"What's going on?" Emily's mother-in-law appeared at the door, her eyes narrowing as she took in the scene. She rushed forward and yanked Lu Qianqian away from Emily. "Qianqian, what are you doing?"
Emily was on the floor, her trembling hands held up before her, the skin raw and red. Blood was oozing from the burns, and the pain was unbearable.
Tears welled up in her eyes but she fought them back. She wanted to cry, to let it all out, but she couldn't.
"Mom, Luo Aiqun burned my dress—the one I paid a million yuan for! Look at the hole in the sleeve! How am I supposed to wear this now?" Lu Qianqian's voice was laced with anger.
"What?" The mother-in-law froze for a moment, then her expression turned to fury. Without warning, she slapped Emily hard, sending her sprawling back to the floor. "Luo Aiqun, you've been married to the Lu family for two years, and you still can't even take care of the simplest things? What's your plan? Do you want Alexander to divorce you?"
"Mom, I didn't—" Emily tried to explain, but her words caught in her throat. "I'm just... so tired."
She didn't want to leave Alexander. She had no idea why she wasn't pregnant yet. They'd never used protection, and yet, nothing had happened. They hadn't even gone to the doctor to see if something was wrong with either of them.
"Tired?" Her mother-in-law's voice was thick with sarcasm. "Luo Aiqun, do you know what I hear from you the most these days?"
Emily looked up at her, confused.
"Tired!" Her mother-in-law hissed through clenched teeth.
"..."
But it was true. Emily was tired. She didn't know what had changed lately, but she felt drained all the time—physically, mentally, emotionally.
"Luo Aiqun, it's one thing if you can't have children, but if you can't even keep up with your housework, I'll make sure you're out of here." With that, the mother-in-law turned on her heel and stormed out, dragging Lu Qianqian behind her.
Countless wealthy girls in the capital had tried and failed to catch Alexander's eye, but he had rejected them all. He refused to divorce "Luo Aiqun," and his mother wasn't about to let him get away with it.
This time, if "Luo Aiqun" couldn't even handle her duties, she'd be gone.
The moment they left, Emily's tears fell freely, like beads of water breaking loose from a string. They burned as they hit the back of her hand.
It hurt, but it didn't hurt as much as her heart did.
She had given everything—why was it still never enough for the Lu family?
Noon.
After a long morning of being barked at and belittled, Emily finally had a moment to breathe. She walked into the living room with a bowl of her mother-in-law's favorite black chicken soup, the steam rising in the air. "Mom, I made your favorite black chicken soup."
Her mother-in-law barely glanced at her, but she picked up the bowl, scooped a spoonful, and took it straight to her mouth, without even blowing on it.
Then, in an almost deliberate move, she poured the rest of the scalding soup all over Emily.
"Ah!" Emily cried out in pain as the hot liquid seared into her already injured arm. She hadn't even seen it coming—her mother-in-law had done this on purpose.
"Luo Aiqun, are you trying to kill me with this soup? Why can't you let it cool down first?" her mother-in-law snapped.
Seeing Emily's arm burn from the soup, her mother-in-law's face twisted into a smirk.
This, she thought, was deserved retribution for burning Lu Qianqian's dress.
"Mom, you could've waited for it to cool down before drinking it," Emily said, trying to fight through the pain as she struggled to keep her composure.
But wasn't this the same woman who always insisted on drinking everything piping hot? The last time, Emily had been scolded for letting her food cool down before serving it to her.
Why the sudden change?
Did she do this on purpose?
"You want me to blow on it for you? I don't have time for that!" her mother-in-law growled, dismissing Emily completely as she switched off the TV and headed upstairs.
Emily's eyes darkened. Her lips were pressed so tightly together, she almost bit through them. Of course, it had been deliberate.
"Luo Aiqun, come upstairs and clean my room." Lu Qianqian's voice echoed down the hallway.
"Okay," Emily replied, her voice tight. She quickly swept the crumbs on the floor, mopped up the mess, and then trudged upstairs.
Once she finished cleaning Lu Qianqian's room, she was sent to the laundry room with a basket of clothes.
Not long ago, Lu Qianqian had instructed her, "All of these need to be hand-washed. Don't use the machine—if you do, they'll get ruined."
Did she not realize? It wasn't about the clothes—it was about making Emily suffer. She wanted her to scrub, to hurt.
But Emily did it anyway.
By the time she finished washing the basket, her hands were swollen, bleeding, and raw, the detergent making the burns sting even more. Her hands didn't look like hands at all—they were a mess of torn skin and blisters. Even the clothes that she had hung out to dry were stained with drops of her blood.
She had no choice but to rinse them under cold water, wearing disposable gloves as she wrung them out.
Night.
After an endless day of being bossed around, Emily finally found a moment to herself. She grabbed her pajamas from the closet and was about to head to the bathroom when her phone, which had been lying forgotten on the bedside table, buzzed.
She glanced at it. Her father's name flashed on the screen.
With a sigh, she answered. "Dad?"
"Ai Lian, I need your help. Please, talk to Alexander and see if he can inject 80 million yuan into the Luo Group," her father's voice pleaded from the other end.
"80 million?" Emily's heart sank. "What's going on, Dad? Is something wrong with the company?"
"Yes... there's a problem with our cash flow," her father explained.
Emily frowned. "But how? We've been doing okay, haven't we?"
She remembered that two years ago, the Luo family had married her off to Alexander to solve their financial problems. Her father had asked the Lu family for money several times in the past, but it had always been small amounts—never anything this large. Why were they in such trouble now?
Her father sighed heavily. "I recently invested in a big project... but it turned out to be a scam. We lost all the money, and now the company is about to go bankrupt."
Emily was speechless. How many times had her father fallen for scams? Why couldn't he be more cautious?
"Dad, why didn't you tell me sooner?" she finally asked, trying to keep the frustration from her voice.
"Ai Lian, I... I didn't want to worry you," he said weakly. "I thought it was a sure thing. All my friends said it was a good investment, but... I didn't know they were in on it together."
"I understand," Emily said quietly. She wasn't angry at him—not really. What was the point of being angry now? The damage was done.
"So, will you help, Ai Lian?" her father asked, his voice filled with hope.
Emily hesitated. Asking Alexander for that much money was... difficult. "Let me talk to him. I'll see what I can do."
"Talk to him? Why do you need to 'talk' to him? Just ask him already!" Her father's voice grew impatient. "This isn't the time to hesitate."
Before Emily could respond, her mother's voice cut through the conversation. "Give me the phone."
Her mother took the phone from her, her voice sharp as she spoke directly to her husband. "Emily, your father has sold off all the antiques in the house to try and keep the business afloat. If it weren't for the family's mounting debt and the rejection from the banks, do you think he'd be asking you for help?"
Emily didn't say anything. What was there to say?