Bride of Retribution: Aloof Billionaire's Dominant Game

Joshua Hughes’ face was pale, and his blood-red eyes were filled with intense heartache. The moment he saw her standing on the terrace, it felt as if a heavy iron hammer had shattered his heart to bits. His heart ached to the point of dying; he wanted to protect her from any harm, he would not allow anyone to hurt her—not even slightly. But now, the one who hurt her the most was him, himself.

This day came too quickly. He thought he would have more time, that he could wait until Avery Jane truly fell in love with him, or until she had a child. How could he have known that heavenly punishment would come so swiftly?

Her soft hair was windswept and slightly disheveled, her frail body seemed on the verge of falling beneath the gusts. Her clear eyes were filled with despair, and tears as clear as crystal had already rolled down to her chin, heartbreakingly beautiful: ”Avery, come down first, let me explain slowly....” His voice was gentle, almost coaxing. He didn’t even dare to approach; her figure stood in the wind, thin and fragile, as if a strong gust could blow her down. His heart throbbed uncontrollably; he warned himself not to startle her...

Past events were vivid, memories surged like opened floodgates, rushing out—from their first moonlit meeting, to her being forced into desperation and submitting to him, to her later escape, until finally, she couldn’t ignore Wenyard Cooper’s safety and returned.

How could he dare claim to be her husband, and how could she have been naive enough to think that if his mistakes weren’t fatal, she could forgive him, she wanted to live well with him? This man is a complete liar, and she still reveled in the belief that he treated her that way because he liked her. She was a fool; how could she have the face to see Wenyard?

”Where did you put Wenyard’s urn?” Avery Jane’s body was as thin as a trembling leaf in the wind, her voice filled with tragic despair.

The depth in his eyes, which had always been as calm as cracks, had vanished. Just this one sentence, his world had changed colors...

The mirror-like calm exterior shattered, fragmented; memories swept like unstoppable winds as if pulling him back to the past he most feared remembering—his every forceful act, his usurpation, his humiliation. Blood-red eyes looked at the girl fragile enough to disappear at any moment, and his gaze began to turn desolate. This day had finally come; she remembered everything. Those most brutal, most cold, most ugly pasts that he had tried so hard to cover...

Joshua Hughes’ handsome face was sheet white, and in the depth of his eyes, there was the fiercest pain: ”Avery, believe me, I’m not as malevolent as that; I have re-interred him in his original place.”

”Don’t call me Avery; such a name makes me sick to the point of vomiting...” Tears spilled forth, falling like petals on her face, collarbones, and bodice.

Her hoarse voice carried despair and helplessness, feeble as silk, every word weeping blood: ”Joshua Hughes, you’ve touched what you should never have touched; in my world, it’s a thing that cannot be touched even in death.”

”Avery Jane, come down first, let’s start over, okay? Whatever you want, today I...” Joshua Hughes looked at her face, terribly pale, his heart ached deeply. He wanted to approach her, he saw her heart, scarred. He wanted to hold her, to fold her into his embrace, and tell her he would never make the same mistakes again.

But the tears in her eyes flickered, her whole body trembled, heavily guarded—if he approached, she’d leap. Joshua Hughes dared not approach, dared not risk losing her, because he knew Avery Jane’s temperament; she’s not the type to bluff.

Her heart had despaired like ashes, her voice trembled: ”Too late, too late; I think we best never meet again...” His silhouette under the moonlight was as alluring as a deity. She resented him for ruining the sanctum in her heart, even more so for doting on her like setting a trap she couldn’t escape from, causing her to lose herself. Wenyard, what should I do? Teach me what to do?

One sentence tore Joshua Hughes’ heart with pain like never before. Her words seemed like an unmerciful little hand, slowly creeping into his chest, gripping his heart, slowly tearing it, leaving no mercy, so painful he didn’t dare move, nor had the ability to resist.

:”Give me a chance, Avery Jane...” Word by word spilled from his parched lips, difficult and desperate. He had never begged so intensely, asked others for a chance. :”Avery Jane, just one...” The evening breeze blew, carrying the sorrow with it. The delicate girl stood aloft; she seemed to be listening intently, slowly smiling through tears, a smile full of irony.

