When the Dream Finally Died

Everyone in their circle said Colby Willis was madly in love with his wife Ryann Fowler.

He would spend astronomical sums to charter a private yacht just to celebrate her birthday. And if some spoiled heir so much as flirted with her, Colby wouldn't hesitate to wipe out that family overnight.

Only Ryann knew the truth. Every night they spent together, after the passion faded, Colby would retreat into his study, lowering his voice as he gently comforted another girl.

That illusion shattered on the night of their fifth wedding anniversary. Colby's secretary, Suzanne Price, was kidnapped, and he completely lost control.

That same night, he had Ryann's younger brother, Charlee Fowler, who was being treated at a psychiatric hospital, abducted. Using the boy's life as leverage, he forced Ryann to confess where Suzanne was.

Colby sat high above her like a king on his throne, looking down coldly at Ryann as she knelt before him.

"Ryann," he said, his voice ice-cold. "I'm asking you one last time. Where did you hide Suzanne?"

Ryann's throat tightened. Her blood felt frozen as she stared at the man she once loved, unable to say a single word in her defense.

This was the third time he had questioned her.

The first time, she stayed silent. Colby had cupped her chin and kissed her deeply. "Don't be stubborn. Tell me everything, and I'll let it go."

The second time, she told him she didn't know. Colby's face turned cold. He walked away and starved her for three days and nights.

This time, he had no patience left. He was ready to kill her brother just to force her to admit a crime she never committed.

On the projection screen, Charlee's terrified face filled her vision. Ryann's tears fell uncontrollably.

"Colby, you know he is my whole life!"

Colby sneered, his eyes devoid of warmth. "Oh? Then when he tried to stab Suzanne, did he ever think about how important she is to me?"

Ryann stared at him in disbelief. The man who once shared her bed now felt terrifyingly unfamiliar.

When Suzanne first appeared, Colby had said taking care of her was nothing more than a charitable gesture.

That very night, he had held Ryann for hours, swearing that she would be his one and only love.

And now, just because Suzanne hadn't answered her phone for a single night, he was ready to throw Ryann's only brother to the sharks.

"Colby," Rhea asked hoarsely, "if I don't say anything, will you really kill my brother?"

Colby leaned down and grabbed her chin. "You're welcome to gamble on it."

On the screen, Charlee, dangling from a rope over a cliff, suddenly dropped. He came dangerously close to falling straight into the open jaws of sharks below.

The poor boy screamed in terror, his voice breaking. "Don't! Ryann, Colby, save me!"

He had no idea that the man he trusted most was the one trying to kill him.

The rope jerked him back up, then slowly lowered him again.

Beside Ryann's ear, her husband spoke with a cold smile, "Ten. Nine. Eight..."

"I really don't know!" Ryann sobbed. "Colby, please, please let him go!"

She completely broke down, slamming her head into the floor again and again until blood streamed down her forehead.

Colby watched her indifferently. "Lying even when death is right in front of you," he said flatly. "Ryann, you disgust me."

The next second, the rope snapped. Ryann saw it clearly-Charlee plunging into the sea as countless sharks swarmed toward him.

Her vision went black, and she lost consciousness.

When she woke again, she was lying in a hospital bed.

Colby sat beside her, his expression gentle as he wiped the sweat from her forehead, as if she has only had a nightmare.

"Another bad dream? You always have nightmares when you're sick. You were unconscious for three days this time-must've been worse than usual."

He went on about how the doctors said she had suffered emotional shock and needed rest.

Then, impatiently, he added, "Suzanne's fine now. Turns out that silly girl flew abroad for fun. That's why she didn't answer my calls. I misunderstood you this time."

Ryann turned her head away, refusing to look at him. A single tear slid from the corner of her eye.

Julian's tone suddenly turned sharp. "But if Charlee hadn't done that to Suzanne and caused her depression, none of this would've happened."

Ryann sat bolt upright, ripping out the IV needle. Blood immediately seeped from the back of her hand.

She grabbed Colby and demanded, "Then where is Charlee?"

Colby's expression remained calm. "He was bitten and has already been sent back to the psychiatric hospital to recover. Don't worry. I know how important he is to you. That day was just a joke."

That sentence ignited every ounce of rage Ryann had suppressed for years. She raised her hand and slapped him hard across the face. "Colby, I want a divorce."

