The White Dress He Could Never Forgive

Five years into our marriage, Brain could have ripped out his heart and handed it to me, but there was one taboo he would never allow. I could not wear my favorite white dress in front of him. At first, I did not believe in that superstition and wore one twice. The first time, he made me strip naked and kneel in the courtyard as punishment. The second time, he tore my white dress to shreds with his own hands and had someone throw me into the water. After I was rescued, I ran a high fever, and when I woke up, I furiously demanded a divorce. Brain held me with guilt written all over his face and apologized in a trembling voice: “I’m sorry, I thought of my sister who passed away…” “Aria, promise me you won’t wear white dresses again, okay?” Only then did I learn that Brain’s younger sister had been wearing a white dress when she was pinned down in an alley, violated, and tortured to death. From then on, the color white became a taboo in his eyes. I never dared wear white again, afraid that Brain would be triggered by the sight. But then, on our wedding anniversary, I went to attend a dinner and was hit by a girl’s car until I passed out. In my hazy consciousness, I saw Brain run over in panic, but he did not even look at me. He hugged the frightened girl and comforted her again and again. That girl made a scene about jumping off the rooftop, her skirt swaying like a pure white dove. In the end, Brain kissed her until her legs went weak, then lifted her by the waist and carried her into the hotel. At that moment, I knew we were completely over. 1 Fortunately, the car accident was not serious. My head had only slammed hard against the car door, leaving me with a mild concussion. When I woke up, I was already in the hospital. “Five minutes. I want all the information on that girl.” I handed the bodyguard the photo I had taken with my phone before fainting. He pushed up his sunglasses, nodded, and turned to leave. Very soon. The information was sent to my phone. That girl was named Jessica. What she loved wearing most was a white dress, and the bodyguard had also contacted a private detective, who took over a hundred intimate photos of her and Brain. “According to the investigation, Mr. Wilson and this girl met at a university.” “Half a year ago, Mr. Wilson went to the university for a charity event, exchanged contact information with this girl named Jessica, and afterward, Mr. Wilson bought her a single apartment near the school.” “That is also where they… often meet for dates.” The bodyguard lifted his eyes and glanced at me. “And their fixed date time is every Saturday.” I silently looked at the photos one by one. A bitter smile appeared on my face. No wonder ever since half a year ago, Brain, who had never taken the initiative to work overtime, had stopped coming home on Saturdays. His explanation was that the company had launched a new project. It required short business trips. And every time that night came, he never replied to any of my messages. So it turned out he had another home outside. When Brain came back, his eyes were full of exhaustion, but he smiled and handed me a gift box. “Aria, something urgent came up at the company last night and delayed me, so I didn’t make it to that restaurant. You must have waited a long time, right?” “This is the gift I brought you. I should have given it to you yesterday.” Brain opened it on his own to show me, but he did not notice my expression. “It’s fine. I didn’t go to that restaurant either.” Because on the way there, I got into a car accident. And the person who caused the accident was his little girl, Jessica. When the accident happened, that little girl called him in panic, and Brain only focused on comforting her, never once looking up. If he had looked just once, he would have known. The person she hit was the wife he had been about to meet. When Brain heard that I also had not gone to that restaurant, he let out a sigh of relief. “Good thing you didn’t go, and you didn’t wait there for nothing.” “How about this? I have time the day after tomorrow, so we can celebrate our wedding anniversary again…” Before he could finish speaking, the words got stuck in his throat, and his face turned deathly pale the next second. I placed that stack of intimate photos in front of him. “Brain, explain this.” “What exactly is going on with this girl?” Brain’s expression stiffened. He stared hard at the photos for a long time, and when he reacted, his gaze grew somewhat panicked. “Amy, you investigated me?” Seeing the veins bulging on the back of his hand, I could not help but sneer. “There had to be something there for me to investigate.” If I had not gotten into a car accident yesterday and personally watched him carry another girl right under my nose, I never would have believed that Brain, who loved me like his life depended on it, could actually cheat on me. “Care to explain?” I smiled without warmth. “If you’re too lazy to make excuses, then let’s just divorce.” When he saw me throw out the divorce agreement, Brain’s face changed