Silent Snowfall

1
Six years after Kane went legit, I ran into him at St. Judes Abbey in Southport.
The snow was coming down thick and heavy that day.
He was there with his pregnant wife, praying for their unborn child.
I was there to light votive candles for my parents, who had been dead for six years.
Our eyes met, and for a split second, we both froze.
After a moment of charged silence, he spoke first, asking how Id been all these years.
I answered politely. "Getting by."
After his prayers, he didn't leave. He just stood there, watching me with a thoughtful expression. The wind whipped snow and freezing rain under the cloister's eaves. I thought he was just waiting for the storm to pass, but then he asked, his voice laced with a nervous tremor, "Li, do you still hate me?"
I watched the flickering flames of the candles before me, their light dancing on the cold stone. I bit my lip and said nothing.
How could I not hate him? Three lives were lost because of him.
...
The mans lips parted, as if he wanted to say more.
Just then, a few other visitors approached a monk, asking how to refill the oil in the votive lamps.
Seeing this, Kane swallowed his words and stepped aside.
I didn't look at him again. I walked to the altar, picked up the oil vessel, and carefully refilled the three lamps engraved with the names of my loved ones.
The flames leaped, their light reflecting on my calm face.
Every lamp here represented a memory, a past that could never be reclaimed.
My parents. My brother.
They were all taken from me six years ago.
And the man responsible was standing just a few feet behind me.
"Kane, we should go." A soft, feminine voice called from the cloisters, tinged with impatience.
Through the swirling incense smoke, I saw Chloe, one hand on the small of her back, looking at Kane with clear annoyance.
"I know." Kane's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
He took a step closer to me and pulled a business card from the inner pocket of his suit, holding it out.
"Li, if if you ever need anything, you can call this number."
I didn't take it.
He awkwardly placed the card on the edge of the nearby donation box and turned, walking quickly away. I watched as he reached Chloe's side, gently adjusting the expensive cashmere shawl around her shoulders and carefully guiding her down the steps.
A sharp, unexpected pain twisted in my gut.
Outside the abbey doors, a black Bentley had been waiting. A driver held the door as Kane settled Chloe safely inside before getting in himself. The car sped away, crushing the freshly fallen snow.
I pulled my gaze away, picked up the business card from the donation box, and, without a second glance, dropped it into a brazier where paper offerings were being burned.
The flames licked at the edges of the card, consuming it in seconds until it was nothing but a wisp of smoke.
2
The next day was the anniversary of my mothers death.
I cooked my parents favorite dishes and brought them to the cemetery. I arranged the food, knelt on the cold stone slab, and, as I always did, began to speak softly to the headstone.
"Mom, Dad, brother I'm here to see you."
The wind chilled my cheeks. I reached out and gently traced the cold, carved names on the stone, as if I could still feel the warmth of my parents hands.
"Dad, Mom," I whispered, a faint smile touching my lips. "I saw Kane yesterday."
"But don't you worry. He can't hurt me anymore."
"I'm on my own now, and I'm doing just fine"
Now, I was just Clara, the owner of a small dessert shop tucked away in a Southport alley. My life was simple, steady.
I was no longer the woman of the North Harbor crime boss.
I would no longer have blood on my hands for his sake.
And I would never again be the crazy woman who, unable to accept his betrayal, threatened to take his mistress down with her.
...
The year I met Kane, he was just an orphan on the streets of North Harbor, fighting dogs for scraps in a dumpster. He was young, and to get a mouthful of food without being beaten or starved to death, he was always covered in a patchwork of fresh and faded bruises. Not a single inch of his skin was unmarked.
That winter, a blizzard buried the city for three days and three nights. Kane, who hadn't eaten in days, collapsed from hunger right on our doorstep.
Looking at this boy, who was my age but thin as a skeleton, I couldn't bear it. I begged my father, the head of the North Harbor syndicate, to take him in. My parents couldn't refuse me. They adopted Kane and began to train him.
"Boss, I, Kane, will remember this debt for the rest of my life. I will repay you."
Kane was a man who honored his debts. And he did.
In five years, he went from a low-level street punk to the undisputed king of North Harbor, climbing his way to the top over the blood and bones of his rivals.
Throughout North Harbor, everyone addressed him with respect as "Boss Kane." The same people who once looked down on him now scrambled to get on his good side, but he kept them all at a polite distance.
Only with my father was his respect genuine, coming from the heart. Even after my father got out of the game and stepped away from power, Kane's loyalty never wavered.
"If it wasn't for the Boss back then, I'd have died in some gutter. I wouldn't be here today."
"You and Ma'am are like my own parents."
"I will always be a good son to you, and I will take care of Li."
And in the days that followed, two young hearts, spending every day together, began to fall in love.
The old guard in the organization, who resented his rise, constantly tried to undermine him. During those years, I stood by his side through countless sleepless nights, shielded him from schemes at the negotiation table, and patched up his knife wounds in the dead of night. From internal power struggles to violent clashes with other factions, we walked the most dangerous path together.
Until no one in North Harbor dared to challenge him again.
