The Ex and Her Riches

This isn’t self-harm, Sienna. Everything that Asher’s doing now is how I punished Evelyn… He’s taking the punishment on her behalf. Is he trying to persuade me to let Evelyn off?” Gwendolyn muttered.

Needless to say, Sienna was stunned. My goodness! How can Gwendolyn think of her brother that way?

“Gwen, Asher hasn’t mentioned Evelyn once since the homecoming feast. He’s doing this to atone for his sins. He’s doing this for you!”

Gwendolyn fell silent, and for a long while, all she could hear was Asher’s strained, raspy chanting coming from the ancestral hall.

When she finally cracked the door open, the sight of her brother’s badly scarred back made her feel a twinge of heartache.

That, however, only lasted a few seconds.

After much contemplation, Gwendolyn curled her lips into a half smile. “Well, he does have sins to atone for. Since he’s already punishing himself, you should just let him be. Otherwise, he won’t be able to ease his guilt, and it’d continue to eat away at him.”

Sienna, on the other hand, couldn’t stop sobbing. After all, how could she bear to see her husband in so much pain?

“But, Gwen… Asher’s using a horsewhip. His body won’t be able to take it if he whips himself twenty times a day.”

Once again, Gwendolyn gave it some thought.

Even though Asher has hurt me the most, I can’t deny that Evelyn’s the one who carried out all the misdeeds. His greatest mistake was not stepping forward even after learning about the truth. He doesn’t deserve to be my brother… In any case, I’m always impartial when I have a score to settle. I won’t show favoritism, nor will I falsely accuse anyone.

With that thought in mind, Gwendolyn looked sternly at Sienna. “Tell him he doesn’t have to go to such an extent to gain my sympathy. He can recite the Heagurn Sutra daily if he’s genuinely keen to atone for his sins. If he doesn’t want to, that’s also fine by me. I won’t get anyone to check on him, either. As for whether I’d forgive him, only time will tell… I’ll think about it again when he has managed to undo all the hurt he caused me.”

After leaving that scathing response, Gwendolyn turned on her heel and strode off, her face devoid of emotions

Sienna couldn’t do anything but stare at the woman’s retreating figure and sighed.

The next second, she entered the ancestral hall and crouched behind Asher to check on his wounds.

The man’s white shirt had long been ripped open at the back, and after whipping himself forty times over two days, his skin was all torn and bloodied.

much as she wanted to comfort her

that she had shed a life’s worth of tears over the past

fever now. Why don’t we stop reading tonight and get you some medication? We can carry on with

nothing as he continued to hold and

persuade him, Sienna had no choice but to stay by his side

had suffered yet another fainting

physically exhausted after consecutive days of

and William, Norman hastily sneaked into Evelyn’s room to check

at him that morning, and he was completely mesmerized by her warmth

was hard to believe how such an innocent and pitiful young

Norman decided to question

but to his surprise, the woman was already propped up in

to see how you were doing and if I needed to get a

speak loudly due to a sore throat, she beckoned the

Norman went up to her like a moth to

soon as he was near, Evelyn grabbed his hand and placed it against her neck. “If you want to help me,

of life! You ought to cherish it!” Norman exclaimed while

a peculiar feeling washed over him when his calloused fingers

long, Evelyn had tears in her eyes as her face became etched with pain and

the door and said hoarsely, “I’ve been wronged and sent here because everyone out there is

spark in her eyes was long gone,

crying woman, but

pleading look. “I’d rather die than continue living this tortured life of mine. I beg of you… Please help

I can’t do that. If you’ve truly been wronged, then there must be a way to uncover the truth. I can help you clear your

she gestured for Norman to come closer. With that, she leaned in and

…

finished her dinner and dropped by to check on Evelyn when she caught the duo in what seemed like a compromising

someone as depraved as her?” Margaret thundered as she rushed forward and

red-faced Margaret slapped