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.

and as much as she wanted to comfort her husband, she

only thing Sienna knew was that she had shed a life’s worth of

how badly injured you are, Hubby. You’re even running a fever now. Why don’t we stop reading tonight and get you some medication? We can carry on with this

continued to

to persuade him, Sienna had no choice but to stay

the countryside, Evelyn had

and physically exhausted after consecutive days of hard labor, but she had

left for dinner with Ezra and William, Norman hastily

latter had smiled at him that morning, and he was completely mesmerized

an innocent and pitiful young

decided to question Evelyn

to his surprise, the woman

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

couldn’t speak loudly due to a sore

to her like a moth

near, Evelyn grabbed his hand and placed it against her neck. “If

You ought to cherish it!” Norman exclaimed while pulling his hand back in

peculiar feeling washed over him when his calloused fingers

tears in her eyes as her face became etched with

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

gone, and all that

of the crying woman, but unfortunately, he didn’t know how to

him a pleading look. “I’d rather die than continue living this tortured life of mine. I beg of

you’ve truly been wronged, then there must be a way

glint suddenly flashed across Evelyn’s eyes as she gestured for Norman to come closer. With that, she leaned in

…

by to check on Evelyn when she caught the duo in what seemed like a

Margaret thundered as she rushed forward and pulled Norman’s ear.

slapped her so hard that she fell onto the