I Forced Him Into Marriage For Six Years, Only To Witness Him Sacrifice His Life For Me Chapter 03
Linus blinked. “Figured out what?”
I wanted to say I’d figured out I shouldn’t have forced him to marry me by suicide.
That a marriage won by force only destroyed both of us.
But instead, I just smiled.
“Figured out I need to trust you more. Stop pushing you.”
He paused, then buried his face in my neck, relieved.
“You’re sweet.”
The next morning, I woke up alone.
I sat up and pushed open the bedroom door, and then heard a whiny, babyish voice.
“Feed me~”
I stopped in my tracks and looked up.
Catherine sat at the dining table, head tilted, lips puckered.
Linus looked exasperated, but he still picked up a mini crab cake, dunked it in tartar sauce, and brought it to her mouth.
Catherine took a bite, winced, and whined that it was hot.
He leaned down quickly and blew on it gently.
She laughed, satisfied.
“Linus, you’ve always been like this when we were together. It’s your habits.”
“Three years with you, and I was practically a useless mess by the end.”
He didn’t say anything, but the corner of his mouth twitched upward.
He grabbed a napkin and wiped the corner of her lips.
Then he turned and met my eyes.
His hand jerked back. He put six inches of distance between himself and Catherine.
Catherine followed his gaze.
Her eyes traveled slowly from my face to the sapphire brooch pinned on my chest. Then she smiled.
“Linus.”
She tilted her head, her voice airy.
“You actually kept that brooch all these years?”
Linus went pale.
“I remember the day I left. I threw that brooch in the trash at the airport.”
“Didn’t think you’d fish it out and give it to Linette.”
My fingers twitched. My breathing went heavy.
That was the first gift Linus ever gave me.
He’d been working late in his study. I’d brought him hot tea.
I pushed the door open and found him staring at that brooch, eyes empty.
I teased him with a laugh, “Who’s that for?”
He snapped out of it, flustered, shoved the brooch into my hands, his voice stumbling.
“For you… Do you like it?”
I was so excited I couldn’t sleep all night. I kept looking at myself in the mirror.
I’d worn that brooch for six years. It was my most treasured possession.
Now I knew it was someone else’s trash.
In my past life, I would’ve flipped the table by now, thrown plates, and screamed at Catherine to get out.
I would’ve grabbed Linus by the collar and demanded to know what he thought I was.
But now, I looked at Linus, who was scrambling to explain, and shook my head.
“It’s fine.”
I reached up, unclipped the brooch, and set it in front of Catherine.
“It’s yours. So take it back.”
The brooch. And the man.
Catherine blinked, clearly not expecting me to hand it over so calmly.
But she recovered quickly, smiled, and snatched it into her palm, tilting her head at me.
“Right. After all, holding onto something that doesn’t belong to you is just pathetic.”
She paused, her gaze flickering meaningfully toward Linus.
“Men are the same. Even if you become Mrs. Fletcher, all I have to do is call, and he’ll come running back to me.”
Linus frowned. “Catherine.”
Catherine pouted, her tone dripping with arrogance.
“What? Am I wrong?”
“Your family calls me their future daughter-in-law every single day.”
She turned back to me, her sneer completely unconcealed.
“Oh, by the way, Linette, I’m moving this afternoon.”
“Your mother-in-law bought me a house and its design is my favorite style. She said it’s going to be mine and Linus’s new home.”
“Want to come see it?”
I shook my head. My voice was flat.
“No, I’ve got things to do this afternoon.”
“You can take Linus with you.”