She had become numb with despair.
'It would be better to die,' she thought. 'Death would be a release, and living wouldn't be so exhausting.'
But she couldn't accept it!
The bitter memories of all these years replayed in her mind—the repeated setbacks, the constant humiliation, the endless compromises she was forced to make.
But after all this time, her love had failed to warm his heart of stone.
He had said he would come save her, and she had firmly believed him, but what was the point in lying to herself?
She was going to die, abandoned by her husband. She had loved him her entire life, only to be cast aside without a moment's hesitation.
At that moment, Annabelle Linton wondered, 'If his gaze hadn't been so resolute, if there had been just a flicker of hesitation, would my heart have hurt this much?'
Her heart ached because he had abandoned her, and it ached because she could no longer find any excuses for him. She had truly been cast aside.
She began to weep in despair.