instantly. “Aria, don’t overthink it.” “These photos are all misunderstandings.” I listened in silence as Brain explained with a frown, without blushing or his heart skipping a beat: “I know you must be very curious why I’m close to her, and I can tell you the answer—” 2 “Aria, Lili is the same age as my sister. I only see her as a younger sister.” Brain’s younger sister was named Lily. Even their names sounded alike. If I had not seen Brain kiss her with my own eyes, I might really have believed him. “Brain, do you think I’m stupid?” I threw the photo of them kissing into his face. “You see her as a younger sister?” “The kind you can sleep with?” When those photos appeared before me one after another, I did not get angry, nor did I cry or make a scene. Brain had carried that girl by the waist into a hotel, and what would happen next was already obvious. I had already guessed the result and just wanted to see how Brain would explain it. “Aria…” Brain’s voice was heavy with pain and mixed with unbearable emotion. “I admit that Lili does have feelings for me, but I never accepted them, and I didn’t have the heart to ruin a young girl’s feelings.” “You know how terribly my sister died back then.” “I only see her as a younger sister and wanted to make up for things through her.” “In this photo, she was the one who kissed me. I didn’t refuse…” “Aria, I promise there won’t be a next time.” He knelt on one knee before me, his face full of devotion. In the five years after our marriage, Brain had rarely made this kind of mistake. He had always had strong boundaries and rejected any girl who tried to get close. But now he had not only fallen. He was also trying every possible way to cover for himself. I smiled. “Fine. Since nothing is going on between you two, take back the apartment she lives in, and I’ll pretend nothing ever happened between you.” I stared into Brain’s eyes. But he frowned. “No.” “Lili doesn’t get along with her roommates and has already been isolated by her classmates. If I kick her out, she’ll have nowhere to live.” I laughed. The scene from the car accident that night suddenly appeared before my eyes. She had clearly hit me while driving illegally, yet she acted like the victim and made a scene about jumping off a building. “Brain, I hit her because I was careless. I don’t want to go to jail. Can you settle it for me?” She cried pitifully as she begged Brain. “And that woman was still out driving in the middle of the night, so she’s responsible too.” In the end, Brain softened and took her to the hotel. And I had been knocked unconscious. If a kind passerby had not called an ambulance, I had no idea how long I would have been lying unconscious on the road. “Fine. Since I gave you a chance and you didn’t cherish it—” I threw out a lawsuit document. “Then don’t blame me for suing Jessica for hit-and-run.” Brain suddenly raised his head, and his face changed at once. “What hit-and-run?” Brain practically snatched the document from my hand. When he raised his head again, his eyes held a few shades of unreadable darkness. “The person who was hit that night was you?” He did not worry about my injuries, nor did he worry about how things ended for me that day. Instead, he closed his eyes and continued to plead for her. “Aria, let her go.” “She’s young and immature. That day, she had argued with me, so she drove illegally.” “And she’s planning to take the civil service exam in the future. She can’t go to jail, and she especially can’t have a criminal record.” I had already asked around, and that little girl was stubborn, refusing to accept Brain’s money and refusing to be his kept woman. Instead, she was focused on taking the civil service exam and building a career through her own ability, which made Brain admire her even more. I smiled without warmth, but my eyes carried a trace of coldness. “And if I say no?” “Brain, you should know what happens in the end to people who offend me.” “I insist on making her pay the price.” Brain lifted his eyes and glanced at me, then tore the document in his hand to pieces the next second. “Aria, don’t forget that I was the one who backed you up before.” “But this time—” “As long as I’m here, no one will dare take your case.” He told me to think it over carefully, then turned and went back to the study. The moment the door slammed shut, my heart went completely cold. Sure enough, with Brain stepping in, not a single lawyer dared to take my case. Even those top lawyers all tried to persuade me. “Mrs. Wilson, you know your husband’s power. It’s only a small hit-and-run. If he truly wants to protect someone, no one else can gain the upper hand.” “That’s right, Miss Brook. Everyone has known for years that you are President Wilson’s treasure. You get whatever you want, so what else are you dissatisfied with?” My grip on the teacup gradually tightened. There was still a cold smile on my face. So everyone thought that all these years, I had been a dodder flower living off Brain. But this time, I was afraid they were going to be disappointed. I made a call overseas. “Are you busy?” “I ran into some trouble and need you to come back to the country. Everyone on Wall Street says that as long as you handle a case, there’s no case you can’t win. Come help me out.” A man’s low laugh came from the other end. “Amy, you finally remembered that someone like me exists.” “Since you’ve opened your noble mouth, no matter how busy I am, I have to skip work and rush back to uphold justice for you.” After hanging up, my gaze landed on the little girl who had suddenly appeared not far away. She held a bouquet of flowers in her arms, and when she lifted her head, her gaze was proud. That white dress swayed in the wind. She looked exactly like me when I was eighteen. 