A Marriage Beyond Reach

I paused a moment before saying softly, "Let's get divorced, Ian."

It was true that I was an uncouth woman. I grew up in the orphanage, and I had no family other than the old orphanage director. Three days ago, the director passed away and was scheduled to be cremated, and I asked Ian if he could accompany me to the funeral, but he was busy accompanying Jewel and did not pick up any of my calls.

I ran in the rain, trying to get a taxi, only to end up in an accident right outside the building of Langham Corporation. My hands were crushed under the car tires. When the ambulance failed to arrive, I begged the passersby to call Ian.

Ian refused to pick up my calls, but he picked up the call of the kind passerby right away. "Is this Mr. Langham? Your wife got into an accident downstairs…"

"Is this another one of your tactics to reach me when I refuse to pick up your calls?" Ian did not believe the words of the passerby, and I could even hear Jewel's condescending laughter in the background.

I was about to sob in pain, but that call made me stop my tears from flowing. I could not make it to the director's funeral, and all I could do was silently share the feelings in my heart with the director. I told her about how I had so much more to say to her if she were still alive, and how I wanted to tell Ian that the hands that had always treated his migraine were crushed under the tires. I wanted to tell him that poor Tia's hands were in so much pain.

…

Tia was the nickname the director gave me, and it was also what Ian used to call me when we first met during the wonder years of our youth. Growing up in the orphanage made me wary of others, and I was like a prickly porcupine that poked anyone who came near me, but I also got badly bullied by others.

The Langhams had made a donation to the orphanage back then, and the orphanage children stood in two lines to welcome the arrival of their entire family. That was also when the heir to the Langhams, who was in his tweens, went missing.

There was an abandoned warehouse in the orphanage, located in a remote area, where I would always hide from my bullies. I went there, covered with wounds, and it was also there that I found Ian looking back at me coldly.

I helped him hide for two months by delivering food and water to him. It was only later that I found out he had a stepmother whom his father constantly sided with. I would bring him out of the warehouse at night to play in the courtyard, and when he found out the director's nickname for me, he started to call me Tia.

"Tia, bring me a sandwich tomorrow."

"I have a headache, Tia."

We were only children of about ten, and we could not avoid being caught forever. Two months later, news that the Langhams successfully located their young heir trended online. The next time I met him, we had started university.

Ian refused to give up seeing me despite numerous rejections. I worked hard to earn my tuition fees, and as I grew up poor, I did not trust the sweet promises of a rich kid. This continued until we graduated.

Old Mrs. Langham found out about me and called me uncouth, which led to Ian refusing to return to the Langhams. He insisted on working part-time with me while we lived together in a rented basement, and we fell in love.

Ian's migraine started when we were living together in that basement. I learned the art of massaging to help him soothe his migraine, and it worked miraculously on him. Ian used to say that this was the power of true love because the Langhams had hired the best doctors to treat him, but to no avail.

He wanted to buy the most expensive insurance for me, but felt even a billion was not good enough for me because love was priceless. I remember how I laughed at his sweet words, but my hands, which he once felt were worth way more than a billion, were now broken, just like our marriage.

Ian did not believe that I would be willing to divorce the CEO of the Langham Corporation, just like how he believed that I was just pretending to be pitiful by getting myself admitted into the hospital.

After I was discharged, I moved out of the Langhams' villa and into a rented house next to the orphanage. My divorce lawyer checked with me several times to affirm my decision. "Miss Everton, your husband has failed to save your hands while you were married by ignoring your calls. You have the right to request a bigger share of his assets under these circumstances."

I did not agree to the lawyer's suggestion because all I wanted was to get divorced as soon as possible. After that, I focused on seeking medical help for my hands. I had to take better care of myself in a future without Ian.

On the day I was paying respects to the orphanage director at the cemetery, I bumped into Ian.