His Wife by Fate, His Ruin by Choice

I dropped my eyes, ignoring the rotting wooden plaque and bowed deeply.

“Sir James, Miss Julia, I’m sorry.”

“It was my fault for not knowing the rules, but please, Sir, don’t destroy my flowers. I’ll clean everything up.”

James Burn seemed a bit taken aback by my bow. Suddenly, Julia began trembling.

“James, I feel dizzy...”

Her delicate, soft voice snapped James back to attention. With a wave of his hand, he barked, “What are you waiting for? Do it!”

The lush lavender was fed into the grass crusher, turning into purple juice.

“No!” I screamed, desperately lunging forward and clutching whatever I could.

James Burn, startled, let go of Julia Watson, who stumbled back and hit a tree trunk.

“Are you crazy?!”

His eyes were red with fury as he pulled me away until he noticed what I held in my palm: a crushed flower and a broken, rotting wooden plaque.

“You...” he started.

Tears burst from my eyes “you said you couldn’t sleep well... That’s why I planted the lavender. My dad gave it to me to help you sleep.”

The wooden plaque crumbled in my hand as I held it out to him.

“James, I don’t have a home anymore.”

He froze, reaching out as if to embrace me.

But then a scream pierced the air, it was Julia. A cluster of caterpillars had fallen from the birdhouse I’d made, right onto her.

James flinched and rushed forward, pulling Julia away. The caterpillars carried mild toxins, but James Burn used his bare hands to pick them out of her hair.

When he turned back to me, his eyes were full of disgust.

“Almost fooled me with your act.”

“Like throwing bugs, huh? Fine, all of you, stuff the bugs on the ground into her clothes!”

Several maids hurried to obey, scooping up the caterpillars. The gardener grabbed me, holding me tightly.

“I didn’t do it! How could it be me?!”

James snorted, saying nothing. Of course, he hadn’t believed me in a long time. Otherwise, in our past lives, he wouldn’t have accused me of rigging the lottery without even asking.

At first, I still clung to the memory of the Grey Family’s kindness and wanted to warn him that Julia was hiding a secret. But now, I regretted it. I wanted to see him lose it when the truth came out.

So, I stopped struggling and let the caterpillars crawl all over me. The spots they touched reddened, swelled and itched unbearably.

Julia finally calmed down and gently tugged on James’s sleeve.

“Will this be bad? I’m fine now...”

“Julia, you’re just too kind. That’s why people take advantage of you,” he said. “Come on, I’ll take you to the doctor.”

He carried Julia and walked away, leaving me behind.

My body gave out and I collapsed onto the ground. My fingers had dug deep into the soil from trying to endure the pain, mud and blood coating my skin.

Because of James Burn, no one came to help me. I endured the nausea and pain, finally throwing off the caterpillars and staggering to the family doctor.

Inside, I saw James behind a curtain, applying medicine to Julia. Though it was just a simple treatment, Julia gasped dramatically.

By the time he pulled the curtain back, Julia was limp in his arms and his fingers were still wet with medicine.

James glanced at my red, swollen, festering neck and tossed a bottle of potion at me. I was a second too slow, the glass shattered on the floor, spilling the liquid everywhere.

“No need to see a doctor. You’re only good for filth.”

In the Burn Family and in the whole capital, James was like the sky itself. If he said I couldn’t see the doctor, no doctor would even look at me.

I knelt on the floor, half-covered in dirt, applying the potion with my mud-stained hands. When I finally looked up, I saw James tenderly disinfecting Julia’s fingers as if she were made of porcelain.