3 Back then, I loved white dresses most, but because of Brain’s trauma, I gave away every white dress I owned. But why did this little girl get to wear a white dress and show off in front of me? She looked very familiar with Spring Mountain Manor. As soon as she entered, she smiled. “Butler, is Brain home? I’m here to bring him flowers…” The butler’s face instantly filled with terror, and he hurriedly invited her into a corner. “Miss White, why are you here at this time? Madam is home. If Madam sees…” Jessica was not afraid at all, and instead lifted her chin proudly. “So what?” “Brain has been sick of her for a long time, and with Brain protecting me, that jealous woman can only get angry. What can she do to me?” “Besides, Brain has already said that I can treat this place as my own home.” Her words reached my ears. I laughed. I had originally wanted to turn a blind eye, but unexpectedly, Jessica had come right to my door. “You’re Amy?” I was sitting on the swing in the pavilion and drinking tea when the little girl’s questioning voice came from behind me. I narrowed my eyes and looked her over. “So you’re that unwanted resentful wife. Brain stopped liking you long ago, yet you’re still clinging to the position of rich wife. Instead of doing anything else, why don’t you hurry up and give up your spot?” Jessica raised her hand and tugged her collar down, revealing the bright red, glaring hickey on her neck. “See that?” She looked proud. “The person Brain loves is me. He loves me in a white dress, and he loves whispering sweet words on my body.” “Even this Spring Mountain Manor—when you weren’t home, he brought me here many times.” “And that swing you’re sitting on—” “Here, we even tried out new positions.” Jessica looked at me with a face full of disdain and smugness. “But what about you, Miss Brook?” “I heard that in front of him, you can’t even wear a white dress, right?” Jessica covered her mouth and laughed softly, her eyes full of mockery. I looked at her in silence, and my gaze slowly shifted to the pure white dress she was wearing. “The white dress is quite pretty.” Before Jessica had time to feel smug, I directly waved my hand. “Strip her clothes off.” “Throw her into the lake.” The bodyguards behind me immediately moved out with expressionless faces. They grabbed Jessica and started roughly taking action. Jessica clearly had not expected me to do this. After her shock, she panicked and struggled desperately. “Amy, what are you doing?” “If you dare touch me, Brain won’t let you off!” I picked at my ear. “So noisy. Gag her mouth.” The white dress that had been taken off was immediately stuffed into Jessica’s mouth. The clothes left on her body could no longer cover her, and she looked terrified, panicked, and utterly miserable. The huge artificial lake was right in front of us. The arrogance in Jessica’s eyes faded away and turned into panic and pleading. But only muffled whimpers came from her mouth. “Throw her in.” When Brain rushed over, he happened to see this scene, and his face instantly darkened. “Amy!” “What are you doing? Let her go!” I turned the pinky ring on my finger. “I’m helping you punish someone who doesn’t know better.” Brain’s face was gloomy, and the veins on his forehead bulged. But I raised my head and smiled like a blooming flower. “Brain, don’t you hate women wearing white dresses in front of you the most? This girl doesn’t know better, so I’m helping you teach her a proper lesson.” 4 “What, shouldn’t you be happy? Why do you look so unhappy?” Brain gritted his teeth and forced out a few words. “Amy, you don’t have to do this.” “If you hate me, if you have any dissatisfaction, you can come at me. Let Lili go.” During Jessica’s struggle, she spat out the thing stuffed in her mouth. She cried and sobbed as she begged the man for help. “Brain, save me! This crazy woman Amy wants to kill me…” Brain clenched his fists, but his face showed restraint. “Aria, I don’t want this to get too ugly, and don’t make me say it a second time.” My face also turned cold, and I smashed the teacup in my hand hard against his forehead. Brain did not dodge at all and let his forehead be split open and bleed, without even blinking. “Aria, you can vent however you want. Let Lili go.” I sneered and slapped him again. “Aren’t you the one who can’t stand seeing girls in white dresses the most? Have you forgotten that when I wore a white dress back then, you had someone