”Chance?” Her tear-filled eyes blurred: ”What chance? With all that’s happened, you still think you can make me stay by your side, always fulfilling your desires, like a fool, right? You will never know how much I hate you, how much I hate...” Her hatred for him was immense; he was a terrifying devil. Knowing that if she remembered everything, it would be impossible to be with him again, yet she was still involuntarily drawn to him.

Joshua Hughes’s face was pale, his body trembling slightly. He closed his eyes, silently listening to her speak of hate. She had said it before, but never with such decisiveness. Was he really without any chance now? He was enduring a pain that seemed to drain away his entire life. Slowly opening his eyes, his gaze was like a sea of sorrow, carrying the heaviest pain, flowing turbulently. He lifted his foot, wanting to approach her, his hoarse voice filled with humble pleading: ”Avery... please come down, okay? I know you are hurt inside. I’ll give you a lifetime, enough for you to hate me...”

:”Don’t come over...” Her voice pierced the night like silk being torn, painful and sharp. Her eyes looked at him with despair and fear, instinctively taking a small step back, resisting his approach. She hated his face, his breath, his scent, his way of speaking, and his eyes that seemed to captivate one’s soul with high-voltage electricity. She hated this devil who had taken her heart.

The night wind seemed to stir up chaotic air currents, with a mysterious aura, enveloping her small body like a fragile flower swaying. Her slight movement was enough to make one lose control, freezing almost to the point of immovability. ”I don’t want to see you again, don’t...” she cried out at him through her tearful eyes. Joshua’s figure was fixed in place, yet he was trembling uncontrollably.

:”Don’t be like this, Avery Jane...” The low voice seeped out as if like a murmur from his pale and thin lips, with a mist enveloping the deep sea-like eyes, masking the pain in his heart.

:”Don’t think about ending your life, don’t think about death. You’re alive because he sacrificed himself to protect you. How could you bear to let his death be in vain? Avery, it’s very high and dangerous there... Whatever you want, tell me, I’ll give it all to you, don’t harm yourself, I beg you...” He never thought there would be a day when he would use a deceased person to hold onto her, to prevent her from retreating further, from thinking of ending her life, thinking of death.

He was already debased to dust, yet still couldn’t plead for her forgiveness, after all, he had hurt her too much. As he spoke near the end, he was almost choked to the point of being unable to speak. She stood far back, as if a gust of wind could blow her over. He had never been this afraid, never feared losing her like this. This punishment was too cruel; it felt like the entire world was starting to collapse.

:”I want to leave you...” Her clear eyes carried a piece of quiet, like a flower wrapped in despair: ”I want to leave you...” Her slender arm gently cradled her chest: ”My heart hurts so much, unbearably painful, I don’t want it to hurt anymore...”

Her words carried a scent of death, Joshua gently coaxed: ”Avery Jane, I promised you, I would let you leave, don’t die. I’ll let you go, okay?” Letting her go, sending her into the light, but it would mean plunging himself into eternal darkness of Inferno. Yet as long as he could see her living, he’d savor it.

His chest surged with intense bitterness, this man, this crazed man who used every means possible was saying he’d let her go—could this be her illusion?

:”Swear that you’ll never entangle with me again, swear...” Her voice trembled, unable to hide the raging waves in her heart.

:”I swear, if I ever entangle with you again, I will...” Joshua looked into her eyes, already wet with tears, the long lashes adorned with tear drops glimmering like diamonds in heart-breaking radiance.

:”If you ever entangle with me again, let me die a miserable death.” He hadn’t finished speaking when Avery Jane’s hoarse voice cut through like a sword from her pallid lips.

Joshua felt as if he’d been struck by a heavy blow, stunned in place, realizing her heart was so resolute, so fierce...

She didn’t wish him a miserable death; if someone were to die, she’d rather it be her, despite his unforgivable deeds, she wouldn’t wish death upon him.

His love was like the fiercest flame, almost burning away his entire life and world, but after a dazzling burn, when everything turned to ashes, there was only desolation left. Avery Jane, you still see the past, still can’t forgive me, you despise my filthy and ugly nature, yet you never knew, I despise my past self even more.