But the higher he climbed, the more women threw themselves at him. Though I trusted him, I couldn't help but feel a tremor of insecurity.
He saw my anxiety and held my hand tightly. "Li, in my heart, no one compares to you."
"You're the one who stood by me when I was bleeding, the one who walked through fire and blood with me. No one can ever replace that."
To put me at ease, he took me with him everywhere he went. He knew I loved the pan-fried dumplings from an old shop on the west side, and no matter how late he finished his business, he would drive across town to buy them for me. If I so much as burned a finger while cooking, he would frown for ages, carefully applying ointment as if it were a mortal wound.
Everyone said I was the woman Kane loved to his bones, that you could cross anyone but me.
I believed our bond, forged in hardship, was unbreakable.
I never imagined reality would deliver such a savage slap to my face.
3
The day I discovered Kane's affair was a day like any other.
I went to find him at one of his clubs, carrying his stomach medication.
But in his office, I found him tangled with the new lounge singer, their clothes in disarray.
In that instant, I felt like I had been encased in ice. I stood frozen, unable to utter a single word. Helplessness, confusion, betrayal the emotions washed over me like a flood of ice water.
Kane, however, was unnervingly calm.
He slowly straightened his clothes and moved to shield Chloe behind him.
"I was going to tell you in a few days, but since you've seen it, there's no point in hiding it."
"Publicly, you'll still be my wife. Privately, Chloe will have the same status as you. There will be no distinction."
I watched him gently drape his suit jacket over Chloe's shoulders.
I fought back the bile rising in my throat. "Kane, you promised you would only love me. You said you would be good to me for the rest of our lives. Have you forgotten all of that?"
I thought that after everything we'd been through, even if he cheated, there would still be some affection left for me.
But his face was a mask of impatience. "Clara, don't bring up the past. I was young then, I didn't know what love was. I mistook gratitude for love. It wasn't until I met Chloe that I understood. Real love shouldn't be held hostage by a debt."
He said it with such finality.
In that moment, all my sanity burned away.
I lunged at him like a madwoman, pounding on his chest, my voice raw as I screamed at him, asking him where this left my pride, my position. Was our history worth less than some singer?
Kane just stood there calmly, letting me vent.
It was only when I cursed them, calling them a cheating scumbag and a whore, that his eyes turned to ice. "Enough! You can insult me, but I won't let you talk about Chloe like that. She is the only woman I've ever truly loved."
"And what about me?"
His gaze fell on my pale face. He paused, then said flatly, "Li, you were just a suitable wife."
In that one moment, I understood everything.
When his position was unstable, many of his men didn't respect him. Being with me was a way to use my parents' influence to win them over. All those years of doting on me, putting me on a pedestalit was all an act to make his crew believe he was a loyal, honorable man, someone worth following.
The mask was off. The coldness in Kane's eyes was like a row of rusty steel needles, stabbing into my heart and leaving it to bleed.
My great love story had been nothing more than a calculated move in his long game.
4
While I was still reeling from this brutal truth, Kane began to pave the way for Chloe with great fanfare. He started bringing her to all important events, making sure everyone knew who the future "boss's wife" was.
I was only in my twenties then, an age where love is everything and theres no room for compromise. I couldn't accept that years of my devotion and love were being stolen by another woman. If I was going to be miserable, I was going to make sure they were too.
So, at the birthday party Kane threw for Chloe, I made a scene.
In front of more than a hundred of his men, I aired all their dirty laundry for the world to see.
Amid the sound of shattering glasses and plates, Kane's eyes were filled with weariness and annoyance. "Clara, do you have to make this so ugly? Let my men laugh at me?"
I looked up at him, refusing to back down. "Yes! Why should I suffer while you two get to be happy?"
Furious, Kane wrapped an arm around Chloe and stormed out.
That night, I received a video call from Chloe.
On the screen, Kane's back was to the camera. He had her pinned to the sofa, dressed only in her underwear, kissing her passionately.
"Baby, you smell so good today."
Chloe's pale arm was wrapped around his neck. "Kane," she purred, "who gets you more excited, me or my sister?"
Kane gave her lips a tender kiss.
"Baby, she's a woman with blood on her hands and a body full of scars. How can she compare to you? If it weren't for the fact that her father's old crew is still useful, I'd find it disgusting to even touch her."
As he spoke, one of his hands slid lower.
Chloe let out a playful protest. "Hey, stop it, I just gave it to you yesterday..."
"Yes, and I hate it" Kanes voice was a low, husky growl.
The sounds of their breathing grew heavier as their bodies twisted together.
My heart felt like it had been ripped open. The pain was unbearable.
In that moment, I finally snapped.
I smashed our wedding photo against the floor. I destroyed everything in the room.
While Kane was away, I stormed into Chloe's apartment, grabbed her by the hair, and slapped her dozens of times. Then, I used the connections my father had spent a lifetime building and reported all of Kane's illegal activities and violent crimes to the city police.
I was going to drag him down from his throne and turn him back into the begging, worthless orphan he was.
But reality delivered another crushing blow.
