She cried for a long, long time—so long that the heavens grew furious and thunder roared incessantly. Ji Liao gazed at her parents’ smiling photograph, her lips pressed tightly together for what felt like an eternity before finally parting to whisper, “I’m sorry… your daughter has committed an unforgivable sin…”
The rain fell harder, as if raging against her filial impiety.
After what seemed like ages, she appeared before the gates of the Yu mansion, clutching a wooden box.
Having spotted her through the surveillance camera, Yu Nanzhi instructed the butler to deliver his message.
Behind the European-style iron gates, the silver-haired butler emerged holding an umbrella. They stared at each other through the bars for a prolonged moment.
With detached calmness, the old butler stated, “Madam, the master is in no mood to see you.”
Ji Liao raised her head, hollow eyes fixed on the floor-to-ceiling window on the mansion’s second floor. She knew Yu Nanzhi was there—that room was filled with all of Cheng Shuangshuang’s belongings. “Tell him to come see me.”
The butler didn’t even blink as he relayed Yu Nanzhi’s exact words: “The master says he wants nothing to do with a venomous woman like you. Someone who dares desecrate her own parents’ graves is capable of any atrocity. Leave, and don’t bring your misfortune here.”
In that instant, Ji Liao’s heart shattered into a thousand bleeding pieces. “He’s the one who demanded this! What more does he want from me?”
The butler gave her a passing glance. “The master said if you wish to prove your remorse, kneel before the Yu residence with your parents. Perhaps if he’s pleased, he might come out to hear your excuses.”
Ji Liao closed her eyes and tightened her embrace around the box. “I can kneel, but not my parents. Bringing them here already defies all morality. Making them kneel would compound sins even heavenly thunder couldn’t purge. If he won’t appear today, we’ll meet another time.”
As she turned to leave, a brutal kick struck her legs. With a sharp cry, she collapsed to her knees.
Yu Nanzhi stood behind her holding an umbrella, having appeared without warning. “You’ll kneel whether you want to or not. This is your retribution!”
Clutching the box with trembling hands, Ji Liao glared up at him. “Yu Nanzhi, do you even deserve this kneeling?”
A cold sneer twisted his lips. “If they think I don’t, let them rise and bite me.”
Her eyes reddened, body shaking with fury. “You’ll pay for this cruelty!”
“Heh… retribution?” Yu Nanzhi looked up at the brooding sky as if speaking to himself. “My punishment began the day I married you.”
Ji Liao froze, then slowly bowed her head.
Yes… wasn’t marrying her precisely his damnation?
“So you hate me to the bone, don’t you? You’re afraid I’ll bring more calamity upon you, that’s why you’re humiliating me like this—isn’t that right?” she murmured.
Yu Nanzhi looked down at her with the contempt reserved for garbage. “I could crush you with one finger. What punishment could you possibly bring upon me? Ji Liao, I’m not like you—ruthless and unrecognizing of kinship. I have a conscience, and it tells me to let the law deal with you!”
Hah… He actually claimed to have a conscience? The shamelessness!
Boom—
The rain intensified, thunder cracking louder across the sky. Ji Liao struggled to her feet and stumbled away like a broken soul. “Right, you have conscience. You can insult me, but don’t insult my parents. They did nothing wrong—they shouldn’t have to kneel here with me.”
Her dignity trampled, her pride shattered—none of that mattered. But what she could never tolerate was having her family dragged into this suffering.
“Thinking of leaving? Did you ask for my permission?” Stumbling on her feet, Ji Liao fell heavily to the ground. To protect the box, her face slammed hard against the concrete, instantly bruising.
She sat up, her soaked hair clinging messily to her face, the thin shirt clearly outlining her slender, fragile frame.
Disheveled and pitiful—this utterly pathetic appearance disgusted Yu Nanzhi to the core.
Ji Liao’s eyes were vacant, as if she couldn’t feel the pain. The one who had caused her fall was the man she had loved for so many years.
Hah, it wasn’t worth it, not worth it at all…
After a long silence, she finally responded dazedly, “Yu Nanzhi, I’m tired. I don’t want to argue with you anymore. If you want me to go to prison, I’ll go. No matter how much I say, you won’t believe me anyway, and I can’t be bothered to waste my breath. After I bury my parents, I’ll turn myself in. The outcome you want—I’ll give it to you.”
She closed her eyes in pain. The rain had long drenched everything about her; the droplets on her cheeks made it impossible to tell whether they were tears from the clouds or her own.
Yu Nanzhi snatched the box from her hands and stared at her expressionlessly.
When Ji Liao opened her eyes again, her face was deathly pale. She looked up at him, bewildered, and asked, “I’ve already given you the outcome you wanted. What more do you want to do?”
Yu Nanzhi gritted his teeth and said, “After Shuangshuang died, not even her ashes remained. The pain of losing my beloved forever torments me deeply. I can’t let you off easily—you should taste this agony just as I have.”
“No!” Ji Liao roared, desperately trying to wrestle the box back from him.
But the disparity in strength between men and women was too great; in the end, she lost to his cold ruthlessness.
“Please, don’t!”
He flung the box into the air. With a heart-wrenching scream, she tried to rise and catch it, but the old steward reached out and stopped her.
Struggling in vain, she watched helplessly as the box hit the ground, its lid flying open, and the rain mercilessly washed over it.
In that moment, Ji Liao’s world shattered.
She knelt in the rain, weeping and screaming, desperately scooping up handfuls of the ashes mixed with rainwater.
But the rain was too heavy. In just a few seconds, everything was gone.
Thud…
The ashes she had painstakingly gathered were kicked away by Yu Nanzhi, mixing with the rainwater and flowing into the sewer. He sneered, “Your parents died in a shipwreck—they should be buried in the water. I’m just helping you out. No need to thank me.”
It felt as though ten thousand arrows had pierced her heart. Ji Liao screamed and charged at Yu Nanzhi like a madwoman, “You heartless bastard! Heaven will punish you!”
Just as she was about to grab him, the old steward stopped her once again.
Yu Nanzhi approached, pinched her chin, and smiled like a demon from hell, “You hired a killer and burned Shuangshuang alive. Aren’t you heartless? Hah, when it comes to cruelty, I’m not even one-tenth of you.”
Ji Liao glared at him with venomous hatred, “I’ve told you a thousand times—I didn’t kill her. Yu Nanzhi, you’ll pay for your ignorance!”
Yu Nanzhi turned and glanced at her sideways, “As long as it makes you suffer, I’m willing to pay any price.”
Ji Liao’s heart broke into pieces. She murmured to herself, “Yes, and you’ve already achieved your goal…”
Yu Nanzhi curled his lips into a cruel smile, “It’s not enough. Far from enough. Not even close to enough.”
Cheng Shuangshuang was dead, and he was unhappy, so he wanted her to be unhappy too. No matter the cost, he was willing…
What a ruthless man, truly ruthless…
Ji Liao picked up the box, supporting her body that was chilled to the bone as she approached the iron bars. The moment she leaned against them, her feet slipped, and she fell hard onto the cold, damp ground.
Pain, her entire body was in pain!