anymore. I hate Mother and Father. And John… John is awful.”

“I don’t know what happened but… Oh, Scarlett.”

Susan hugged Scarlett tightly, as if she might break if touched wrong.

Scarlett looked more fragile and dangerous than ever before. Worse even than when she had been close to death from her illness. It was clear she had reached her limit.

“I don’t know what happened, but once you calm down, let’s talk again. Okay? I’ll take you somewhere.”

“No. I want to be alone. Leave me alone.”

Scarlett felt like an empty shell. She had lost her light. The small flame that once fought not to die out had burned away. In her ashen eyes, there was only the dead past.

She didn’t remember how she got into the carriage, when she arrived at the villa, or why she sent all the servants away.

She just wanted to be alone. Since the world had abandoned her, she wanted to be truly alone. Being around people would only make her loneliness worse. Better to be alone and sad than to be miserable with others.

Crackle. Crackle.

Scarlett stared into the burning fireplace. The logs shrinking into ashes looked like her life. A life that had been dying ever since birth.

The fire should have given her warmth, but she felt nothing. The longer she endured, the colder she became. A giant hole inside her was swallowing everything. Each breath carried loneliness through her veins.

Haa…

What filled her lungs was emptiness. Scarlett slowly closed her trembling eyes.

Yes. It would be better if she just died. Today should be her last day. Then she wouldn’t have to suffer through this senseless pain anymore.

Just then, she heard a knock outside. Soft footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Click.

The living room door opened, and Noah appeared. He was covered in blood from head to toe. But more horrifying than his appearance was his expression—he looked like he had lost everything.

The despair in Noah’s eyes was not much different from Scarlett’s.

He silently stared at Scarlett, warming herself by the fire. Seeing her dead gaze, he realized—Scarlett already knew everything.

Noah walked toward her, dragging his feet. That was all he could do. He couldn’t hope for anything anymore. He just wanted to exist in the same space as her, even if it was only at her feet.

He knelt down before Scarlett. Tears streamed from his purple eyes. Mixed with the blood on his cheeks, they looked like red tears.

He pressed his face against Scarlett’s knees, begging. Scarlett had no strength left to push him away. Even existing was already too much for her. There was nothing more that could break.

Noah cried for her. He wept bitterly. Then he spoke.

“Please forgive me… for loving you so much that I couldn’t die.”

Yes. Noah still loved Scarlett. That was a truth that nothing could break.

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