Chapter 266
“I’m not sure why it started, but at some point, I broke out in rashes and boils all over my body. Silly told everyone I had leprosy, warning them that anyone who got too close would catch it. That lie gave me a brief reprieve–no one came near me–but it also made Silly’s father decide I was useless and not worth keeping around anymore."
“Silly was afraid his father would kill me, so one night he snuck me out. He told me how to escape, and I ran as fast as I could. But it was deep in the woods, a place I’d never been before, and I had no idea where to go–I was completely lost. Eventually, I collapsed by the side of a forest path. As luck would have it, I was found by someone from Silly’s village coming back from chopping wood.”
“In that place, everyone in the village looked out for each other. If they knew a woman had been brought in from outside–bought and married off–they’d all help keep watch. They assumed I was just trying to run away, so they dragged me right back. That time, I got the beating of my life. My wrist never worked properly again after that; I can barely use it, and it still shakes from time to time. That’s when it happened.”
“I nearly died from that beating. Silly and his family had to rush me to the hospital in town to save me. When I saw the doctors in their white coats, I honestly thought I’d finally be rescued. I told one of them everything, begged him to call the police. But he just brushed me off, like he’d seen it all before, and then tried to force himself on me instead.”
“Luckily, I grabbed a pair of scissors to defend myself. Just then, Silly burst in and saw me awake, so he took me back again.”
Jamison’s face grew even darker, clearly furious that someone in his own profession could stoop so low.
Suddenly, he remembered how Ivy had recoiled from him the first time they met, the inexplicable distrust and hostility.
“Is that why you don’t trust doctors? Because of what happened back then?”
Ivy nodded. “I guess so… After examining me, that doctor told Silly’s father it wasn’t leprosy at all, just a severe skin infection. So when I got back to Silly’s house, they started talking again about making me have children.”
“But by then I was so sick I could barely get out of bed. Silly begged his father to wait, said that if I was forced to have a baby like this, the child would be just as weak and broken as I was. For once, his father agreed."
These were things Ivy never thought she’d speak of in this lifetime.
She hadn’t even told Katrina Lester.
Yet here she was, recalling every detail, telling it all to a man.
“I still don’t know what illness I had back then. When it was at its worst, I honestly thought I wouldn’t live to see another sunrise. Each time I opened my eyes and saw sunlight sneaking through a crack in the wall, I realized I’d survived one more day. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if surviving was a good thing–there was so much pain, so much despair, it was almost unbearable.”
“It took about six months before I finally started to recover. Silly told his father he’d treat me well, try to win me over, and maybe one day I’d stop trying to run away and stay with him willingly. He told me, even if I had to pretend, just keep pretending–at least until I was strong enough to cross the mountains on my own. Then, he promised, he’d let me go.”
“I don’t know why I believed someone like him. But I did. And he kept his promise–when I was well enough, he let me escape again."
“That’s enough, Ivy. You don’t have to go on.” Jamison finally stopped her, unable to listen any longer. “I know you can’t forget what happened, but you have to try–try for your own sake. Look ahead, not back.”