For three years of marriage to Julian, he never once touched me. Until I accidentally knocked Celeste’s sacred rosary off her wrist. In a furious rage, he stripped me naked and shoved me into the biting snow. I sobbed, begging him to stop. “I truly know I was wrong. It’s so cold, I’ll freeze to death.” But Julian ignored my pleas. “Stop pretending. Since you dared to touch Celeste’s things, you need a good lesson.” I lay in the snow all night, my hands and feet completely numb. Later, I personally took gifts to apologize to Celeste, only to accidentally catch her and Julian entangled together. Turns out, Julian had already accepted my mother-in-law’s proposal for him to essentially extend his responsibilities to both our families. In utter despair, I finally dialed Leo’s number. “I’ve thought about it. I agree to your proposal for me to join your side of the family.” Leo’s voice on the other end of the line was incredibly excited. “Are you really sure?” I nodded, despair weighing me down. “Yes.” I heard rustling sounds from his end. “Wait for me here. I’m coming back for you.” After hanging up with Leo, tears streamed down my face, unbidden. Julian had never touched me in our three years of marriage. I always thought he was just naturally cold, until yesterday, when I stumbled upon him and Celeste together in her private sanctuary. The unbearable sounds lasted all night. I suddenly remembered years ago, when Julian had thrown me out just because I wore a slightly low-cut shirt into the sanctuary. “This is a sacred space. How dare you desecrate it?” Back then, I was utterly humiliated, thinking it was all my fault. Now, I see Julian’s heart was twisted from the very beginning. Catching a glimpse of Julian entering the bedroom, I quickly wiped away my tears. “Anya, get up! Celeste isn’t feeling well. Go make her something to eat.” Celeste leaned against Julian, delicate as a willow branch. “Oh, dear sister-in-law, I’m not feeling well today, so sorry to trouble you. My stomach is a bit sensitive, I need some chicken soup, made from a free-range hen from the countryside.” “It’ll be a bother, but could you go fetch one yourself?” I looked at them, stunned. “My hands and feet are still numb from being frozen last night. How can I go to the countryside to catch a chicken now?” Julian, hearing my words, looked incredibly annoyed. He reached out and dragged me from the covers onto the floor. “Anya, stop pretending! Catching a chicken isn’t going to kill you!” I was violently thrown to the ground, momentarily dazed. That’s when Celeste spoke up. “Dear sister-in-law, the car’s broken. You’ll have to walk.” I secretly clenched my fists. To avoid conflict, I struggled to my feet. As I passed Celeste, she casually exposed the red marks on her collarbone, leaning close to my ear to whisper, “Julian was rough last night, left marks all over me.” She then gave me a provocative smirk. The old me would have burst into tears and confronted them. But now, my heart had long gone numb, unable to stir even a flicker of emotion. I walked past them expressionlessly, because all I wanted was to leave.
Under the butler’s watchful eye, I walked to the countryside. With the ice and snow just beginning to melt, the country roads were treacherous, and I stumbled and fell several times. Under the butler’s supervision, I caught a chicken myself. By then, my clothes were filthy and disheveled. My limbs, which had just been numb from the freezing cold last night, started to go numb again. Expressionless, I dragged my exhausted body onto the road back home. But to my surprise, when I finally arrived home, no one opened the door for me. “Leo, is our sister-in-law upset with me? Is that why she came back so late?” “I’m shaking, I’m so hungry.” Julian, standing beside her, dotingly flicked Celeste’s nose. “Then let’s give her a little punishment.” They locked me out of the house. Under the butler’s supervision, I was forced to stand outside. A light snow began to fall, and my hands and feet, already numb from last night’s freezing cold, lost all sensation again. My consciousness began to blur. The butler, showing no mercy, kicked me hard in the waist, sending me stumbling and snapping me back to my senses. But not long after, my consciousness blurred once more. This time, no matter how much the butler kicked me, I couldn’t regain my awareness. In my hazy state, the intimate sounds from inside the house started up again. I felt like I was going to die. I woke up in a hospital, only to be greeted by a stinging slap from Julian. “How can you be so dramatic? All I asked was for you to stand for a bit, and you have to pretend to faint and come to the hospital?” “Do you have any idea how much you scared Celeste? It took me ages to calm her down.” The nurse beside me couldn’t take it anymore and rolled her eyes. “Sir, your wife is almost dead, and you’re still worried about your sister-in-law being scared?” Julian, however, dismissed it. “Anya, you’re getting quite bold, aren’t you? You even bribed a nurse to lie for you.” “Let me tell you, this kind of trick won’t work on me.” The nurse was about to argue further, but I stopped her. Julian was always stubborn; once he made up his mind, there was no changing it. I thanked the nurse and got up, leaving the room with Julian.
As soon as we returned home, Celeste eagerly rushed into Julian’s arms. She whimpered, crying. “Julian, I just had the maid stew the chicken Anya brought back.” “But the maid told me the chicken wasn’t fresh anymore, it couldn’t be eaten.” Julian immediately turned to me, glaring furiously. “It’s all your fault for faking illness! Now Celeste couldn’t even have fresh chicken!” “Go apologize to her right now.” Looking at the two of them, I found it somewhat amusing. My gaze fell on their intertwined hands. “Anyone would think *you two* were the married couple.” Hearing my words, Julian instinctively loosened his grip. “Anya, what do you mean by that?” “I tolerate your usual nonsense, but now you dare to casually slander Celeste?” Julian’s words thoroughly ignited the fury in my heart. “Julian, look at the distance between you and Celeste! Do you two look like normal brother-in-law and sister-in-law?!” “If you wanted to extend your responsibilities to both families, you could have just told me!” *Slap!* Julian delivered a stinging slap across my face. “Anya, I think you’ve truly gone mad from pretending to be sick! How dare you spread rumors about me and Celeste?” “It seems the previous punishment didn’t make you sober up. If that’s the case, then go reflect properly in the confinement room.” The family’s confinement room was right next to the family cemetery, specifically for punishing disobedient family members. It was constantly dark, infested with rats and cockroaches. For me, who suffered from claustrophobia, this punishment was pure torture. I trembled, wanting to beg Julian to let me go. But he didn’t even glance at me. He turned to softly comfort Celeste. I was dragged into the confinement room by the bodyguards. The enclosed environment plunged me into anxiety. I started tearing at my hair and clothes, trying to calm myself down in the confined space. But it was all in vain. Rats constantly nibbled at my body. I had to stay conscious at all times, until a phone call came. When Leo arrived, I was huddled in a corner, trembling uncontrollably. The moment he saw me, Leo’s eyes instantly reddened. “Don’t be scared, don’t be scared, I’m here to save you.”
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