Aoife’s words were undoubtedly a challenge to him, making Finn scoff in anger, “Kill you? How could I bear to? If you die, who will I play with?”
His gaze was dark and chilling, making Finn drag Aoife beneath him, his hand sliding into her clothes.
Finn seemed to have forgotten how his mother died, as he uttered the most disgusting words to Aoife, “Even if I get married, I won’t spare you. Lily didn’t confront me, which means she doesn’t care about you. She could tolerate being the main wife, but she couldn’t accept you being the mistress?”
Aoife’s blood ran cold.
He bluntly told Aoife that whether she felt disgusting, uncomfortable, or in pain, she had to endure it, as long as he was pleased.
Finn continued, “You don’t owe me anything, but who told you to have such a face.”
Aoife seemed to have lost her ability to think. She gritted her teeth, tasting the bitter residue deep in her throat, like drinking a large bowl of Chinese medicine residue that made her nauseous.
They met because Finn was interested in her face, and he kept her around because of that face. He intended to use her as a substitute for Elisa, spending three to four hundred days with her and getting used to her face and the life she brought.
Aoife choked up, grabbing Finn’s clothes, “Just because of my face, should I let you trample over me in the mud? Finn, look clearly, I am a person, not a dog, not a pet you can summon and dismiss at will.”
Finn paused for a moment, then smiled, pinching Aoife’s chin and kissing away the tears in her eyes lightly, “Speak nicely, why suddenly insult yourself. If you were a dog, wouldn’t I just be a person walking a dog?”
Aoife and Finn couldn’t communicate at all. Her desperate cries for survival were just a farce in his eyes.
He wouldn’t feel sorry for her.
Aoife bit her lip, trying not to cry, but tears kept falling, making her tears seem cheap. At this moment, she couldn’t control herself.
It was too painful. She didn’t know why, but from her heart to her body, inside and out, everything hurt.
She regretted meeting Finn, regretted falling in love with him, regretted staying by his side despite the many chances she had to leave. Now that she wanted to leave, she couldn’t.
She had too many questions she couldn’t answer. Why did she have to endure all this? They say that suffering makes a person stronger, but she had suffered enough from birth until now. She just wanted to be a normal person, have friends her age at twenty, sit in class, go to the library, take the bus home, eat a cheap popsicle in the summer, and have a new piece of clothing in winter…
That’s just how it is in this world. What you find boring and normal, others dream of their whole lives.
People often say good people will have good things happen to them, but even with her kindness, the world’s suffering hadn’t spared Aoife.
Finn always called her weak and incompetent. Did that mean weak people deserved to be bullied?
Drunk, Finn got excited and forcefully pinned Aoife down and stripped her clothes… Ignoring Aoife’s resistance, he reached out, embracing her trembling body as if petting a dog gently.
Gently, he said, “You will always be mine in this life. I used to think that if you disappointed me, I wouldn’t want you anymore. But now, even if you disappoint me, I won’t give you to anyone else. You belong to me, living or dead.”
His words sounded like a curse to Aoife, wrapping tightly around her soul. Aoife hugged her head, trembling, tears streaming down her face.
“Finn… I will die… It hurts so much…” There is a kind of death called the death of the heart, where a person appears alive but is actually empty inside, collapsing without a sound.
This sudden “violence” finally broke Aoife.
Finn lifted her slightly and held her in his arms. Aoife, cold as a dead person, eyes open and unresponsive, tears falling from her eyes, chilling her ears and wetting her hair.
Her lips were already bleeding, her body covered in marks, her once delicate face now stained with tears, looking pitiful.
She began to hate this man who trapped her. What she once liked has become hate, creating a stark contrast that made her unable to live but unable to die.
Aoife’s heart burned, burying her face in the pillow, unable to catch her breath and fainting.
When she woke up again, she was already on a plane.
Initially, Aoife thought she was dreaming, staring blankly around until Finn noticed that she was awake.
“Awake? Hungry? Do you want some water? We still have five hours to our destination.”
Not a dream? Aoife instantly became clear-headed, trying to speak but her throat felt blocked, coughing, her pale face turning red from the effort.
Finn brought the water he had prepared to Aoife’s lips, helping her drink.
“Where is this?”
“On a plane. We have already left the country.”
Aoife froze, her entire being motionless, not even breathing, her lips trembling but unable to speak a word, feeling absurd. She had actually left the country.
Once Finn made a decision, he wouldn’t change it. Even if Aoife knelt down, pled for mercy, and bled from banging her head, he wouldn’t change.
A driver came to pick them up as soon as they landed, and their luggage was already taken care of, all new here.
A luxurious three-story villa, Finn’s overseas house was on an island, where the whole island belonged to him.
Aoife always knew Finn was rich, but this wasn’t something that could be simply explained as being “rich.” She never thought she would ever live in a place like this.
Led inside, Aoife looked at the intricate floor tiles and dazzling crystal chandeliers, standing still in unease. She felt like a rabbit that had suddenly wandered into a wolf’s den, out of place with her surroundings, like an oil stain on a new piece of clothing, dirt on white shoes, or a mouse running into the street.
No matter how weak she was, Aoife had her pride as a human being. Without that pride, she lost her original self.
She once saw Finn as a god, a light, believing he could save her from despair, until being stripped of her clothes and humiliated in those videos, being asked to be a mistress even after getting married.
Reality had slapped her hard. Now she realized that Finn was not the sun. He was a piece of coal, only leaving behind ashes after burning.
She didn’t have much temper and wouldn’t get angry easily even in shameful situations. Now, she had been tamed by Finn to the point where she had no sense of self, becoming a qualified lover as he wanted. A lover was like a durable object, who needed pride and dignity?
The house was huge, with many people. Before, Aoife used to clean by herself, but now she wasn’t needed. She would be very comfortable living there, only needed for warming the bed.
The hired maids were locals who only spoke a foreign language that Aoife couldn’t understand, leaving her to interpret from their gestures and gazes.
Being alone was lonely, but being in a group where no one noticed you was even more lonely.
Despite all this, what Aoife feared the most was being stared at with strange eyes.
Despite Aoife’s efforts to hide, the household staff knew about her relationship with Finn, as he always touched her without restraint, even in public.
He would embrace her at the dining table, kissing her moist lips. With her eyelids low, her eyelashes quivering lightly, she looked like a butterfly about to fly away.
He would also take her to the bathroom, personally bathing her, rinsing her long hair with a shower head from head to toe, pressing her against the wall or lifting her onto the sink, her back against the mirror.
The bathroom door was open, without any soundproofing.
Finn liked Aoife’s eyes, bright and clear, like moonlight on a pond at night, always full of emotions yet clean and clear.
Before, Aoife would always stare at him without blinking. Her eyes were bright no matter when, like they contained stars, gentle and touching.
But now…
Aoife no longer looked at him. She kept her head down, or gazed in another direction. Even if she stared at him, it felt like she was looking through him, her gaze as scattered as the clouds in the sea.