5
11:57 AM
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C
“Feel better now?”
After hearing Lila’s tearful “Mm,” he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and turned to leave.
A sharp pain shot through my forehead, and a wave of dizziness swept over me. I collapsed weakly to the ground.
In the distance, Marcus suddenly clutched his chest, his face turning ashen.
When I woke again, I was lying in a meditation room at the monastery, the pain in my forehead making me frown.
I grabbed my phone from the bedside table. On the screen, the crimson mark on my forehead had faded to barely visible.
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Outside the door, I heard the Abbot talking with a man.
“Sir, you must find the woman with the crimson mark between her brows. She is your true soulmate, the one who can bless you
with heirs.”
Through the window, I immediately recognized the man–it was Julian Blackwood, the Thorne family’s long–standing rival.
He was a renowned figure in the city’s elite circles, not just for his decisive ruthlessness in business, but because he was fated
to be childless.
To have a child, he had married five wives successively.
But over the years, no matter how many wives he took or how much medical help he sought, he had never succeeded.
I heard that for the past year, he had been frequently visiting monasteries, burning incense and praying, seeking an alternative, perhaps spiritual, solution.
I got up and opened the meditation room door.
“Mr. Blackwood, I can help you find the woman with the crimson mark between her brows.”
Julian Blackwood turned at my words, his face filled with surprise.
I knew he recognized me.
“Marcus Thorne’s wife?”
I lowered my gaze and smiled faintly, speaking softly.
“Yes! And no!”
“Marcus and I are finished.”
Julian Blackwood nodded knowingly.
I heard Marcus Thorne’s college student is already three months pregnant.”
11:57 AM
<
“Yes, and so, I, the discarded wife, must now exit the stage.”
As I spoke these words jokingly, my heart felt strangely calm, without a ripple of emotion.
Indeed, hearts change.
“So, where is this woman with the crimson mark between her brows that you spoke of?”
“Closer than you think.”
I pointed to myself and smiled.
Three years ago, to save Marcus Thorne, Eleanor Thorne had undertaken an arduous pilgrimage, kneeling and prostrating herself every few steps, all the way from the foot of the mountain to the monastery at its peak.
That day, there was a terrible rainstorm, and a mudslide had destroyed parts of the monastery’s grounds.
Eleanor Thorne, without a second thought, donated a millions to
the monastery, solving their urgent crisis.
I was moved by her sincerity and agreed
to marry Marcus Thorne.
To save Marcus, I used the crimson mark between my brows to ward off his misfortunes.
The cost was that he could not have a child, or destiny would turn against him.
TH
I was naturally fertile, but for Marcus, I took handfuls of pills after every intimate moment, ensuring I wouldn’t get pregnant.
For three years, I buried my deepest wish to be a mother.
But Marcus believed I was infertile. No matter how I explained, he wouldn’t believe me.
Finally, he found Lila Monroe, a college student who bore a seven–tenths resemblance to me.
I once confronted him about it, but he casually said,
“You know I love you deeply, Elara, but I also want a child of my own, a child like me and you.”
“Once Lila gives birth, I’ll come back to you.”
But what he didn’t know was that he wouldn’t live to see that day.
Marcus didn’t believe my words, nor did he believe Eleanor Thorne’s.
Eleanor Thorne knew all of this, which was why on that stormy night, she tried to force Lila Monroe to have an abortion, to save
the life of her only grandson.
But before she could carry it out, Marcus, who had rushed back, saved Lila.
All of this was preordained, so I no longer forced anything.
From the day his heart changed, I stopped holding onto hope.
I laid out the entire story, root and branch. Julian Blackwood, after hearing everything, finally let down his guard with me.
<
He, too, opened up his heart.
It turned out that he wasn’t marrying five wives, as rumored, but had been praying and fasting for his first love, who had tragically passed away because of him. He felt immense guilt, so he could never let her go.
Today was the last day he was to fulfill his vow at the monastery.
The Abbot had told him to let go of all attachments and start anew, which led to their conversation at the beginning.
Julian Blackwood looked at the crimson mark on my forehead and asked, puzzled,
“Are you truly willing to marry me?”
“Yes, today!”
As Julian Blackwood and I emerged from the civil affairs office, holding our gleaming marriage certificate,
I was truly grateful that I hadn’t legally registered my marriage with Marcus Thorne three years ago. It allowed me to walk away so freely.
Three years ago, Marcus was gravely ill, and when I married him, we hadn’t
ven had time to register.
And for those three years, I was constantly worried about his health, with no time to concern myself with marriage registration, letting it drag on.
So much so that even after his heart changed, I was still legally unmarried.
Looking at the marriage certificate, I shook my head with a self–deprecating smile.
From now on, Marcus Thorne would be nothing to me. We were done.
