After I Died, My Husband Went Mad - Chapter 173

“Bella.”

Now, calling her name— a name that felt like a labyrinth— Dehart’s eyelashes trembled.

On the other side of the door was Bella. Not Sebelia Wheddon or Sebelia Inverness, but Bella.

But what good is that distinction?

‘I’ve never once truly known the real you.’

He didn’t even try to understand. Under the facade of marriage, he did nothing, merely waiting for her to come to him, only to end up ruining everything.

“Listen… I…”

Was he trying to make excuses? The horrific realization split his heart into two.

A stifled breath escaped from his mouth. Dehart clenched his jaw, feeling as if the fiery lump in his chest might burst out of his throat at any moment.

‘What right do I have?’

Dehart recalled the report from the agent sent to the center. He thought again about Sebelia’s life that was written in it. An unbearable ache twisted inside him.

‘Damn it.’

The Sebelia Wheddon he once knew had been the beloved youngest of the Wheddon family. Despite being an illegitimate child, she had been so precious that she was kept hidden from the outside world, a treasure that was never meant to be let go of, not even to Inverness in the end.

Sebelia Inverness had been the same. She grew up without a care in the world, becoming a naive noblewoman, ignorant of the ways of the world.

Even after getting close to Sebelia and giving her his heart, his perception of her had never escaped that mold. And when, in his foolishness, he tried to play behind-the-scenes games and got caught, Dehart had felt a sense of release.

He was angry at the thought that now he could easily tie her up without worrying. He had secretly felt that the situation was falling in his favor.

He didn’t even see her suffering in front of him, presuming her tears were crocodile tears, judging her and making decisions according to his whims.

‘I didn’t even know that you saw our marriage as an escape.’

He didn’t know that her feelings for him were genuine, and he never thought to understand. Instead, he pushed her away. Isolated her, making her heart bruise with guilt, slowly suffocating her.

‘I.’

I, of all people, did that. He, who had lived a life in silence, choked the breath out of her once more. Even the single word of courage she managed to speak, he coldly dismissed, leaving her unable to raise her head in humiliation.

“Ugh…”

And all of it came back to him as the price he had to pay.

Dehart realized only then that he had clenched his fists tightly. His nails dug into the palms of his hands, and blood began to flow down his wrists.

A cold realization swept over him, hollowing out his chest.

‘How dare I ask her to open the door for me?’

Wasn’t it really a plea to understand why he was sorry?

It felt like being hit on the back of the head with a hammer. Why hadn’t he seen it sooner? He sneered at his own foolishness. If he were her, he would never want to see his face again.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

His parched lips moved roughly. His voice, filled with cracks, barely squeezed out between his swollen throat.

“I must have been out of my mind for a moment.”

The man who didn’t even deserve to cry let out his broken voice, but gnashed his lips in embarrassment. Yet, a voice like a beam of light pierced his eardrums.

“Wait.”

The sound of an unlubricated hinge moving echoed, and in the corridor that had been filled only with cold shadows and moonlight, a soft, warm light scattered like a handful of sunbeams.

“Dehart.”

And Dehart realized that Sebelia’s hair was beginning to return to its golden hue. Her brown hair, which had fallen just past her shoulders, was slowly losing its dullness.

It was a color that could not be hidden, like the midday sun. The brilliant gold, like budding sprouts, shone through the soft brown. Then, a voice, trembling in confusion, filled Dehart’s ears.

“Why… are you crying?”

This was tears. Dehart, still in shock, realized late that the shimmering on the surface of the water was not from Sebelia, but from tears. Despair rose from the depths, ringing in his head like a loud thud.

“Bella, I… I…”

Tears, which had been held back, began to fall. Like a dam breaking or a shattered glass, the feelings that had been so tightly contained inside spilled out with sadness. Stumbling into the room, he opened his mouth shamelessly.

“I didn’t know.”

“….”

“But now I realize that was my fault too.”

Where had all the tears been hidden within this man? Sebelia, who had locked the door and turned around, looked at him in astonishment as she saw him cry.