Lucy’s POV:
After leaving Zhester Technology I walked aimlessly on the road like a wanderer for hours.
What happened today was so unexpected.I used to think that I was mentally strong, that I could
weather any degree of pain and frustration and that nothing could bring me down.I was wrong! When
Martha came to confront me, armed with her daughter as her ammunition, my indestructible heart was
pierced and crushed into a million pieces.
This was the first time in my life that I‘d suffered loss of my pride and self–confidence because of a
man.
After a while, I guided myself home and I turned on my phone to check my social media account.
There was a torrent of abuse online.
Words like "mistress"and "home wrecker" were highlighted in bold font.
Almost every comment echoed these words and disparaged me, casting aspersions on my character.
A rising tide of madness swept over me.I firmly believed that I had never been the other woman, and I
wouldn‘t easily give up on Dyer.
Helen scolded me for being stubborn, claiming that Dyer was insensitive and not good enough for
me.But I trusted my instinct.
"It is true that I am dating Dyer, but our relationship is based on the premise that we are both single.So
based on that, the question of destroying anyone‘s family or hurting anyone, does not arise." I posted
that statement online.
It felt as if I was arguing with Martha.
This was my way of handling such matters.I preferred toughness to clarification.
My statement sparked an outrage online, and even people claiming to be ex–girlfriends of my ex–
boyfriends revealed that their ex–boyfriends were actually seduced by me.
Everybody took a dig at me.
They portrayed me as a shameless tramp who loved to interfere in other people‘s relationships.
These revelations served as a catalyst to bring in greater abuse.
More people believed Martha‘s words now and she was portrayed as a victim.So I became engulfed in
another barrage of fierce criticism.I browsed through the comments and smiled sarcastically.
Finally I turned off my phone and lay still in bed, ignoring the uproar I had caused on the Internet.
The curtains of my room were tightly drawn and only a faint shred of light peeped in.
My heart felt like a rat was gnawing away at tiny pieces every minute.
Whilst I was wallowing in my misery, the sound of the doorbell ringing, interrupted my thoughts.I lay still
in bed, turning a deaf ear to the doorbell.I didn‘t want company right now.I hoped that whoever it was,
would have the good sense to leave immediately.
However, the person outside was persistent and kept ringing the doorbell.
Being thoroughly annoyed by the urgency of the loud ring, I sat up unwillingly and then went to answer
the door.
The moment I opened the door, I recognized the tall figure standing outside.
The anxiety on Dyer‘s face made him look ill.
He hugged me tightly and asked in a distressed voice, "Lucy! Are you okay?"
"What do you think?" I shoved him away, turned around and walked back inside.
Dyer closed the door behind him and followed me in.
"Lucy, I‘m so sorry." Dyer was apologetic.
Even at such a time, he offered no further explanation, which really pissed me off.I scoffed inwardly and
became even angrier with him.
Why did he keep saying just "sorry"? Would that solve anything at all? "Didn‘t you divorce Martha?"
I stood in front of him and interrogated softly.
"Why did you lie to me?"
Now the whole world held me responsible for breaking up Dyer‘s marriage to Martha and for robbing
their innocent daughter of a father.My social media account, which I had been running for years, had
been destroyed in minutes.
All my business partners now wanted to terminate their contracts with me.
But these were not the issues that bothered me the most.
What I was in a tizz about the most was that Dyer had lied to me.
The man that I loved had lied to me and put me in a position to be reviled by the public.
Dyer looked at me with his soulful eyes and took a step forward.I took a half–step back subconsciously
and glared at him warily.
"Lucy, it‘s difficult to explain the relationship between Martha and me in a few words," said Dyer as
deep seated sadness trespassed across his eyes.
"I have time.Now explain!" I wanted an explanation badly.
Dyer was always aloof and unapproachable.He was rarely ever so emotional.
When I first met him, I got the impression that he was cold on the outside but hot on the inside.
Once someone touched his heart, he would melt.
And I believed that someone would be me.I didn‘t like men who was too forward and talked too much,
so I thought Dyer was perfect for me.
But at that moment, I finally realized that I had overestimated myself.I could never melt this cold
man.No one could.I gave a wry smile.
My heart became a frozen lake and my bones began to glaciate as cold, hard reality struck me.I‘d been
trying to melt an iceberg without any success.
What was worse, I‘d got frostbitten in the process.
Dyer kept silent for a long time, avoiding eye contact with me, while considering how to explain his
plight to me.
I just stood there, looking at him silently and waiting for his answer.He was generally very curt and liked
to keep people guessing what he was thinking.
Well, I didn‘t work for him and why should I have to read his mind? This matter involved our future.
What I wanted was a definite answer.
If he was willing to talk, I would listen patiently.
If he was going to be evasive, I would break up with him right away.
"We signed a divorce agreement in which I promised to give up all my possessions.Since then, I
haven‘t had any contact with her and I‘ve even forgotten what she looks like," said Dyer slowly, looking
up at me.
I looked at him suspiciously.
