Tabitha's POV
It struck me that Derek bore a strong resemblance to Ambrose, particularly in his facial expressions. His face seldom betrayed any significant changes, much like at that moment when his emotions were hard to discern from his expression.
I didn't speak until I walked a distance away and asked, "Andrea, are you okay?"
"Of course, I am okay. She is still resorting to these petty tricks, and those remarks she made were clearly intended to provoke me."
As if recalling something, Andrea chuckled, "Truth is, her tricks weren't that smart. She just played on my feelings for him. The more I cared, the easier I got mad. I was onto her games, but I kept falling for them, and it just led to one misunderstanding after another."
"Since it was a misunderstanding, didn't you try to explain?"
Andrea pulled me to the café to sit for a while. She stirred the coffee with a spoon.
She told me about her past.
"If someone truly loves you, they'll have faith in you without needing explanations. They'll stand by you, even when you're wrong. Back then, though, I was too stubborn to see it. I held onto the hope that one day he'd see through her true color and return to me. I did everything. I jumped off buildings, cut myself, took sleeping pills, and even threw myself into the sea.
"Everyone assumed I was trying to force him back, but the truth was, I had reached a breaking point. His hurt became a wound in my heart. It drove me to the brink of sanity, making me moody and restless. In the end, I became the 'madwoman' everyone whispered about."
Andrea liked to drink black coffee, and she didn't add any sugar.
She took a few sips and calmed down a bit. "But who would have thought that I was his mate, the mate bestowed upon him by the Moon Goddess! No one empathized with me. In their eyes, I was just a foolish and stupid person, a failure who couldn't even keep my mate by my side."
I reached out and patted her hand back. "Andrea..."
"It's all water under the bridge, but just a word of advice: steer clear of that woman in the future. She's not as kind as you might think. It took me years to realize why I was so desperate back then. She was orchestrating everything, bribing those around me, keeping tabs on my life and my personality. Every day, fresh bouquets would appear in my bedroom, but unbeknownst to me, she had someone lace them with wolfsbane."
I was stunned. "Wolfsbane?"
"It's a colorless, odorless herbal extract. If someone inhales it for a long time, it'll mess with her nerves, make her emotionally unstable, and eventually drive her crazy, turning her into a real lunatic."
"How could there be such an evil person?"
Andrea's face was serene and at ease. "Tabitha, not everyone in this world is fortunate enough to be born with a silver spoon in their mouth, like you and me. It's not that people from less privileged backgrounds aren't good, but because they've faced adversity and tasted the bitterness of life from a young age, they're willing to do whatever it takes to rise above it. This is their one shot at transforming their own lives, their family's future, and even the destiny of their descendants. Naturally, she's going to seize any opportunity in Ambrose."
"Phoebe had a poor background?"
"Yes. She was an omega, so she had a natural ability to read the room. Maybe she didn't truly love Ambrose, but she played the role of a frail, pitiful woman to secure her place as Mrs. Greenwood, and Ambrose was taken in by her act. Back then, she kept provoking me, and under the influence of drugs, my reactions became increasingly extreme."
"Why didn't you tell Ambrose then?"
Andrea chuckled, "Why should I tell him? They're a match made in heaven for being born bad and born heartless. Whether it was the influence of drugs or something else, my wrist-cutting, drowning, and jumping off buildings were all real. He never cared about me once, and even if I loved him deeply before, that love drained away with my blood. After that, it took me years to physically and mentally recover. Let them be locked together, and never come to harm anyone else."
I looked at Andrea, filled with sympathy.
She went through so much hardship, yet she was still able to face life with strength. It was really not easy.