Chapter 170

Chapter 170
Sheryl's POV

I stared at him, genuinely surprised. "Alex is Cherisse's cousin?" This connection had never been mentioned before.

"Alex and my uncle Darren aren't just employer and secretary—they're conspirators. You were right all along when you suspected Darren wanted to take over my company. Cherisse was his plant, his eyes and ears."

Each sentence knocked away another brick in the wall of what I thought I knew about our life together.

"I've debated for years whether to tell you these things," Rhett continued. "Should I protect you by keeping you innocent, or should I let you carry these burdens with me? If I'd known that my silence would push you further away each time, I would have told you everything from the beginning."

He placed his phone on the small table between us and played a video.

My breath caught as Sarah, Cherisse's housekeeper, appeared on screen, kneeling at the entrance of Riverland Medical, tears streaming down her weathered face.

"Mrs. Hayes, I deserve to die for what I've done," she sobbed, then proceeded to confess everything—how Cherisse had manipulated her into sowing discord between Rhett and me, the countless lies and schemes.

By the time the video ended, we had reached the apex of the wheel's rotation. Tears blurred my vision as I struggled to process what I'd seen.

"I understand now that our fundamental problem was never Cherisse," I said, my voice wavering. "It was that we didn't trust each other enough."

Rhett moved to kneel before me, taking my hands in his. "I know. I kept too many secrets, and that eroded your trust."

His thumbs traced gentle circles on the backs of my hands. "When James kidnapped you, I was frantic—ready to kill him with my bare hands."

"But my mother was kidnapped at the same time. Darren orchestrated it deliberately." Rhett's eyes glistened. "He knew that no matter who I chose to save, I would lose one of the most important women in my life."

"They demanded I come alone to save my mother, or she wouldn't survive until I found her." A tear slid down his cheek. "Sheryl, I had no choice... I couldn't choose between you and my mother. If I could only save one, it would have to be her." His grip on my hands tightened painfully. "And then I would have died with you."

My heart constricted at his words, and I bit my lip hard to keep from sobbing outright.

"About the birth control..." His voice was raw. "I was wrong to hide it from you. It wasn't that I didn't want children with you—I was afraid of losing you. Having a weakness is terrifying. You are my weakness, and I didn't want a child to become yours."

Tears streamed down my face as I struggled to find my voice.

"Can you honestly say you never used me?" I choked out. "That you never hurt me intentionally? All your kindness, all your apologies and compromises—weren't they just to secure the Hayes shares?"

Without hesitation, Rhett shook his head vehemently. "Those shares mean nothing compared to you!"

I looked down at him, tears falling onto his upturned face. "Rhett, too many lies will come back to haunt you."

His smile was bitter. "Making you disappointed enough to leave me—that's my punishment."

I gave a pained laugh. "What about Vanessa? She claimed she saved my life a year ago. What was that about?"

Rhett's grip on my hands loosened, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "It's true. A year ago, you were in an accident. You lost a lot of blood."

"Who hit me? One of your enemies?"

"I did."

Those two words froze my heart. I closed my eyes, letting tears flow freely.

"I want to get off," I whispered. I couldn't bear to hear any more.

The Ferris wheel had stopped at the very top, suspended in midair.

I pushed him away and lunged for the door, desperate to escape. "Let me out! I need to get out!"

"Sheryl!" Rhett tried to restrain me, but I was beyond reason, pounding on the glass, screaming.

"Let me out! You liar! I never want to see you again! Let me out!"

When I couldn't break through the door, I turned my fury on him, slapping him hard across the face. "Get away from me!"

Then came a shocking sound—the sharp crack of a hand against flesh. But it wasn't my hand.

Rhett had slapped himself. Twice. Hard enough to leave his cheek reddened.

"I deserve to die for this," he whispered.

I stared at his self-inflicted punishment, tears streaming down my face.

He took my limp hands in his, and then—the proud, arrogant Rhett Hayes slowly sank to his knees before me.

The sound of his knees hitting the floor made me gasp and step back. I had never seen him humble himself like this. Never.

Tears fell from his bloodshot eyes as he knelt there, unable to meet my gaze.

My legs nearly gave out beneath me.

"Why?" I managed, my throat burning with the effort.

"If I said it was an accident, would you believe me?" He finally looked up, his expression painfully vulnerable, like a child begging forgiveness.

I remained silent.

"You discovered the truth about the shares a year ago," he continued quietly. "You threatened divorce then too, just like now. You were furious, wouldn't listen to reason. You took my car and drove away..."

He swallowed hard. "But someone had tampered with the brakes. You couldn't stop as you approached a cliff edge. I had no choice—I rammed your car from the side to stop you. You were injured, unconscious for days..."

His voice broke completely as he pulled me against him, his body shaking with silent sobs.

"It was an accident. Just an accident. I never meant to hurt you..."

He spoke of how he would have given his own kidney to save me, how selfish he'd been to keep me by his side despite the dangers surrounding him.

"I was arrogant enough to think I was protecting you by keeping secrets. I thought if I pretended not to care, you'd be safe."

"My biggest regret was not telling you about your hospitalization. I was afraid you'd hate me, just as you do now. I thought since you lost the memory of the accident... we could pretend it never happened."

He had feared that I, who he believed never truly loved him, would leave him forever if I knew the truth. So he had made the decision to let me forget.

"I spent every moment regretting that I couldn't protect you, praying you would wake up."

"I was wrong. So wrong," he whispered. "Can you ever forgive me?"

I stood there, legs weak, overwhelmed by everything I'd just learned. All of Rhett's actions and omissions, intentional or not, had formed an invisible web around me, suffocating me.

I couldn't answer his plea for forgiveness.

The Ferris wheel began moving again, bringing us slowly back to earth. For the next twenty minutes, we sat in silence. I had wiped away my tears and stared out the window, while Rhett watched me intensely from across the cabin.

He couldn't be sure if, after learning all this, I would still want our divorce.

Sunlight streamed through the glass, creating a golden barrier between us on the small table.

When we finally reached the ground and the door unlocked, I moved quickly to escape. I needed air, space to think, time to reconsider everything about our relationship.

Just as I was about to step out, a hand caught mine—white-knuckled and cooler than usual.

Rhett looked up, the redness still evident in his eyes.

When he spoke, his voice had regained its familiar crispness. "Sheryl, you always say I don't love you." His lips curved into a bitter smile. "Do you know how many years I've loved you?"

I didn't move or turn, but my fingertips trembled in his grasp, betraying my emotional turmoil.

His voice continued behind me, measured and deliberate: "I've loved you since I was seven years old. For almost twenty years now."

The hand he held shook uncontrollably at his words.

Rhett gazed at my back, his deep eyes reflecting pain. "No one ever taught me what love is, or how to love properly. I could only try to keep you by my side, giving you everything I thought you wanted."

"I know I went about it all wrong, but that doesn't mean I didn't love you."

"If you still want to leave... I have no one to blame but myself."