Xie Yuan withdrew his gaze, his eyes drooping listlessly as he curved his lips into a feeble smile.
"I never meant to hide it from you. That day you said that, for our wedding, you wanted to invite my relatives."
"I don't really have any relatives left."
Years ago, his leg had been severed by someone his uncle had hired, and it was only with great difficulty that he managed to escape.
After waking up in the hospital, he had hoped for his mother's consolation.
But the first words he heard from his mother upon waking were,
"I can't accept him; I can't accept a crippled son."
In that moment, all his hopes were shattered.
In that moment, he felt as though he had died in that cold cellar.
The only hope that had driven him to crawl out of the cellar and escape crumbled away then and there.
Once, he believed that his mother, the only person in the world he thought would care for him, had also abandoned him the moment she saw his mutilated limb.
