Ashes For His Happiness Novel by Tessa Wycliffe _ Novel





Ashes For His Happiness Chapter 01

When I was 17, I saved Gavin Carter from a fire.
A falling beam struck my head, and I've been simple-minded ever since.
To save money for my rehabilitation, he dropped out of school and took on every dirty, backbreaking job he could find.
Ten years later, Gavin became the youngest entrepreneur in Los Angeles.
While I remained the fool who needed him to tie my shoelaces and feed me.
Later, Gavin started coming home later and later, his eyes holding nothing but disgust when he looked at me.
Until that day, when I accidentally broke the music box his female assistant had given him.
For the first time, he lost his temper with me, dragging me up to the rooftop. He ordered me to jump from the fifty-story building.
I didn't understand why he wanted me to do that, only that being a good girl meant getting a reward.
I had been afraid of heights since I was little, but right now, I was more afraid that he wouldn't want me anymore.
Smiling, I took step after step backward.
"Don't be mad, Gavin. I'll do whatever you say."
***
The moment my body tipped backward, a violent force yanked me back.
I stumbled into his embrace, and before I could even find my footing, a slap landed hard across my face.
"Are you crazy?! You'll die if you fall from here! Do you even know what death is?!" Gavin roared at me, his voice choked with emotion.
Feeling the stinging pain on my cheek, I finally started to tremble. I didn't know if it was from the fear of nearly falling or the anxiety of being scolded so harshly.
Yet, I still instinctively reached up, wanting to wipe the tear tracks from the corners of his eyes.
"Gavin, I'm sorry."
But the next second, Gavin shoved me away violently. "You idiot, is 'sorry' the only thing you know how to say?!"
Just then, the iron door to the roof was slammed open. Seraphina Thorne rushed in, looking panic-stricken.
She glanced at the two of us, her face instantly turning pale. "Gavin, have you lost your mind? Why did you bring her to a place like this?!"
"If something happened to her, that would be instigating suicide. You'd go to prison!"
Her voice was hoarse as she gripped Gavin's arm tightly, pulling him into her embrace. "If you go to prison, what am I supposed to do?"
In that moment, Gavin finally broke down, burying his face in her shoulder and sobbing uncontrollably. "I don't know... I'm just so tired..."
Watching his trembling back, I realized in a daze: For these past ten years, it seems I really have become the source of all his pain.
Once Gavin calmed down, he finally noticed the large scrape on my knee.
A flicker of guilt passed through his eyes. "Sylvia, does it hurt? I'm sorry... I didn't mean to yell at you just now."
He helped me up, and together with Seraphina, we went downstairs.
Back home, Gavin found the first aid kit and, just like countless times before, carefully applied medicine and bandaged my wound.
But this time, although his movements were as practiced as ever, his eyes held nothing but exhaustion and weariness.
After treating the wound, Gavin handed me a piece of candy and whispered, "Stay home and be good."
Then, he took Seraphina by the hand and walked out the door.
Curious, I quietly crept to the door and cracked it open, catching bits and pieces of their conversation.
"Seraphina, I'm really tired... As long as she's alive, I won't have a single day of peace."
"Do you know? Just now, I was actually thinking that once she jumped, I might as well just die with her..."

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