The Last Time I Loved Him (Autumn and Ryan)
Chapter 28

Chapter

7

"Ivy, what... what happened to you?"

"Your head... and your hand.. you've lost so much weight."

"It hasn't been that long, but I can barely recognize you. What did Jacob do to you?"

Ellie gently blew on my wounds, her tears falling like broken pearls. I patted her shoulder and said, "It's alright. It doesn't hurt anymore. It's all in the past." My words were calm, but my heart ached. In all this time, Ellie was the only one who cared about me. Everyone else thought I was just being unreasonable. Only she asked me if I was in pain.

As I stood there lost in thought, Ellie suddenly hugged me tightly, her warm embrace silently soothing me. Then she took me to her place, patiently explaining and recommending companies that might suit me.

"Ivy, I'm so glad you knew when to cut your losses."

"You're only thirty, still so young. Your life should be full of possibilities, not... spent as Jacob's mistreated, undervalued maid."

I looked down at my hands, recalling the photo of Jasmine's delicate fingers adorned with a sparkling ring and her perfectly manicured nails. That kind of carefree life, untouched by household burdens, never seemed to belong to me. I spent every day cooking, cleaning, and tending to Jacob's every need. He had a cleanliness obsession and couldn't stand even a single hair on the floor. With the hardwood floors so hard to maintain, I often found myself on my knees, scrubbing them repeatedly. Yet, no matter how spotless I made them, Jacob would always let Jasmine dirty them again, then blame me for being useless, incapable of even handling such trivial tasks.

I'd truly had enough of those endless, thankless days.

Seeing me lost in thought, Ellie patted my shoulder.

"Don't dwell on the past anymore."

"I know."

I held her hand in return. Everyone suffers, but only you can pull yourself out. I'd struggled so hard to climb out of one pit after another-I wasn't going to let myself fall back in.

Determined, I threw myself into preparing for my interviews. I was ready for rejection, but to my surprise, the interviewer was full of praise after our conversation.

"Ms. Davis, it's such a shame someone as talented as you has had such a long gap in your career."

"Our company would be thrilled to have you!"

The interviewer's words took me by surprise. After all those years with Jacob, he'd done nothing but belittle me, eroding my confidence bit by bit. I'd never imagined that someone as "ordinary" as me could shine in the eyes of others. I felt reborn, throwing myself enthusiastically into my new life.

But on moving day, an unexpected visitor showed up in my life.