Her Only Sin: Loving Him

For two years, I lived in hiding, a ghost. But they found me. When Liam Stone' s team locked down the hospital, I lay there, a skeleton. What was coming had finally arrived.

He stood in the doorway, my husband, his handsome face a mask of indifference. "You deserve this," he said, his eyes devoid of pity. The man I loved still hated me.

He wouldn' t let me die. He spent a fortune keeping me alive, just to torment me. Every bone in my body felt corroded by poison. It was a living hell. Even my own mother, driven to despair by Liam' s relentless persecution of our family, plunged a knife into me.

"Why are you still alive? It would be better for everyone if you were dead." Her words echoed louder than the pain. My family, the people I had tried so hard to protect, betrayed me. My only sin, I murmured to myself, fading, was falling in love with him.

Liam' s words, a brutal reminder: "Only by living a life worse than death can you comfort my sister' s spirit in heaven." But Ella' s death had nothing to do with me. I never envied her relationship with him; I cherished it.

My love for him burned with a purity he never saw. Now, it must end. On the rooftop, overlooking the city, I prepared to leap. Soon, I would be free.

After two years in hiding, they still found her.

When Liam Stone' s team locked down the hospital, Ava Miller lay on the bed, a skeleton barely covered by skin. She struggled just to move a finger. What was coming had finally come.

The heavy footsteps echoed in the hallway, getting closer.

Ava stared out the window at the maple tree. Fiery red leaves covered the ground, and only a few scattered ones still clung to the branches. Autumn was almost over. Her life was, too.

With a loud bang, the door was thrown open, slamming against the wall.

Liam Stone' s tall figure filled the doorway. His handsome face was a mask, showing no emotion at all.

Hearing the noise, Ava slowly turned her head. A faint smile touched her pale, tired face.

"Long time no see."

She spoke like she was greeting an old friend she hadn' t seen in years. In reality, the man in front of her was her husband.

Liam walked to the side of the bed. His eyes scanned her from head to toe, without a single trace of pity.

"You deserve this."

He still hated her.

The last spark of light in Ava' s eyes died. Her voice grew weaker. "Is that so?"

Silence filled the room.

After a long time, Liam spoke again.

"I won' t let you die so easily. You still have sins to atone for."

He turned and left.

Ava murmured to herself, her voice a bare whisper. "What sin have I committed? My only sin was falling in love with you. It seems loving you means going to hell. I truly regret it..."

After that day, Ava never saw Liam again.

She was taken back to the cage that had once trapped her. The Stone family mansion was just as she remembered it, cold and suffocating, a place where she could never breathe.

Liam hired a professional medical team to treat her. He even imported medical equipment that wasn't available in the country. It seemed he was serious about keeping her alive.

He hated her so much that he was willing to spend a fortune just to keep her by his side, to keep tormenting her.

In a room deep down the first-floor corridor, agonized moans echoed from within.

Ava lay on the floor. Every bone in her body felt like it was being corroded by poison. Pain filled her entire being. It was a living hell.

Mrs. Davis, the housekeeper, came in with a bowl of medicinal soup. Seeing Ava on the floor, she rushed forward, her face full of alarm.

"Madam, are you alright?"

Ava tried to force a comforting smile but couldn't.

Mrs. Davis' s eyes turned red, filled with heartache. Anyone would pity someone who was once so full of life, now tortured by illness to this degree. Only the young master was heartless, leaving her here and forbidding anyone from visiting except the doctors.

She had overheard the doctors. They said the Madam had been critically ill for six months and was now just clinging to life. How did such a gentle and kind woman become this half-dead shell?

Mrs. Davis wiped her eyes. She didn't dare touch Ava, afraid she might accidentally hurt her. Seeing how much Ava was suffering, she turned to get a soft cushion to make her a little more comfortable.

The pain came in waves. Ava bit her lip, trying to endure it, hoping this wave would pass quickly.

When Liam walked in, he saw Ava in this state, barely clinging to life.

Mrs. Davis saw him and quickly spoke. "Young master, the madam' s illness has flared up again. Can you please call the doctor?"

Liam said nothing. The doctor had already told him. This condition could only be endured. There was no other way. Medicine was no longer effective for her.

Liam pressed his lips into a thin line and told Mrs. Davis to leave.

Mrs. Davis hesitated, then turned and walked out. She was just a housekeeper, after all. She had no right to interfere in her employers' affairs.

As she stepped out of the room, Mrs. Davis couldn' t help but plead.

"Young master, the madam' s health is poor. Please don' t torment her."

Liam just waved his hand, dismissing her.

Once they were alone in the room, Ava tried again and again to get up. She didn't want to look so pathetic in front of Liam.

Each attempt to rise, each fall, only made her look more miserable.

The last time, she fell right at Liam' s feet, with no strength left to even try again.

He looked down at her. The woman gasped for air, like a rose about to wither.

Liam squatted, pinching her chin. Her small, palm-sized face was covered in sweat. Her stubborn eyes showed no sign of giving up. She was still struggling.

He felt a hint of pity, and also a bit of mockery.

"To escape me, you didn' t hesitate to use the influence my grandfather left behind. But in just two years, you' re living like a ghost. Where is he? Did that man abandon you?"

Liam' s words were sharp, digging into Ava' s heart. Why did he always misunderstand her? In the two years she was gone, there was no man.

The exhaustion from two years ago washed over her again. Ava took a deep breath and fought back.

"I' m your wife. Why don' t you believe me?"

Liam' s hand slid down to Ava' s collarbone. On her fair skin, only a faint reddish mark remained. Once, his initials had been tattooed there. When they were most in love, they wanted to tell the whole world that they belonged to each other.

Until that incident.

Liam' s sister, Ella, died. Because of Ava.

Hearing the word 'wife,' Liam' s eyes grew cold. "When I trusted you, don' t you know what you did? The only reason you' re still Mrs. Stone is because Olivia Reed pleaded for you."

Olivia Reed. Liam' s childhood friend.

After the incident, Ava couldn' t clear her name. All the evidence pointed to her. While she was desperately searching for clues, Olivia' s people were the first to find Ella' s body.

After the autopsy, the medical examiner found a voice recorder on Ella. Some voices were still preserved. The two most crucial lines of dialogue were:

"My brother' s position in the company isn' t stable enough. Wait two more years, and I' ll make my brother marry you..."

"Why are you stopping me from becoming Mrs. Stone? You don' t actually like your own brother, do you? You' re disgusting."

The second sentence was clearly Ava' s voice.

Liam didn' t believe it at first. But the evidence was presented, and the voice matched Ava' s perfectly. He had no choice but to believe it.

After that, Ava' s parents went bankrupt, and her brother got into a car accident and became disabled. To protect her family, Ava tried to kill herself.

But she was saved. Liam even got her pregnant.

That child, however, was never born.

When she was three months pregnant, Olivia casually threw a used handkerchief into a thinly iced pond. She insisted Ava retrieve it. When Ava refused, one of Liam' s bodyguards kicked her into the pond.

That was how she lost the child.

Afterward, Liam just said, without any emotion, "She can' t even retrieve a handkerchief. So useless."

He never once asked about the child.

Later, Ava learned that Liam never wanted her to have the child in the first place. He had said, "She is not worthy of bearing my child."

After losing the baby, Ava fell into a severe depression. She tried to end her life multiple times. Liam just let her waste away, and when she was on the brink of death, he would have doctors save her. He was using his own method to keep Ava in hell.

The memories flashed through her mind. Liam came back to the present, saying each word clearly.

"Only by living a life worse than death can you comfort my sister' s spirit in heaven."