Colby acted as if he hadn't heard a single word she said. As usual, he reached for her hand with a smile. "Whatever it is, we'll talk when we get home. You've suffered this time. I'll cook for you myself to make it up to you."

Ryann yanked her hand back sharply. There was nothing left in her eyes but despair.

No one understood better than she did-Colby would never agree to a divorce.

Since the day Charlee had been forcibly sent to the psychiatric hospital, this was the ninety-ninth time she had asked to end their marriage.

Every single time, he tore the divorce papers to shreds right in front of her. "Ryann, what's between us ends only in death. Don't even think about leaving me."

No matter how far she went, booking out entire nightclubs, letting male escorts serve her alone, creating scandals that turned Colby into a laughingstock.

He still refused to divorce her. He even used his influence to silence every rumor, erasing the scandals as if they had never existed.

He claimed Suzanne was nothing more than a pitiful younger sister he felt sorry for. That the person he truly loved, from beginning to end, was only Ryann.

He said he still wanted to grow old with her, hand in hand, walking beneath the sunset.

Ryann felt cold to the bone. She couldn't understand how things had ended up like this.

How the man who once cherished her like a priceless treasure had become so utterly unrecognizable.

They had grown up together. When Colby pursued her back then, the spectacle had shaken the entire city.

Ninety-nine confessions, each more extravagant than the last.

He rented out an entire private beach, using drones to recreate her favorite Van Gogh Starry Night across the night sky.

He bought every electronic billboard in the city, playing a confession video he recorded himself on loop.

On her birthday, he even made the glass facades of skyscrapers throughout the city display her portrait.

She was finally moved. But her parents were firmly against it.

Her father, a veteran of the business world, could tell this young man was dangerously calculating, hardly a good match.

In response, Colby personally drafted a prenuptial agreement, unconditionally transferring most of his assets to Ryann.

She still remembered that late-autumn day with pouring rain, rare and violent. Colby stood soaked and shivering, yet still knelt there, begging her parents to approve the marriage.

In the end, they gave in.

After the wedding, he treated her with meticulous care.

She was afraid of the cold, so he spared no expense installing a full climate-control system, transforming the entire estate into a perpetual spring.

If she casually praised an artist's work, the next day he would invite the artist personally to paint a portrait of them.

She once believed she had found true love.

Until Suzanne entered their lives.

At first, it was just something she overheard from his assistant- a female student he sponsored often came to the company, and the way she looked at Colby was different.

Ryann didn't think much of it. Women had always surrounded him, and he had always known where to draw the line.

Until one night, in the middle of intimacy, his face buried against her neck, he unconsciously murmured, "Suzanne..."

Her entire body went ice-cold.

When confronted, he held Ryann and explained patiently, saying it was just a publicity stunt-a student thanking her benefactor for the group's image.

"Ryann, trust me, you're the only one in my heart," he said gently.

But after that, his boundaries grew more and more blurred.

He gifted Suzanne limited-edition jewelry, rented her a luxury apartment, and even brought her to exclusive private business dinners-events Ryann herself rarely attended.

Whispers began spreading through their social circle.

When Ryann tearfully confronted him again, all she received was a cold glance. "Are you done making a scene?" he asked.

Then he slammed the door and left.

That was when the thought of divorce first took root.

But before she could even bring it up, disaster followed one blow after another.

Charlee was suddenly accused of attacking Suzanne with a knife. Colby had him thrown straight into a psychiatric hospital and broke the hands that could have made him a world-class pianist.

Ryann knelt in the freezing snow for five hours, begging Colby to investigate the truth until she miscarried and collapsed unconscious.

Even then, the man stayed inside the house, comforting Suzanne. He didn't spare Ryann a single glance.

Later, because Suzanne casually said, "The way he looked at me was disgusting, like a pervert," Ryann's father was forced to jump to his death to atone.

When her mother received the news, she fell gravely ill and passed away soon after.

Overnight, Ryann lost everything.

And Colby's response was cold.

"Suzanne said she's forgiven you. Stop making a fuss. This is the price they deserved to pay," he said.

Ryann looked up sharply, her eyes bloodshot.

"What a price," she said hoarsely. "Just a few careless words from her, and my family lost three lives and a pair of hands!"

And Charlee was beaten into a coma, no one even knew if he would survive.

Colby only replied indifferently, "You should understand, if you touch someone I protect, you'd better be prepared to face the consequences."

In that moment, Ryann finally understood what it meant to be completely, utterly heartbreaking.