"Why did you give up all your possessions? Only people who are in the wrong make such huge
sacrifices.Did you wrong them in some way?"
I‘d been a relationship blogger for many years, so I knew a lot about marriages and relationships.
In many broken marriages, even the spouse who was in the wrong, would usually fight over assets in
their divorce settlement.It was almost unheard of for a man to willingly give up his assets.
How serious a mistake must he have made to give up his whole fortune? I didn‘t believe that he was
such a man, but I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt.I wanted to hear the truth from the
horse‘s mouth.
If we wanted to continue our relationship, this was bound to be the biggest obstacle to us being
together.
If Dyer didn‘t come out with the truth now, there would surely be more conflicts in the future.
Instead of hiding what I really thought, I preferred to be straightforward and put all our cards on the
table.I took the initiative to ask him out of respect for our relationship.I didn‘t want us to misunderstand
each other.I wanted to give our relationship a chance.
After all, I still loved Dyer insanely and wanted to be with him.
Dyer bit his lower lip.
"I didn‘t do anything wrong to them, and the child has nothing to do with me."
His short sentence was loaded with information.I looked up at him in astonishment.
Had Martha cheated on Dyer? And she even got pregnant with her lover‘s child? Dyer nodded in
acquiescence to my guess.
My mind fell into total disarray.
Just before he spoke, I was so disillusioned with our relationship that I wanted to break up with him.But
now I felt really sorry for him, and his words cooled my anger.
"You shouldn‘t have just let her go.It wasn‘t fair for you," I said sadly.
Although it was not difficult for Dyer to earn the money back, I was furious when I thought of Martha‘s
betrayal, their unfair divorce settlement and now the fact that Martha had described him as the
unfaithful spouse.
My heart ached for him.
"After all, she‘s been with me for so many years, and it‘s not easy for her to raise a child on her own,"
Dyer said, smiling faintly.
"I just wanted my conscience to be clear." I looked him up and down.
"Was that really the reason? Or did you just still have feelings for her?" Dyer smiled openly, his face no
longer so glum.
"What do you think?"
"I don‘t know!" I replied, exasperated.
I wanted him to spell it out to me clearly.I was in no mood for guessing games.
Dyer held me tightly in his arms and rubbed his face against my shoulder.His tone was still cold, but he
was a little gentler.
"Lucy, I married Martha under compulsion.My mother was very sick back then and it was her wish that I
marry Martha.As a dutiful son, I obeyed my mother and married Martha.I had to do it for my mother‘s
sake."
When I heard the reason for his marriage with Martha, I breathed an intense sigh of relief.
"So you didn‘t love her?" I asked with a straight face, curling my lips.
"I never loved her," replied Dyer decisively.
"Who do you love then?" I asked, hoping to flatter myself.
Dyer lifted his face from my shoulder and looked me deep in the eye.
"I love you.You are the only one in my heart," he answered earnestly.
"My biggest mistake, Lucy, was that I shouldn‘t have been so self–righteous in my divorce
settlement.Also, I should not have hooked up with you till my divorce was finalized.It would have
spared you all the insults and abuse that you are facing now.Perhaps we should take some time
apart.When I get things sorted out and I am officially single, I will get back with you," Dyer promised.
"I think Martha is making such a big deal out of this so you‘ll have no choice but to accept it and be with
her.Are you sure you can convince her to change her mind?" I asked uncertainly.
Obviously, Martha was going to destroy Dyer if she couldn‘t have him.
"I have to give it my best shot.As far as I know, Martha was in a steady relationship with some man.But
I think something went wrong because he seems to have disappeared from the scene.That‘s why she
wants me back," explained Dyer as he rubbed his temples wearily.
He seemed to regret not following up on the divorce matter.
Had he completed the necessary procedures, he wouldn‘t have landed himself in this dilemma now.
Had any other woman been in this predicament, I would have given her an earful and told her to stay
away from such a man.But when it came to myself, the same advice just didn‘t work.I was obsessed
with Dyer, and I couldn‘t bear to part with him, or share him.
Thankfully, I still had a trace of sanity left in me.
"It‘s all because you didn‘t tie up your loose ends that it has snowballed into such a mess.Because of
your failure to complete your divorce procedures, I‘m being attacked so maliciously on the Internet.I
could probably lose my job as a headhunter.Martha has also exposed my personal details online and
now I‘m on the receiving end of so many crank calls," I complained grievously, digging my face into his
chest.
After all, with all my relationship experience, I knew that I had to show my weakness and vulnerability
to him.
The guiltier Dyer felt, the more he would care about this matter.
Although he had promised to take care of it, a man‘s promise couldn‘t always be fully trusted, or I would
end up getting hurt.
As expected, Dyer easily blamed himself all the more.
"I‘m so sorry."
"Can‘t you say anything else except ‘I‘m sorry‘?" I glared at him and let go of his waist.
However, his hands still firmly held my waist.
"I will deal with everything right away.I will not expose you to any more suffering.I promise," he
declared.
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