Chapter 11

Silvia knew it all along. She knew he had always seen her as a complete mistake.

It was her fault he couldn’t stay with Mariah, and it was her fault he was unhappy. Their marriage, their divorce, along with his parents’ divorce; everything was all her fault.

Her heart had already gone through the pain of disappointment, so she didn’t respond to his accusations. Instead, she merely lowered her head and bit down on his hand, forcing him to let go of her out of pain.

The deep teeth marks on his flesh were more than enough to represent the silent rage she held for him.

Ryan froze in place, his mind filled with sheer disbelief that she would actually bite him. However, he couldn’t help but feel a wave of panic as he watched her walk further outside.

She wasn’t even turning her head to check on him.

He had always thought that she couldn’t possibly bear separating from her daughter, but she didn’t seem to back down from getting a divorce even after he told her he’d fight for custody.

This time, her resoluteness made him very uneasy.

Ignoring the pain on his hand, he strode over and easily used his tall figure to block the exit.

“Let’s talk!” he demanded, staring at her with furrowed eyebrows.

Since last night, all he had ever done was insult and ridicule her; as if he was certain that she wouldn’t get her way. Thus, Silvia couldn’t possibly have anything to say to him. She didn't even want to look him in the eye.

“Just talk to my lawyer.”

After saying that, she walked past him. However, she felt a sudden grip around her waist. In an instant, she was lifted from the ground, as he carried her forcefully on his shoulder.

Frightened, she shrieked and tried struggling out as hard as she could. “What the hell are you doing?! Put me down!”

Her screams were completely disregarded as Ryan brought her upstairs. He had a room of his own in the old manor as well, and that was where he was carrying her to.

Hanging from his shoulders, Silvia was feeling slightly dizzy from being hurled around. She was so angry that she started attacking his back. “Ryan Pierce! You despicable, rude bastard!”

She wasn’t a modest woman, anyway. In the past, she presented herself as a shy little damsel because she was trying to win his heart.

Now that she was determined to get a divorce, she didn’t care much about her image in front of him anymore.

“Me? Rude?” Ryan huffed as he kicked open his bedroom door, tossing her onto the large bed harshly. He then shoved his bitten hand right before her face.

Silvia, on the other hand, sat up in a hurry and took a slight glance at his hand. She turned her head to the side, knowing full well she was indeed rude to have attacked him that way.

She knew just how hard she bit down on him, as she had basically released all her pent up anger on it. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to give him such deep teeth marks.

This was the first time she had ever attacked him as well.

Back then, she would always do as he said and loved him with all her heart. There was no way she would ever have the intention to hurt him.

In the past, Ryan would accidentally get a small wound sometimes when it was time for an inspection at the company’s construction sites. Even that was enough to make her heart ache badly for him.

Yet now, seeing the dents in his flesh that she made, she didn’t feel anything but a sense of satisfaction. It seemed her heart had changed, since she no longer hoped for his love. As a result, she no longer cherished him as she did before.

“I never wanted to get back together with her. You were the one forcing your assumptions on me,” he said in his usual deep, cold voice, breaking the awkwardness of their silence.

Silvia was stunned and turned her head to look at him. She never expected him to say that; it was as if he was trying to explain himself to her.

He had taken his coat and tie off, leaving only a fitted white dress shirt on his torso. At that moment, his eyes were fixated on her.

However, Silvia couldn’t help but find him absolutely ridiculous, no matter what he said and was going to say next.

“That was never the point. You only hurt me because you did nothing when she was begging to get back together with you. If you’ve never intended to get back together with her, why didn’t you just reject her when she was basically professing her love for you?”

“Why didn’t you tell her that you have a wife? A child? Or maybe responsibilities towards your family?!”

“Your silence was enough to give her permission to cross the line.”

Silvia sounded rather agitated as she questioned him bluntly.

She thought to herself. ‘This man doesn’t know how hurtful it can be when a woman has to endure his silence, when all she needed was reassurance. It’s even worse than knowing that he had his eyes on someone else.’

Silvia had always been the type to go all or nothing when it comes to love, so she couldn’t accept the ambiguity within Ryan and Mariah’s relationship.

That was why she was certain she had to leave. As a stinging pain welled up in her chest, she said, “So even if you never wanted to date her again, I’ll still go through with the divorce. Because… I’m nothing to you.”

Her past self was so naive, so foolish to think that he would be moved by her genuine love and her efforts to make the marriage work.

‘What stupidity to think that he’d ever love me, that we’d ever be happy…’

That was why Silvia gave her all, shamelessly clinging to him and chasing after him. Not only was she confident in herself, but she even said she’d do her best to barge into his heart even if he never did have a place for her in there. She wanted to fill his heart entirely so he would only have eyes for her.

Thinking back, she had no other words to describe herself apart from foolish. She was exhausted now, especially since she had chased after him for so many years.

Her words made Ryan’s eyes darken as he continued staring at her. She looked him in the eye, smiling sarcastically as she asked, “Well? Do you love me, Pierce?”

Ryan visibly froze, but remained silent as he pressed his lips into a thin line; his silence acting as the best answer she could ever get.

‘He doesn’t. He never has,’ she thought to herself, finally letting the last bit of hope in her dying.

Silvia tried her best to keep herself composed, so that she wouldn’t look like a complete loser.

“If you don’t love me, then it shouldn’t matter to you if I stay in this marriage or not. In my opinion, losing someone you love feels like losing a part of your soul.”

“I’m sure you know what that feels like. Remember how sad you were back then? How you got drunk on the streets when Mariah broke up with yo-”

Before she could finish her sentence, Ryan interrupted her with a loud yell. “Alberich!”

It was likely that he felt shameful to hear her expose his disgraceful past actions in such a way. He felt so shameful that he lashed out, his expression filled with sheer annoyance and frustration as he threatened her.

“Don’t act like you know anything! Stop before I make you regret it!”

That was enough for Silvia to end their conversation. She lifted her gaze and smiled coldly. “Alright, I’ll just have to wait and see how you’ll make me regret it.”

After that, she rushed down the stairs without looking back. This time, she didn’t even take the car with her.

A while later, Ryan received a text from her, saying, [The car’s yours, so I’m returning it back to you.]

Ryan nearly threw his phone out the window when he saw that text message. ‘This wasn’t what I wanted at all! I just wanted to talk, but it made things even worse.’