A stunned silence descended in the Mu family house as everyone stared at Chu Chang who took a shuddering breath and looked at Yu Dong with a stubborn but fiery gaze. " There is a small abandoned shack at the junction of the two villages back when I was newly married, Fang Chi would often visit that shack because he was waiting for Mu Yuxi to explain everything to him but she never went there, from the villagers I have heard that it was their secret hideout and the two of them used to meet there when they were young to play later on it became there meeting spot when they grew up."

  At first, no one said a thing, all of them were too shocked to say anything but once the shock has worn off, Yu Dong was already heading to the front door while Old man Mu lunged at Chu Chang with a loud and ferocious roar, " You bastard! You actually sold off your wife, like that are you trying to get her killed? I knew you were unreliable but I never knew that you will be this traitorous!"

  As he shouted he tried to scratch Chu Chang's face if not for Mu Xuan who still had some of her sanity intact, Chu Chang would have been beaten by his father in law until even his sisters failed to recognise him as their brother. But Mu Xuan who knew that this could not be done immediately came to stop her husband, who seemed to have lost his mind. " Let me go, this stupid son in law of yours has always been ignorant of this and that, and now he did something like that. So what if my daughter looked for someone else, do you have to be so ruthless? That Yu Dong has lost her mind, she can even raise her hand at me…so think about what she is going to do to your wife? How can you tell her about that place have you lost your mind?"

  Chu Chang stood silently with a wooden expression on his face, he didn't say anything to defend himself and simply took his father in law's scolding. For years… years, he had bowed his head and did everything for this family, the once beautiful and wilful young master of the Chu family of the capital city, has mellowed down to a sweet and understanding husband and son in law. He did everything that they asked of him, whether it was helping Mu Yuxi financially or taking care of the mess she left behind. He did everything and took care of the house and kids as well and in return, he only asked for a bit of support and loyalty was it too much?

  Ignoring the scolding of his father in law, Chu Chang returned back to his room. To the outsiders, the glorious and loving marriage of Chu Chang and Mu Yuxi was a beautiful fairy tale only Chu Chang knew what he was, in so many years, he hasn't even lived in the same room as Mu Yuxi except for the nights where she needed him.

  " Daddy are you okay?" Mu Ran who was reading her book in the room, got up from the bed when she noticed her daddy's red eyes, she hopped down from the bed and wiped the tears that were streaming down her daddy's cheeks. " What's wrong daddy, who made you upset?"

  His son who was playing with a wooden horse came rushing to him as well, his son Mu Zhu was his pride. Among the villagers only he was fortunate enough to give birth to a boy yet he- Chu Chang closed his eyes in despair as more tears escaped from his eyes, he hugged his two kids and silently sobbed like he has done all these years. But after a while, he calmed down and wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at his mature daughter who was exceptionally bright and brilliant. " Ran Ran, go and call your aunts here, tell them that if they don't come here in the next fifteen minutes- they, they won't see your daddy anymore."

  ———


  " You are sick." coughed out Fang Chi as he stared at Mu Yuxi who was skimming her fingers on his bare chest, the feeling was nasty, ugly and nauseating. In fact, his entire body was freezing out instead of getting hot but Mu Yuxi was ignoring all of that, it was as if she couldn't even see it.

  " Really?" She asked as she stood up with the help of the headboard of the bed, her pace was still the same as ever, jerky and stiff. "It's not that I want to do this either, Chi'er. You know I don't like sharing anything, as long as you stayed in your house silently, you could have lived a long, respectful life with a nice reputation."

  "As your abandoned lo……cough lover? You call that respectable?" Fang Chi was running out of energy as he put more effort into tugging the ropes that tied his hands. The ropes didn't budge but the headboard did, it splintered with a crack of the old wood. Fang Chi swiftly noticed this and then his eyes darted to Mu Yuxi who was pouring wine in two separate cups while humming. Once he was certain that she didn't hear a thing, he once again pulled the ropes as he put all his strength into the pull, the wood churned again and then again. Blood started to drip from his wrists because of the friction, but Fang Chi didn't stop and finally, a chunk of wood broke off the headboard of the bed on which he was lying.

  He hurriedly sat up straight and untied the ropes that were tying his legs and swiftly got off the bed. For the first time, he was glad that Mu Yuxi hadn't lighted up the entire shack, because when he crept on her from behind she didn't feel a thing. Knowing that he had only this one chance, Fang Chi gritted his teeth and swung the wood in his hand with all his might right at Mu Yuxi's head.