strip me naked and throw me into the lake, and you said that was how it should be done?” “You said a lesson had to be taught.” Brain’s gaze flickered for a moment, and he lowered his head with a bit more guilt. “I’m sorry…” “I don’t need an apology.” During those years after our marriage, every time I saw Brain pass a mall, he would stare at white dresses in a daze, his eyes gentle and lingering. So on my birthday, I wore a pure white dress and appeared before him for the first time. I thought he would like it, but I never expected him to fly into a rage. “Who told you to dress like that?” I did not understand and thought something about my outfit was inappropriate. But I never expected that the next second, he would make me strip naked and kneel in the courtyard as punishment. My eyes immediately reddened. “Brain, you can’t treat me like this!” But his attitude remained forceful. He made me kneel on the cold floor. He even made those bodyguards watch me, saying that I needed to be taught a lesson. I bit my lip until blood spread through my mouth, and I would never forget the humiliation of that moment. The second time, I thought Brain was not home, so I put on my favorite white dress in front of the mirror. But Brain came back halfway through and saw me dressed all in white. Ignoring my pleas, he tore my dress apart with his own hands and threw me into the lake. That time, I almost choked to death. Even the child in my belly was miscarried because of it. But Brain said coldly, “If you want to blame something, blame that white dress you’re wearing. You deserved to be taught a lesson.” As my memories returned, I looked at the miserable Jessica before me, and it was as if I were looking at the bullied me from back then. “Brain, what did you say back then? Have you forgotten?” “Why is it different now that it’s her?” I turned to look at the bodyguards. “What are you standing there for? Continue.” The torment Brain had inflicted on me, Jessica had to taste it too. “Brain, I can’t hold on anymore! Save me!” She grabbed at the bodyguard with one hand, and her other foot pressed hard against the edge of the lake as Jessica was about to be pushed into the water. Brain’s face turned extremely gloomy. “Amy, make them stop right now!” “Lili is just a simple young girl. How did she offend you? I’ll apologize on her behalf.” “Let her go!” But as soon as the words fell, Jessica was thrown into the lake. Her small face turned deathly pale, and she flailed desperately. “Brain, save me—” The veins on Brain’s forehead bulged, and he subconsciously wanted to rush over and stop them. But I blocked his path. “Brain.” I looked at him. “As long as you come with me now, I can pretend nothing happened.” “Jessica won’t be in any danger…” But before I could finish speaking, Brain did not even hesitate and practically sprinted out. He had always been a clean freak and hated his clothes getting wet more than anything. But now, he jumped straight into the lake and reached out to pull Jessica up. “Lili, don’t be scared. I’m here to save you…” What a pity about that expensive suit and those leather shoes. I watched Brain hold Jessica tightly in the lake with a helpless look on his face. He held her waist. He gave her CPR. That look in his eyes, as if he feared losing the love of his life, made my heart go cold inch by inch. I laughed at myself. “Let’s go.” When I left, I directly instructed the servants. “Take down this swing.” The servant looked confused and asked me in disbelief. “Why take it down, Madam? Isn’t this your favorite swing?” “And President Wilson made it for you with his own hands during the year you got married…” I sneered. I remembered the scene of Jessica showing off in front of me, saying Brain had brought her to try new positions on the swing. “I don’t want things that have been dirtied.” I had the lawyer draft the divorce agreement overnight and prepared to have Brain sign it the next day. But before I could even bring up divorce, Brain’s revenge came first. When I opened my eyes and woke up, my hands and feet were bound, and I had been brought onto a drop tower ride. My face turned pale, and even the color drained from my lips. “Brain…” “Aria, I know that what you fear most in this life is extreme rides, but I insist on letting you taste what it feels like to be forced into something you don’t like.” “This is the price you are destined to pay for bullying Lili.” Brain placed a kiss on the back of my hand. His voice was as gentle as a lover whispering sweet nothings. But the words he said were so cold. “I have to let you know that Lili is not someone you can bully whenever you want.” Jessica hid behind Brain and revealed a smug smile. “Don’t worry, Miss Brook. Your life won’t be in danger. I already prepared all the safety measures and safety rope for you.” He turned and left with Jessica. But after walking a few steps, Jessica turned back and gave me a provocative smile. Following her gaze, I looked at the safety rope and broke out in a cold sweat. Brain did not know that the rope had already been cut. Jessica wanted me dead.