A MAZE OF GREED

Ruth did not remember how she got back to 'the great manor'. She did not care if anyone saw her coming so late in the night. She did not know if anyone asked her anything or stopped her while passing by the guards.

She came to her room in the servants quarters then unlocked the door. After opening it, she stepped inside to be only greeted by the cold emptiness.

She closed the door behind her. Removing the shawl around her, she threw it carelessly in some corner of the room. Walking to the bed, she slumped down defeatedly on it.

The entire day ran in her mind on the loop. But she felt numb. She finally moved her eyelashes and realised that she might not have blinked in a while. She was just a moving statue with no life in it.

As the clock hands ticked, the realisation slowly down upon her. It started painfully slow at first- like a thin trail of fine sand only to turn into a sandstorm afterwards, jolting her mind and soul violently.

The muscles in her face slowly twitched. The walls of her self defence shook violently, then came crumbling down with the dust that blinded the vision.

Ruth hid her face in her palms and expected the tears but, they had to betray her this time. No tears came, no relief seemed possible as the words of Lady Theodora and her father kept running in her mind.

Ruth rocked back and forth, still hiding her face in her palms, as those words haunted her. Her breaths turned ragged. A white pain shot through her head, and her face scrunched up in pain.

When the pressure on her chest grew unbearable, she looked up with a gasp. Shooting up from the bed, her eyes frantically looked around the room. She did not know what they were looking for. But in the end, disappointment was the only thing that crippled her heart.

She was restless, she was agitated. She did not know what to do.

-"For God's sake, Theodora! How many times should I tell you that I did all that to save your life from that thug?! That bastard could never keep you happy and provide you with such a life of comfort. I did that because I wanted to see you happy!"-

Happy huh? Ralph Longhurst wanted to see his daughter happy. But, what about the man? What about Ruth's father? And, what about Ruth?

He did not think about it because clearly he did not care about any of them.

Gerald!

Ruth now at least had a name she could put in the blank space of a father in her life. Her heart longed for that man that she had never met in her life.

-"Yes, he was a theif and he never hide his identity from me. I fell in love with him knowing all his flaws. And he loved me for everything that I was. How could you tell me that such a man left me alone after you offered him bags of gold coin?"-

This man named Gerald was a thief?! Ruth was having a hard time believing that Lady Theodora could fall in love with a thief. And if she did, then how could Ralph Longhurst lie to her about Gerald leaving her for bags of gold coins?

Ruth's head spun. The sweat trickled down her spine, and suddenly she felt like burning. She was indeed burning. Her heart, her mind, her soul, every cell in her body was indeed burning like hot coal.

-"And not only that but you also took away our baby from me- the symbol of my and Gerald's love. And what did you tell me? that the baby was already dead when it was born."-

Ruth felt like her insides churned again, her stomach rumbled violently. All that she had ingested in a day, gurgled in her pit as she felt the bitter, acidic taste rose in her throat only to expand in her mouth.

Her eyes stung with tears as she struggled to breathe normally.

How could someone be so cruel? How could they do that to her?

Why?

For the sake of Theodora's happiness? For the sake of the Longhurst family's name?

Was her life that cheap for those people whose blood ran in her system?

Ruth stared down at the veins in her hand. She felt so disgusted that the thought of cutting those veins till the last trace of Longhurst blood ran down her body crossed her mind.

For a fleet second her eyes roamed around, but unfortunately, she did not find any sharp object. And she also did not find the courage to do so.

-"And as if you were not content with my misery, you stole my best friend too. To this date, I do not know where she went. But I know one thing that it was you. You caused her disappearance as a punishment for standing by my back."-

Ruth's chest tightened at the thought of the woman with the most beautiful smile, and till this day, she considered her as her home- Bertha Moore.

Ruth did not need to know who that best friend of Theodora was. She had put one and one together, and the picture that formed shattered her heart over again.

Her heart went to that woman who had sung lullabies to her every night for years. She had spent nights sitting beside her, taking care of her in her illness. She had sacrificed everything in her life, just to see Ruth smile. The woman was everything that Ruth could ever ask for as a mother.

Memories of Bertha brought a loud sob from Ruth's mouth, and at last, she let her tears make their way. She wished the pain and the anger to run down mixed with the salty tears. But that was not how it always worked.

Some wounds are too deep to be cleaned with only water. They take time to heal, care and protection. And then some does not need any of that. They need to keep open and sore. They should be kept dirty and bleeding till it disgusts.

They should remain as it is as a reminder... a reminder of what caused those wounds in the first place.

And the wound that Ruth had to take was one of those dirty wounds- deep, excruciatingly painful, and disgusting.

-"Do you think that an illegitimate child would have been accepted as an heir of this O'Dell legacy? Would she be given the same rights and powers as Eloise and Elsie? NO, father! NO!!!"-

Ruth clenched her eyes closed as she cried like a beaten-up child.

The woman she considered as her mother... would she have done the same if she was in Theodora's place?

Ruth shook her head vigorously. No, she would have dug her own grave before abandoning her child because of society and her personal gains. Bertha Moore had accepted her friend's baby as hers.

She left Warthford Island. She lived in misery and poverty. Now that Ruth ran back in time, she realised the incidences where her mother had to be humiliated by other women.

Why?

Because no one knew about her husband, and her source of income in the initial years.

Ruth opened her eyes wide as the pain kept gripping her heart like a deadly vice.

She had a fair idea of what had happened. She now had a background on her life and identity. But the one question that kept poking her mind was- why?

What was her fault in all of this? What wrong did she do to anyone? Why does she have to be so unfortunate that her own mother did not care about her?

Ruth's mind ran to the life Elsie, Eloise and other noblewomen of her age lived.

If her mother had wished and tried, Ruth also could have lived the same life. She then did not need to go through the hardships that she had faced all her life.

She did not need to lose Bertha to an illness. She would have had enough money to give her timely treatment. She then did not need to worry about her future. She would have married by now with a nobleman and a wealthy family.

She might have found someone like Lord Lester for herself.

She deserved all of these and more. Yet a woman's selfish motives kept her deprived of every happiness she deserved.

The blood boiled in her, overflowing like spurts of burning lava.

"Aaaaaaaahhhh"

Another wave of pain shot through her head, which made her scream in agony. Her body was burning and sweating profusely.

In irritation, she tore her dress till she was left in nothing. She was as naked as the day she was born.

Standing in front of the mirror, she saw another woman in the reflection. She was just like her yet very different from her.

That Ruth had the fire burning in her eyes... the fire of vengeance. Her blood rushed with the determination of claiming what was rightfully hers. That woman was denied her rights, her happiness, her ambitions, her life, her family, respect and love.

But she was not ready to give up. The wish of destroying everyone in the fire of her vengeance was too strong that it became her air that she breathed and needed to live.

That woman was powerful, strong-willed and everything that Ruth ever wished to be!

That woman... finally had found the purpose in life.. And, now the whole world needed to get ready to take her wrath.