Hearing this, Cassia stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.

She gently pushed him away. "Have you forgotten what the doctor said? Now isn't the right time for us to have a child. I'm afraid I won't be able to manage, and what if you have another episode?"

Aidan's lips twitched at the mention of his "episode."

"I'm fine now."

Cassia's eyes softened, her voice gentle but firm. "Then we'll talk about it after I divorce Kaelen and we're married."

Aidan was about to say more, but Cassia was already giving orders to her assistant, Silas.

"Silas, take Aidan back to the hospital. And make sure he takes his medication."

"Yes, ma'am."

Silas nodded and extended a hand to Aidan. "Mr. Vance, if you please."

Aidan left, albeit reluctantly.

Not long after they were gone, there was a knock on the door.

Cassia looked up. "What is it?"

A bodyguard stood stiffly at the entrance. "Mr. Rivers couldn't take it. He's passed out."

Cassia rose and walked to the window, her figure as slender and graceful as a blooming orchid in the dead of night.

Her eyes were cold and she said nothing, her gaze fixed on the backyard.

She watched Kaelen's body, curled in a corner, pale and covered in bruises.

"Have the housekeeper, Mrs. Olsen, take him to his room and clean him up."

"Understood, Ms. Thorne." The bodyguard received his orders and left.

...

The rain finally stopped, but the sky remained a dreary, oppressive gray.

When Kaelen awoke, he found himself lying in a bathtub.

Mrs. Olsen was gently washing his body.

The numbness and the pain were a constant, brutal reminder of what had happened.

A soul-shattering agony.

His entire body trembled with the torment of it all.

His spirit felt like a crushed flower petal, scattered in a hopeless sorrow, a lost soul that had forfeited everything. Every breath was heavy with despair.

Tears slowly welled in his reddened eyes. He just curled up in silence as they traced silent paths down his pale cheeks.

*Cassia, you are so, so cruel…*

Mrs. Olsen dabbed at his skin, sighing internally at the sight of the deep purple bruises covering him.

What terrible thing had he done to deserve such torture?

"Sir, please don't cry…" Mrs. Olsen said softly.

Kaelen turned his head to look at her, his eyes vacant.

"I'm so dirty. I'll never be clean again."

Seeing him like this, Mrs. Olsen's heart ached.

She was about to say something when she saw Cassia standing at the doorway. "Ma'am."

Mrs. Olsen quickly stood up.

Kaelen's gaze shifted as well, landing on the face he had loved for half his life, so beautiful, so impossibly noble.

A sharp pain shot through his throat. He shrank back, cowering in the corner of the tub, his eyes wide with fear.

"Mrs. Olsen, you may leave," Cassia commanded.

The housekeeper cast a sympathetic glance at Kaelen before bowing her head and exiting.

Cassia closed the bathroom door behind her and walked toward Kaelen, one deliberate step at a time.

"Get up."

Kaelen didn't move. He just stared at her. "Aidan isn't crazy. He just told me. It was all a show he put on."

Cassia's eyes narrowed. "Aidan's condition isn't that severe, but he does need medication to control it."

Hearing that, Kaelen was utterly speechless.

Just then, Cassia stepped into the tub with him. Her gaze fell upon his body, upon the dense network of marks, and a strange wave of irritation washed over her.

Kaelen noticed her stare and instinctively reached for a towel.

But in the next second, she swung her leg over and sat astride him.

"What are you doing?"

Kaelen watched as Cassia's clothes began to fall away, piece by piece.

Cassia looked down at him, her words sharp and clear.

"What else? What a husband and wife are supposed to do."