Chapter 3 Adeline, Who Gave You The Right To Dig Them Up?

• For a fleeting moment, I wished I had simply misheard him.
• But Edward’s voice rang out with such unmistakable clarity that it coldly shattered the last sliver of hope within me.
• And I could only feel my spine turn icy stiff.
• “If you want, I can give you a thousand dollars for the errand.”
• Edward said it casually, with an air of condescension, as though he were doing me a favor.
• Looking at the arrogant way he raised his eyebrow, I knew he was deliberately trying to provoke me.
• He wanted to push me to my limit until I could no longer stand it and would willingly leave the house.
• In his eyes, I was nothing more than a clingy woman his mother had sent to drive a wedge between him and Adeline, a nuisance he was trying to get rid of.
• I looked into his eyes, only to see how different he was now, completely different from the man I had been passionately in love with for the past five years.
• It was as though he were an entirely different person.
• “If you want it, buy it yourself. I’m not free.”
• Trying to keep my voice as calm as possible, I replied coldly before turning around and heading back to my room.
• Every step felt heavy, as though my feet were weighed down with lead, while my fingernails dug so deeply into my palms that they drew blood.
• Back in my room, I collapsed onto the bed, forcing myself to fall asleep.
• However, the sweet moans, low, ragged breaths, and suggestive sounds coming from the living room continued to reach me, taunting me like cruel provocations, like knives repeatedly slashing deep into my heart.
• Tears soaked my pillow as I clenched it tightly, trying to block out the sounds with my hands.
• Don’t listen anymore, Aurora!
• I kept reminding myself over and over.
• Then, because I was utterly exhausted, I didn’t know when I had finally drifted off to sleep.
• When I woke up, the acrid smell of something burning assaulted my nose, making me frown in discomfort. The chaotic noises echoing from outside the window also left me bewildered.
• I walked toward the source of the sounds, each step making my heart tighten further, while a growing sense of unease overwhelmed me.
• When I reached the flower garden, I saw the maids uprooting every cluster of yellow roses. Behind them, a truck was driving over, loaded with clusters of red roses still glistening with morning dew.
• Several maids quickly moved forward to unload them from the truck, clearly preparing to use them to replace the yellow rose garden that belonged to me.
• In the middle of it all, Adeline pointed toward the garden, her voice loud as she repeatedly urged them on.
• “Dig up all these ugly flowers.”
• As I watched the yellow roses being forcibly uprooted and discarded in disarray across the garden, my mind went completely blank in an instant.
• This was the yellow rose garden Edward had once planted for me with his own hands. When he first brought me to the garden, he had sweetly kissed my forehead.
• “Knowing you love yellow roses, I planted them with my own hands. As long as they continue to bloom, my love for you will remain just as full.”
• Back then, I had smiled sweetly, believing that we would be together forever, and that the flower garden would never wither.
• Now, I never imagined that everything would be dug up by Adeline right before my eyes.
• “Adeline, who gave you the right to dig them up?”
• Anger surged to the top of my head as I rushed straight toward Adeline to confront her.
• Then, I saw a large brazier beside Adeline.
• To the right, the maids were holding the love letters and keepsakes from Edward and me that remained in our room.
• One after another, they were thrown into the brazier, swallowed by the raging flames before gradually turning to ashes.
• The acrid smell of burning assaulted my nose, leaving me unable to utter a single word.
• The blazing red flames seemed to burn my heart to ashes.
• Startled, I rushed forward, wanting to snatch the last few letters back from the maid’s hands.
• However, Adeline reacted faster.
• She snatched them first, then turned around within her arms.
• “Give them back to me!”
• I screamed when I saw Adeline’s mocking expression, reaching higher to seize them back.
• A sudden glint flashed through Adeline’s eyes.
• She staggered backward, crying out in pain through her sobs.
• “I’m sorry, but don’t push me, Aurora, ah!”
• Before I could understand what was happening, I heard a cold male voice.
• “Aurora, what are you doing?”