Ryann resolved to leave, only to wake up tied hand and foot to the bed, under the pretense of being "forced to rest properly."

She gnawed through the ropes with her teeth. Blood filled her mouth, with several teeth cracked and broken.

When Colby came back and saw her like that, he pulled her into his arms in distress, only for her to bite down viciously on his shoulder.

"If this makes you feel better, then go ahead," he said softly.

He let the blood soak through his shirt, still gently soothing her as if nothing was wrong.

On the day her mother was laid to rest, Suzanne appeared, her arm linked intimately with Colby's.

Ryann went insane, trying to rush forward and confront them, but the bodyguards restrained her tightly.

"I'm here to forgive the you all," Suzanne said hypocritically in front of everyone. "That way, you won't feel so guilty, Ryann."

Colby forced Ryann to apologize to Suzanne in front of her mother's memorial portrait.

After that, Suzanne became Colby's personal secretary.

She said she was afraid of the dark, so Colby moved into her place to keep her company.

She said her kidneys were damaged, and Colby forced Ryann to give her one.

He kept saying it was all to help Ryann atone. But anyone with eyes could see it-somewhere along the way, Colby had fallen for Suzanne without even realizing it.

To the outside world, Colby still gave Ryann her proper status. Everyone thought she should know when to stop pushing her luck.

After all, she had nothing left now-no family, no reputation, only a body stained with scandal. The fact that Colby was still willing to keep her should have been something to be grateful for.

Under the suffocating pressure of each passing day, Ryann slowly broke.

She lashed out at Colby again and again, attempting to escape over and over.

The closest she ever came to freedom, she had already cleared immigration. But Colby reported her to the police as her husband and had her stopped.

He went mad, imprisoning her in his arms, kisses falling like rain.

"You'll always be mine," he whispered hoarsely. "If you dare try to run again, I can't guarantee what'll happen to Charlee."

He locked her away in a sunless basement, declaring his ownership in the most intimate, brutal way.

Suzanne was far from satisfied and often came to provoke her.

The last time, Ryann pinned her to the ground and slapped her dozens of times, until Suzanne passed out.

No one understood why Ryann refused to behave herself.

Only she knew the truth. She was at the end of her strength.

Dazed all day, hair falling out in handfuls, pills became the only thing keeping her conscious.

Colby never knew any of this.

He didn't know his wife was on the verge of madness.

Her only way out was to escape that terrifying man.

The tide of memories slowly receded. Ryann stood outside the hospital as Colby drove up. Her thin clothes did nothing against the cold wind, but he didn't notice.

The old Colby would have prepared a thick coat in the car. He knew she cared about appearances and would rather freeze than put on extra layers.

Now, when she habitually opened the front passenger door, he reminded her impatiently, "Sit in the back. Don't close the window-the ice cream will melt."

Ryann froze mid-motion.

The seat that used to belong to her was now piled with childish plush toys and overly sweet snacks.

A cup of ice cream was placed carefully in the center, obviously meant for Suzanne.

She had grown almost numb to this kind of pain. After closing the door, she said softly, "I want to see Charlee."

Colby's expression cooled. "Why do you need to see him again?"

"Today's his birthday," Ryann said quietly. "You promised that every year, we'd be together on this day."

He drove steadily. After a long pause, he finally responded, "Mm."

The psychiatric ward was dim, lit only by a small window near the ceiling that let in a sliver of light.

Charlee was curled up in the corner, barely conscious. He didn't even notice when Ryann arrived.

She wrapped her arms around him and broke down completely.

"I'm sorry... I married the wrong man. I'm so sorry..."

Charlee's body stirred. Feeling her tears, clarity flickered briefly in his eyes.

He squeezed her hand and spoke with all the strength he had left, "Mom and Dad... left something for us."

From under the bed, he pulled out several yellowed pages. The first one was unmistakable-divorce papers.

Along with it were documents for two fake identities, one for each of them.

She remembered now.

It was the divorce papers her parents had forced Colby to sign the year she got married. The last escape route they had prepared for her.

Ryann immediately contacted the only lawyer she trusted. After carefully reviewing the documents, the lawyer nodded. "With this, you're legally free."

Tears streamed down Ryann's face.

That very day, she went through the procedures to cancel both her and Charlee's registered identities.

One month at most. Then, she would take Charlee and disappear far away.

From then on, she would never see that man again.