\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 9\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bryant half-knelt on the floor, tears falling one after another onto my white shroud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He began talking to himself, \u201cActually, the time you saved me wasn\u2019t the first time I saw you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time was at a school lecture. You were the student\u00a0<\/p>\n
representative, giving a speech.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom that day on, I started noticing you. They said your family was poor, so I bought that apartment and rented it to you. Later, when my asthma hit, you saved me and took me back to that place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you were different from us, like a sunflower. No matter how hard life got, you\u2019d just keep living.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then, I truly wanted to call off my engagement with Corinne and spend the rest of my life with you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you stood at Francine\u2019s funeral, holding that paternity test\u00a0<\/p>\n
result\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bryant suddenly stopped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A long moment later, his voice choked as he continued, \u201cI felt deceived. The sunflower in my heart was actually like a bug from the gutter\u2026 It made me feel \u2026 sick!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes. Sick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was why, after our marriage, he constantly made long-distance\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.00%\u00a0<\/p>\n
1018\u00a0<\/p>\n
calls to Corinne, even flew over for her birthday, then threw his shirt with lipstick stains at me to wash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was why, every drunken night, he held me but kept calling Corinne\u2019s name. Then the next morning, sober, he\u2019d tell me, \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t mistaken you for Cori, I wouldn\u2019t have touched you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was why, when the kidnappers threatened him with my life, he chose to let me die and, at the same time, placed our wedding ring around Corinne\u2019s neck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He covered his face with his hands, but tears streamed violently through his fingers. \u201cOnly today do I realize that the sick one is me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI pushed you into the abyss, again and again, when you loved me\u00a0<\/p>\n
most\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I\u2026 I promised\u2026 I promised to give you a home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yes, Bryant promised to give me a home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was why I endured his disgust, his humiliation, telling myself over and over that he just couldn\u2019t accept Corinne being replaced, and it would get better in the future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry\u2026 I\u2019m so sorry, Marjorie. Wake up, please!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me a chance to make it up to you, okay?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMarjorie, wake up. Please wake up!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJorie, say something to me, please!\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHoney\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
He called my name over and over in the morgue. But he would never\u00a0<\/p>\n
33.96%\u00a0<\/p>\n
10.18\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ch\u00a0<\/p>\n
238 VOUCHELS\u00a0<\/p>\n
get an answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He went from kneeling on one knee to kneeling fully on both.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes were vacant, but he kept calling my name, as if we had once been so deeply in love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched the grief in his eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
How I wished he would lift the shroud and look at my body. I wanted him to see the bright eyes he once praised were now just two empty sockets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he saw them, would he still act like a devoted husband so shamelessly?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, the white sheet covering me was finally lifted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bryant stayed with my body in the morgue for three days and nights. He didn\u2019t eat or sleep, just kept calling my name until his throat bled. But still, he wouldn\u2019t stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just like when I begged him to save me, I\u2019d cried until my throat bled\u00a0<\/p>\n
too.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I said in my heart, \u201cSo you see, Bryant, fate is fair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI never got your rescue back then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now, you\u2019ll never have me back.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
72.202\u00a0<\/p>\n
1018\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Moon-Cursed Princess by Mark Twain 9 \u00a0 Chapter 9\u00a0 Bryant half-knelt on the floor, tears falling one after another onto […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-your-life-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}