With a single phone call, Kane made all my reports disappear into thin air.
Instead, I was the one charged with "malicious slander and public disturbance."
The day before I was taken into custody, Kane came to see me.
His voice was calm and cold.
"Li, give up. You can't beat me. I have connections on both sides of the law now. I'm not the same street punk who needed your father's help to survive."
He paused, a hint of pity in his tone. "But, for the sake of our past, if you admit you were wrong and promise not to bother Chloe again, you can still be my wife in name. Out of respect for what your parents did for me, I won't treat you poorly."
But I was young and proud. How could I endure my husband loving another woman?
I screamed at him, calling him a heartless, ungrateful dog. If it weren't for me, he would have frozen to death in the snow.
Perhaps my words stung him, or perhaps he really wanted to teach me a lesson for Chloe's sake.
Kane signed the detention papers without hesitation.
The days in the holding cell were far worse than I had ever imagined. It was dark, damp, and the air was a permanent, nauseating mixture of sweat, body odor, and rancid food. A dozen people were crammed into a tiny room, where we ate, slept, and relieved ourselves. The bunk I was assigned was right next to the toilet, perpetually reeking of urine. Our daily meals consisted of a watery soup with a few rotting vegetable leaves and hard, stale buns that could break your teeth.
Just as I was on the verge of a complete breakdown, Kane had me released.
Because in the holding cell, they discovered I was pregnant.
5
After getting out, I couldnt shake the feeling that the men were looking at me strangely.
I finally asked and found out what had happened. When my father heard about what Kane had done to me, he went to him that very night, begging him to let me go. When Kane refused, they argued, and it turned violent.
On his way home, my father was hit and killed by a runaway truck.
Grief-stricken and furious, my brother, seeking justice, had Chloe kidnapped. But the men Kane sent to rescue her "accidentally" shot and killed him.
My mother, who already had a weak heart, couldn't handle the successive blows. Her heart gave out, and she was gone too.
When I learned the truth, I felt like my soul had been ripped from my body.
I stopped fighting. I stopped caring about Kane and Chloe. I spent my days curled up in my room, an empty puppet consumed by the overwhelming grief of losing my family.
Kane came to see me, a rare visit. He held my hand and apologized.
"Li, I'm so sorry about your parents and your brother. I never wanted to hurt them."
He placed his hand on my stomach.
"We have a child now. For the sake of this child, please, let's stop fighting."
Tears streamed down my face.
This time, I chose silence.
Not for him, but for the tiny life inside me. My parents and brother were gone because of me. This piece of my own flesh and blood became the only reason I had left to live.
The ordeal had broken my spirit.
After staying with me for a few days, Kane quickly returned to Chloe's side. He even rented out a private island to throw a lavish wedding for her.
When I saw the two of them on that island, exchanging vows of eternal love, I broke all over again.
When Kane and I got married, I didn't even have a proper wedding dress. When I told him I wanted a big wedding, he said, "Li, ceremonies are just formalities. Besides, you know how much I hate all that fuss."
Because I loved him, I compromised.
And because I loved him, I lost everything.
The emotions I had suppressed for so long finally erupted. I couldn't stay by his side any longer.
Just as I was preparing to leave, Chloe found me, dressed in her pristine white wedding gown.
Her face was a mask of triumph. "Clara, your father didn't have to die. But he was so entitled, trying to use his past favors to threaten Kane into releasing you. Things aren't that simple. So I sent some people to teach him a little lesson. Who knew he'd be so fragile? He died on the spot."
"As for your brother, he dared to kidnap me. So Kane had no choice but to send him on his way!"
Chloe's words were the final straw.
I lost my mind. I grabbed her, and pulled her with me as I jumped from the third-story window.
The moment Kane rushed outside, I couldn't see his expression clearly. I only saw him, without a moment's hesitation, catch the screaming Chloe while I slammed into the ground.
Through the searing pain, I felt a hot rush of liquid from between my legs. A tiny life, slipping away from my body.
My leg was shattered, the baby was gone, and the last flicker of my will to live was extinguished.
But I didn't die.
Kane had his men rush me to the hospital.
Everyone said I had gone insane.
But I knew with perfect clarity that I was not.
When Kane came to visit me, I lunged at him with a fruit knife.
My family had paid with three lives.
This time, Kane didn't hesitate. He called the police.
I was sentenced to three years for assault.
A set of divorce papers soon followed.
Kane finally got what he wanted. He was free to be with Chloe, legally and publicly.
I was released early for good behavior.
With the meager compensation I received, I left the territory under Kane's control. I came to Southport and opened a small dessert shop. Life was hard, but for my parents and my brother, I forced myself to live.
To live until I could find a way to avenge them. To live until I could see their murderers burn in hell.
...
A chill wind brought me back to the present.
I bowed my head one last time to the headstone, bidding my family farewell. I was about to stand and leave.
But as I turned, I saw him. A short distance away, Kane was watching me, his expression impossible to read.

First, search for and download the MotoNovel app from Google. Then, open the app and use the code "320023" to read the entire book.

MotoNovel

App Store

Google Play

Novellia

App Store

Google Play