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.

comfort her husband, she didn’t dare to

Sienna knew was that she had shed a life’s

we stop reading

continued

no choice but to stay by his side

the countryside, Evelyn had

she mentally and physically exhausted after consecutive days of hard

Margaret left for dinner with Ezra and William, Norman hastily sneaked into Evelyn’s room to

morning, and he was

to believe how such an innocent and pitiful young lady could be a psychopath like his mother

Norman decided to

into her room, but to his surprise, the woman was already propped up in bed

to see how you were doing and if I needed

to a sore throat, she beckoned the

up to her like a moth to

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

full of life! You ought to cherish

feeling washed over him when his calloused fingers grazed against

eyes as her face became etched with pain and utter

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

was long gone, and all that

panicked at the sight of the crying woman, but

hand and gave him a pleading look. “I’d rather die than continue living

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

across Evelyn’s eyes as she gestured for Norman to come closer. With that, she leaned in and whispered a few words into

…

finished her dinner and dropped by to check on Evelyn

Margaret thundered as she rushed forward and pulled Norman’s ear. “She’d take advantage of you and hang you out

a red-faced Margaret slapped her so hard that she fell onto the