Love's Relentless Embrace

In the expansive white bed, where joy should have reigned, Scarlett OHara felt only pain so intense it seemed to shatter her very being, leaving her numb and gasping for air. The heavy scent of alcohol on the man above her invaded her senses, bringing tears to her eyes.

"Isnt this what you wanted? Why dont you savor it?" he sneered at her with a look of contempt and mockery, his cold哼 punctuating his words.

Scarlett bit her lower lip so hard she could taste blood, her eyes brimming with tears that streamed continuously down her face.

"You still have the audacity to cry? Didnt you scheme for this very moment? Now that youve got what you wanted, are you crying from joy?" The man, seeing the redness in her eyes, seemed excitedly spurred on, as if he wanted to draw more tears from her.

For five years, he had repeated these words to her, almost every time they met, he would taunt her with such remarks. Yet, even after hearing them for half a decade, they still cut her heart like a knife, especially when spoken by him.

"Ive told you, I knew nothing about it back then!" Scarlett, in pain, could barely form a complete sentence, her voice barely a whisper as she defended herself.

But such defenses, repeated for five years, had not been believed by him once.

"Tom Joad! Stop it!" Scarlett mustered all her strength, her hands clutching the sheets beneath her, her voice thick with sobs as she shouted at him.

"Cant take it anymore? Have you ever thought about how Calpurnia felt when she was in the icy cold, being bullied by several men!"

Tom Joad seemed to have gone mad, venting his anger ceaselessly, and then a heartfelt curse from him struck her heart like a dull hammer: "Scarlett! Why dont you just die!"

This was the man she had loved for ten years, the one who had married her with a smile five years ago, the one who hated her to the bone and married her only to torment her.

Five years ago, she became Mrs. Joad, the envy of everyone, but who could know the humiliation that title brought her.

Afterwards, Tom Joad went into the bathroom to shower, quickly cleaned up, and left the room without looking back.

He didnt even glance at Scarlett, collapsed on the bed, nor did he notice the pregnancy test in the trash by the door... with two lines...

For five years of marriage, he never wished to share a bed with her, always returning to his own room after their encounters.

This room, decorated specifically for her, had pink-white walls and bleached white sheets, simple and devoid of other items, just like a hospital ward.

Because he said he wanted her to live forever in the last scene Calpurnia had seen before her death, never to know peace.

The air seemed to leave with him, and Scarlett curled up on the bed, trembling as she hugged herself, feeling suffocated and dizzy.

Her consciousness gradually dispersed, and the figure of a gentle young man from ten years ago appeared before her eyes, that one glance back enough for her to love for a decade.

Then she felt a warm current slowly flow out from under her, draining all her strength, and she slowly closed her eyes...