บท 1: Lethea La Roche

Beep beep beep!!!

A loud beeping machine echoed inside a massive room with intricate gold carving walls and modern facilities and furniture. A beautiful woman lay in the center of the luxurious room.

"Argh, my head is breaking in half," the woman exclaimed as she held her head slowly to combat the dizziness.

"Finally I'm awake, After all my sins, God still pities a woman like me" the woman mumbled with a broken voice, as small tears appear in her eyes. She is still perplexed that she has awoken from the agony of being in a coma. She hangs her head low and tears well up in her eyes as she recalls all of her sins.

Lethea Sy La Roche was the previous Heiress of the La Roche Conglomerate, one of Europe's largest conglomerate empires, but that was what people called her in the past. In the present, a 35-year-old divorced woman is living paycheck to paycheck in her small apartment, trying to make ends meet.

But before she lost her position, she was an elegant, noble, and ambitious famous heiress of the La Roche Conglomerate, and she was admired by most high-society women. Despite her golden spoon status, she was known as a spoiled and rotten personality who only thinks of herself.

She despises her grandfather for allowing her to marry a commoner military man, and she despises her father for ignoring her since childhood and marrying another woman after her mother died, resulting in a new child only a year younger than her, who took away all of her father's affections.

Everything was bottled up inside Thea's heart. She began planning to make their lives a living hell by stealing all of their happiness as they stole hers. Thea was consumed by hatred, jealousy, and greed. She blamed them for her misery.

Thea's greed for power and wealth grew as she began to scheme with the source of all their wealth, spreading scandal after scandal to destroy her father's reputation and drag her kind sister and stepmother's name.

Because of these issues, the board of directors loses faith in Thea's father. As a result of her strategy, Thea was named the new CEO of La Roche Empire.

To become more powerful, Thea must rid herself of her flaws, which can only be accomplished by divorcing her commoner husband. She was embarrassed to be married to a commoner like him, so she makes it a point to show everyone that she despises her husband and humiliates his origins at every gathering and event.

Her fame, wealth, and power, however, do not last long. Because of her greed and selfishness, Thea's grandfather disowned her and deprived her of all her wealth.

Thea felt betrayed, and her miserable heart competed as she plotted the most heinous of actions, bombing the La Roche Conglomerate. She reasoned that if she couldn't have it, no one would ever own the La Roche.

Her plan was successful, resulting in the deaths of several people, including her father and grandfather.

Was she pleased with the outcome? The answer is clearly and unambiguously "NO."

Following the bombing incident, Thea is imprisoned and released after a few years due to insufficient evidence. She felt emptiness now that she had nothing to be proud of, realizing that wealth and fame meant nothing.

Does she fell sorry about it? 'YES,' is the answer.

But she can never get them back. They had all vanished. She was left with only regrets and misery by her side. She was completely alone.

With a twisted smile and a whispery voice, Thea opens her wet eyes, stopping herself from recalling the painful memories. "I earned it." Blankly staring at the white ceiling.

Then a flood of agonizing memories engulfed her throbbing mind.

It was late at night when Thea finished her shift at her third job of the day and decided to take the short route home. She strolled through the dark alley alone, unaware of the danger lurking around her.

She doesn't notice when a huge man grabs her from behind and covers her mouth, Thea tries to struggle but she is too small compared to the massive arms blocking her movement, her eyes immediately water in pain, and her whole body becomes numb, and her heart races furiously. She was poison.

Thea then heard the man's terrifying voice mocking her. "DIE".

Everything went dark.

She awoke with aching pain. Thea can't feel anything because her entire body has gone numb, and her eyes and lips are closed as if she's already dead. All she can hear is the nurse's mocking voice. A week later, she learns from doctors that she was in a coma and brain conscious, which means she was aware of her surroundings despite having a dead-like body.

Thea wasn't sure if being brain conscious was a good or bad thing because she couldn't do anything with her vegetable body. She just wanted to end her misery but couldn't even open her lips or bite her tongue.

Months passed, and doctors were concerned about who to name as her guardian because she had no visitors or relatives claiming her. As a result, she is now in the care of social workers.

Being in a coma with no one caring for her was a hellish experience for Thea. She is wet and dirty for a week, the nurse ignores her needs, and the social workers only come once every two months.

No one came to see her for a year. She simply laughed it off. Thea's body is numb from all the pain, but not to the tormenting pain of being alone.

"I deserve it," she said to herself in her conscious mind, like a prayer she repeats to herself to feel better.

A year passed, and the social worker who looked after Thea abruptly stopped showing up for a year. She wondered why, but she couldn't do anything. Thea was left without anyone in the hospital.

She wished to commit suicide. She wanted to end her misery, and she has no idea why they kept her alive. But everything changed when a surprise visitor appeared in her bed.

Her light, her hope, came.

It was late at night when Thea's consciousness was awakened by the sound of a door slamming. She can sense that the person stopped for a moment and felt a warm gaze penetrating her skin, then she hears hurried footsteps walking towards her, and with a flash, her entire face was buried in some person's neck. Thea felt the person's strong embrace. After a year in bed, it was her first skin-to-skin contact.

It was warmer. Something tickled inside Thea's chest.

Thea's dry face began to wet not from her own sweat, but from the tears of the huge man who was tightly hugging her. Thea's nostrils were filled with a familiar scent she never expected to smell in this situation, let alone with this person.

But what surprises Thea the most is that this man is known for his stoic hard face. She had never seen him cry or show his emotions in their ten years of marriage. But now he was crying uncontrollably for her.

He was already her ex-husband.

Thea wanted to cry, she wanted to hug him and immerse herself in this person's arms, this man will cry for her, after all the sins she committed against him, after all the humiliation and difficulty she imposed on him and his family.

He had come to see her.

A month has already passed. Since the arrival of Thea's ex-husband. He was by her side throughout her recovery. Every day, Thea and her ex-husband went through this routine.

Every morning, Thea looked forward to him holding her hands and speaking softly to her, encouraging her to recover quickly. Every night, she would listen in on his army activities. In comparison to their marriage life before the divorce, Thea felt closer to her ex-husband now.

She felt a lot of strength from him encouraging her to heal right away. How come the person she humiliated and ignored, the person she did not splurge with love and affection, was the only one who helped her when she was at her worst? She expects it to be her sister or stepmother, but she never imagined her ex-husband actively helping her.

This was the only time in her 35 years of existence that she felt treasured and loved. It's ironic that she felt it with her ex-husband, whom she despised the most. She squandered all of her time seeking attention from others when she was destined to be happy from the start when she married Erick, yet she became so blinded by greed and jealousy that she forgot the most important treasure she has, Erick her husband.

But it's all an illusion for her now, a dream that will never come true because she learned in the news before her accident that Erick is getting married. Thea was aware of this because she felt Erick's wedding ring every time he touched her hand. Despite the fact that it was heartbreaking to confirm it herself, she chose to ignore it and cherish the time they had together in the hospital. And Erick was only trying to help her recover.

She kept telling herself that it was all an act of compassion for her. Nothing more nor less.

Thea covered her face with her hands as she sobbed. She should be relieved to have awoken from her coma and to finally face Ericks. But Thea was afraid to face the reality that her small happiness would soon come to an end, and Erick would no longer be responsible for her because Erick now belongs to another woman. He was no longer her husband.

"Is this my punishment?"

Thea continues to break down and cry as she wraps her trembling arms around herself, tears streaming from her eyes.

Regret and anguish.

"Now that I'm awake, Erick, I will return the favor someday; even if I can't have you, let me love you from afar," Thea promised.