THE BETA IS MINE

The howling wind swept through the night, with raindrops the size of beans pounding against the ground.

Vivian Shaw rubbed her icy hands together as she made her way upstairs.

“Bang.”

The loud crash of something hitting the floor echoed through the space.

She opened the door to a pungent smell of smoke, and it was hard to imagine how many cigarettes Damon Shaw had smoked.

Damon was slumped on the sofa, and upon seeing her, a flash of fierceness crossed his eyes. He lifted the ashtray from the table and hurled it at Vivian.

Before she could react, a sharp pain shot through her forehead, and a warm liquid began to flow.

“Get out!” was the only word that escaped Damons lips.

His face was flushed, and his gaze was a bit dazed, and looking at the empty bottles scattered around him...

He was utterly drunk.

Vivian lowered her head, not even crying out in pain. She silently squatted down and began to clean up.

“I said get out, do you hear me!” Drunk, Damon kicked at her, “Vivian Shaw, how cheap can you be? You still won’t leave like this!”

Off-balance, Vivian fell, tears welling up in her eyes.

The pain in her forehead was far from the worst; the pain in her heart was much more severe.

From eighteen to twenty-eight, she had been with him for ten whole years.

She once thought that true love could warm a cold heart, only to find out how foolish she had been.

There are paths over mountains, and boats to cross the seas, but there is no path to anothers heart.

Clamping her lips tightly, Vivian stood up again, trying to help him to his room to rest.

However, Damon grabbed her collar, his eyes like they could strip her alive: “Vivian, tell me. What did she say to you before she left?”

Her body instantly stiffened, ice-cold all over.

Vivian stared blankly at the man in front of her, hesitated for a moment: “You’re drunk.”

“What did she say to you before she left!” Damon’s eyes turned red as he shouted.

After the outburst, the man suddenly seemed vulnerable, whispering softly: “Laura, why did you leave without saying goodbye?”

That name was like a knife thrust into Vivian’s chest.

Laura Lin, the woman Damon Shaw treasured as life itself, the love of his life.

And that woman, before she left, had specifically sought her out and said many things.

Those words were cruel, and Vivian couldn’t bring herself to say them; she was afraid of hurting Damon’s heart, she didn’t want him to be hurt in the slightest.

No matter how Damon pressed, she could only say it had nothing to do with him.

But the more she did so, the more Damon believed that Vivian was behind Laura’s departure, and for years, he vented all his anger on her.

“I’ll make you some sobering tea,” Vivian said, about to turn around, but Damon pulled her towards the sofa and pressed her down.

“What are you doing?” Vivian panicked, her eyes filled with fear.

He held her chin roughly, Damon looked at her sarcastically: “You wanted this, didn’t you? Fine, I’ll give it to you.”

Before Vivian could react, the intense pain made her want to clench her teeth.

The man moved mechanically, but there was no love in his eyes.

“Now, are you satisfied? Can you tell me what she said?”

Vivian bit her lip tightly and said nothing, her heart cooling bit by bit; this was the man she had loved for ten years.

Afterward, Damon, drunk, mumbled a sentence and lost his last bit of strength, collapsing onto the sofa.

Tears flowed silently; she had always been a tool for him to calm his anger.

Vivian grabbed a relatively intact T-shirt to cover herself.

With only a bottle of wine left, Vivian stood on the balcony, drinking alone in solitude.

It was a bit astringent, yet it had a unique flavor.