A MAZE OF GREED

That night was painfully longer than usual for both Ruth and Edwin. Ruth could not sleep after coming from Thea's home. Their conversation kept replaying in her head.

She looked outside at the dark sky to realise there was time for the Sun to rise from behind the mountains. Every time she thought of Edwin, she found herself cut into two halves.

One half was scared and nervous, unsure. While the other one was excited and happy. She could not put away the smile from her lips.

Not knowing how to spend the rest of the time, she found the book 'Lethal Love' again after getting tired of staring at those pretty earrings.

Ruth went into the balcony and sat in her favourite corner. She opened the page where she left the last time. She began reading a conversation between the hero and the heroine.

Heroine: "You have to stop running away from me. We can not go on like this forever. We need to stop, breath, think and say the things. That is how it works."

Hero: "I can not do that. No, I can not stop. I am afraid if I stop now then I might not be able to walk again. I am afraid of so many things that you can not understand."

Ruth sucked a deep breath. It was like the author had written her story in his work. The only difference was, she was in the same shoes as the hero of the author.

Heroine: "Then let me be your anchor. I will hold you tight, not let you go until we find the middle ground. Tell me the things you are afraid of. I promise I will understand them. I will try it for you, for us."

Hero: "Have you ever seen the sky and the earth meeting each other? We are the sky and the earth that can never be together."

Ruth gulped down the lump formed in her throat. Were not she and Edwin the same? He was that limitless sky that she can not climb and touch. She was the earth looking up at that limitless sky, thinking if only she could have it.

Heroine: "Yes, they meet, my love! They meet each other at the horizon. We can create our own horizon together."

Ruth did not understand if the heroine was too optimistic or foolishly in love to not realise the practicalness of the things.

Hero (Shaking his head): "A horizon is just a delusion and you know it. Do you want to live in that delusion?"

It hit hard to Ruth. If this was the case with her and Edwin, then was she trying to believe in a delusion? His feelings for her were a delusion?

Ruth greedily read further. She wanted to know what the heroine had to say about it.

Heroine: "I can spend eternity in a delusion if that delusion is you! And I will not regret it even for a splitting second."

Ruth was astonished, and she was sure the hero was too. She could not understand how love makes people cross their ultimate boundaries? How could anyone love someone so selflessly and so passionately?

Would her and Edwin's love achieve that level where they would sacrifice everything for each other without a second thought?

Heroine: "Put your hand on your heart and tell me that you never believed in us even for a moment. Tell me your heartbeats never raced whenever you saw me. Say that you do not want to always be with me, see me, talk to me. Say that you do not care."

Ruth bit the inside of her cheek with teary eyes. She imagined those words coming from Edwin instead of that fictional character. She thought about everything one by one to get only one answer.

She did feel each of those things for Edwin. Ruth realised that she always felt an indescribable pull towards him. She tried fighting it, and for that, she pushed him away, insulted him and did everything to make him repulse her.

Yet he stuck by her side. He was rude at times, unpredictable too. Yet he never intentionally hurt her. He was her strength when she was at her lowest after losing Mr Payne.

He was there to warn her when Lady Theodora tried to walk all over her. He was there to hear her, be with her. He was always there for her.

How could she think that she tried gaining his attention only for her revenge?

If it was all about only her revenge, then why she was pondering excessively over his request. She should just put on those earrings and enjoy her easy win. Why was she going through a lot of effort of contemplating every detail?

Ruth closed her eyes as tears kept streaming down her face. And the first image that popped into her mind was when he kissed her cheek in the open that night.

She found her hand reaching for her chest to feel her heart thudding loudly in her ribcage.

"Is this... is this love?"

Her eyes widened at that word. Perhaps it was, she was not cent per cent sure yet. Overwhelmed by the emotions, she continued reading the book in her hand.

Heroine: "No love story is perfect, my dear! Every story has to accomplish its own journey. It is full of ups and downs, bumps and smooth roads. Very few and fortunate ones complete that journey to find their happily ever after.

I want us to find our happily ever after. I want us to walk our journey hand in hand. Love is not only about rainbows and sunshine. It will challenge us, it will try to pull us apart, break us, defeat us.

But we have to stick together until the end. We do not only need to fight the world, but we also need to fight our own demons, you and me. We need to leave behind our darkness and embrace each others' light. I am ready for it, love. I am ready for it. Please take my hand and say that you also are ready!"

Ruth could not read more. She shut the book then put it aside. She pulled her legs near her chest and rested her forehead on her knees after wrapping her arms around her legs.

"Mother, I do not know if you ever loved someone romantically. But you know me better than myself. What would you have done if you were in my place?

Father knows what love is. He experienced it, lived it, but what did it give him in return? A death that was too unfortunate and unfair? What if my fate also leads me to that same cliff to push me into the deep valley? Please help me... please!"

Ruth did not realise when the exhaustion took over her and lulled her to sleep.

The next morning, she got ready and wore her uniform. She was standing in front of the mirror and could not help but move her dress a little to observe her birthmark. A greenish-black leaf-shaped mark that changed her fate dramatically.

Her fate led her to this point and now for the first time, it was presenting her a chance of deciding her way forward by herself.

Ruth took a deep breath before covering her shoulder again. She finished her breakfast, and it was time for her to leave. Yet she lingered back, something still going on in her mind.

"Ruth, you should go now before you get late. Oh and by the way, do not forget to wear those blue earrings you brought last night. I think you will dazzle with them." Mrs Payne said from inside the kitchen.

Ruth was shocked. She knew! The old lady knew everything! But how?

Ruth did not ask that because she got the last confirmation she needed. She left the home after checking her reflection for the last time.

As soon as she stepped out of the building of the servants quarter, she could hear her heartbeats, and she counted them to keep her mind focused.

Today, she took extra efforts to look presentable. She was not wearing a bun or a braid-like usual. She had styled her hair elegantly, purposefully leaving some loose tendrils around her face.

She blushed when she recalled the times when Edwin had tucked her hair behind her ears. Something she had realised he loved doing a lot.

She flipped her hair over her shoulder, making sure to flaunt the blue stoned earrings shining under the daylight.

Yes!

She had finally decided to give her and Edwin a chance. A chance that she would not regret even if something went wrong.

She wanted to try at least once. She was ready to put the same faith in him that he had in her. Now she only needed to find him waiting for her in his office chamber. That mere thought made the butterflies flap their wings in her stomach.

She was ready to find their happily ever after, along with him by her side!