Self-Redemption After Leaving a Toxic Man

The company had just gone public, and tonight was the celebration banquet. Kieran Blackwood was drunk.

As the laughter and toasts faded, he lay sprawled on the sofa in the private room, completely intoxicated.

I shook my head with a smile and walked over to help him up. “Honey, let’s go home.”

His eyes fluttered open, hazy and unfocused, as he mumbled indistinctly.

I supported him with all my strength.

He grabbed my arm with one hand and traced my face with the other.

The warmth of his fingertips was intoxicating.

But the words that followed shattered me.

"Raven Moonbane, did you see that? I kept my promise to you. The company has gone public. Can you come back to me now?"

I had never seen him so tender, so vulnerable.

And yet—I was not Raven Moonbane.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment.

My hand, still holding him up, stiffened, and pain sliced through my chest.

"Ranran, I did everything you asked for. Aren’t you happy?"

Kieran Blackwood gently wrapped an arm around my waist, resting his head on my shoulder.

He had never spoken to me so softly before.

I used to think he was just a cold person, indifferent to everyone.

But in that moment, I realized—I meant nothing to him.

I shoved him away, my voice trembling.

"Kieran Blackwood, open your damn eyes and look at me. Who am I?"

Perhaps I had pushed too hard—he lost his balance and slumped onto the floor, leaning against the sofa.

"Ranran, I promised you that in this lifetime, I’d only watch movies with you, travel across the country with you. I’ve done it all. And now, I’ve taken the company public. Why won’t you come back?"

Something exploded in my mind.

From dating to marriage, I had begged him so many times to watch a movie with me.

Every time, he would say impatiently, “Movies are fake. What’s the point?”

After we got married, I suggested going on a honeymoon. His response?

"Traveling is a waste of time. It’s meaningless. It’s better to stay home, tend to the garden, and enjoy tea."

I thought he was just an introvert who preferred quiet.

So, to accommodate him, I planted an entire garden of roses—the flowers he loved most.

Now, I finally understood. It wasn’t that he disliked going out.

He just made exceptions for certain people.

"Ranran, I even had Selene Nightshade plant your favorite roses in the yard. I wanted you to see them and be happy when you came back."

He was completely drunk, but in his intoxicated state, he revealed the cruelest truth.

I was stunned.

The roses I had carefully nurtured—weren’t for me.

Holding back my pain, I pulled out my phone and hit record.

"Kieran Blackwood, who is the person you love the most?"

Kieran Blackwood clung tightly to my legs, his voice full of affection.

"Of course, it’s you, Ranran. I’ve only ever loved you."

My heart felt like it was bleeding. My whole body trembled.

"And Selene Nightshade? Do you love her?"

His body tensed. After a brief silence, he muttered,

"You insisted on leaving back then. I was just trying to make you jealous, to get you to come back."

I felt my heart plummet.

All these years, I had believed that when he accepted my love, it was because he cared.

I never realized—I was just a tool for his revenge.

Fury surged within me. I wrenched my hands free from his grasp.

I grabbed a glass of water from the table and threw it in his face.

It was winter, and the icy water snapped him back to reality.

"Selene Nightshade, what the hell is wrong with you?!" He wiped the water from his face, his voice livid.

"Look at me properly! If you want to celebrate, go find your precious Raven Moonbane."

At the mention of her name, his face darkened. Anger flared in his eyes.

"What nonsense are you spouting? I married you. She has nothing to do with this!"

He staggered to his feet and pointed at me furiously.

"Selene Nightshade, don’t think that just because we’re married, you can control everything. You’re overstepping your boundaries!"

Overstepping?

I let out a bitter laugh.

He held me in his arms and whispered someone else’s name—yet I was the one in the wrong?