Chapter 4: At the Mercy of Others

Xu Anan had no idea when Jiang Li had left. When she woke up and checked the news again, not a single trace remained. Aside from that, a black-and-gold business card sat on her nightstand. The flamboyant golden threads outlined Jiang Li’s name, exuding a faint scent of pine. Xu Anan glanced at it, then angrily tossed the thing into the trash.

Her whole body ached; she could barely move. In the aftermath, she resolved never to have anything to do with Jiang Li again. The price she’d paid to erase that news had been far too steep.

She spent the entire day at home, and in the afternoon, as expected, the Xu family began to call. Unable to reach her, Jiang Yu, indignant and ashamed, naturally reported the matter to the Xu family. Yet perhaps out of concern for appearances, he hadn’t divulged everything.

When Xu Anan returned to the ancestral Xu home, it was afternoon. The moment she arrived, she was punished—made to kneel in the ancestral hall.

Her stepmother, Shen Ying, held a bamboo whip, striking it across Xu Anan’s back again and again. Xu Anan clenched her teeth, enduring in silence. Shen Ying’s methods were practiced and precise, targeting spots where outsiders would never see the marks, wielding a soft bamboo whip that stung fiercely yet left no scar.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

Only after Xu Anan’s sweat soaked her clothes did Shen Ying finally pause, granting her a question as if in mercy.

Xu Anan’s back burned, sweat trickling down her spine and intensifying the pain, but she gritted her teeth and refused to utter a sound.

“I know.”

Shen Ying raised an eyebrow, then withdrew the whip, settled into the seat of honor, and took up her teacup, regarding Xu Anan with leisurely composure. “Tell me.”

“I shouldn’t have defied you, nor ignored Jiang Yu.”

At her words, Shen Ying slammed the porcelain cup to the floor. Shards scattered, some landing beside Xu Anan.

“Xu Anan, Jiang Yu will be your husband. I shouldn’t have to remind you again, should I?”

Xu Anan clenched her fists and bowed her head. “No.”

Shen Ying watched her closely and sneered. “Stay here and kneel. When you’ve figured it out, you may rise. Remember—you are a daughter of the Xu family. The Xu family’s reputation is worth more than your life.”

She lifted her teacup, brushing aside the foam, and drank quietly. “You have one day to think it over, or else…”

Xu Anan’s expression flickered as she knelt. “Mother, this will not happen again. I will be a proper wife to the Jiang family and never disappoint you.”

Seeing Xu Anan yield, Shen Ying raised an eyebrow and finally gestured for her to stand. Taking Xu Anan’s hand, her demeanor shifted instantly to a pleasant smile. “Anan, you must understand—I’m doing this for your own good. You’re not like Wanwan, who’s received excellent education since childhood. Your mother from the slums never taught you propriety or manners. I’m stricter because I fear you might stray. You don’t mind, do you?”

Shen Ying’s smile was gentle, hiding any trace of her earlier cruelty. Yet Xu Anan saw clearly the disdain and contempt beneath her mask.

She drew a deep breath, forced down her emotions, and nodded heavily.

Only then did Shen Ying beam, instructing others to help Xu Anan up. After a day of kneeling, her legs were numb. As Xu Anan struggled to rise, the girl waiting outside burst in impatiently.

Clinging to Shen Ying, she pouted, “Mom, when are we going shopping?”

Catching sight of Xu Anan, she scowled, “Why is this woman here again? She reeks of poverty—so disgusting!”

The speaker was Xu Wanwan. She nuzzled Shen Ying coquettishly. “Why bother with her? She ought to die with her pauper mother in the slums!”

Xu Wanwan spoke with venom and arrogance. Shen Ying, instead of reprimanding her, stroked her head lovingly. “Don’t worry, Wanwan. Once I’ve dealt with this woman, I’ll accompany you.”

Denied, Xu Wanwan glared at Xu Anan, her malice undisguised.

Xu Wanwan was the child of Shen Ying and Xu’s father. Years ago, when Xu’s mother left with Xu Anan, it was because Shen Ying, heavily pregnant, had forced them out.

Yet confronted with this display of maternal affection, Xu Anan could only bow her head. Though her legs throbbed with pain, she bit back any retort.

Shen Ying had always been strict with her, claiming it was due to her regard for the family’s rules, but in truth, she merely used Xu Anan as a vessel for her resentment toward Xu’s mother. Xu Anan understood, but dared not show any dissatisfaction.

After soothing Xu Wanwan, Shen Ying took out a check, handing it to Xu Anan with an air of charity. “Take this. Don’t repeat your mistake.”

Xu Anan clutched the check, a faint smile finally breaking across her bloodless lips. “Thank you, Mother.”

She dared not cross the mother and daughter, for only by enduring could her own mother in the intensive care unit continue to live.

For that, even if she became a pawn in the Xu family’s marriage alliance, it mattered little.

At first, when the Xu family extended an olive branch, Xu Anan had felt relieved, believing her father hadn’t forgotten them. But as time passed, she came to realize it was all for their own use.

Shen Ying was unwilling to let her own daughter marry the unruly Jiang Yu, yet could not forgo the benefits of the Jiang family’s power. So she brought Xu Anan back—solely for the sake of her identity as a daughter of the Xu family.

Seeing Xu Anan submit, Shen Ying granted her favor with a wave, leading Xu Wanwan away. “Clean yourself up, don’t let others laugh at you.”

Xu Anan nodded, obediently half-bowing, and through Shen Ying’s gaze caught sight of her delicate, pale neck. So slender, so frail—ripe for the slaughter.

She sighed inwardly, and the gaze measuring Xu Anan grew heavier.

That oppressive stare lingered until Shen Ying departed, at which point Xu Anan finally breathed easier.

She left the Xu household, staggering, and immediately cashed the check in her hand.

When she’d first been brought back, her father suggested her mother be treated at home, since their family had highly qualified private doctors. But Xu Anan couldn’t trust the Xu family’s physicians.

She transferred all the money to the hospital account, and only then did she feel at ease.

But before she could relax, Shen Ying’s orders arrived. Tonight, at the Xu family banquet, the Jiang family would attend as well. Xu Anan was to apologize to Jiang Yu.

Whatever it took, she must secure the Jiang family alliance.

Hearing this, Xu Anan breathed a sigh of relief.

It seemed Jiang Yu and the Xu family still didn’t know about her involvement with Jiang Li. Otherwise, she would have faced far worse than the whip.

Changing into her evening dress, the pain in her legs radiated up to her thighs, leaving her mortified. She silently cursed Jiang Li.

Once dressed, she stood upright.

In the mirror, the high-necked dress wrapped around her, proud as a peacock. But alas—

She never truly was one.