Vino frowned and leaned in close, whispering, “There are a lot of people here. Don’t say anything. I’ll handle this.”

Then, turning to his mother, he said loudly, “Mom, Misca realizes she was wrong. She’s agreed to buy a house.”

I stared at him, stunned. “What?”

I was so furious I laughed.

Vino—so used to lying—had done it again. So this whole “apology” was a lie. It wasn’t his mother apologizing to me—it was me apologizing to her?

Seeing my face darken, Vino leaned in again and whispered, “Misca, all the relatives are here today. Whatever you want to say, hold it in until they’ve gone.”

“You give me face and I’ll give you results. Let’s respect each other, okay?”

Just then, a curious woman wandered over and asked, “Buying a house? What’s that about?”

With pride in his voice, Vino answered, “My wife is buying five houses for our family—two for my uncles and three for my aunts.”

Gasps echoed around the courtyard.

People murmured in amazement. “Vino really married well! She’s bringing wealth to the entire family!”

A few even turned to his mother and said, “You’re truly blessed.”

Deborah looked pleased, though she pretended to stay modest. “It’s nothing worth bragging about. Our Vino is talented—if she hadn’t been so eager to please us, would we have accepted her?”

The crowd nodded in agreement. “That’s right, that’s right.”

Then Deborah gave me a cold glance and added with deliberate emphasis, “How can you be so clueless? With so many elders present, where’s your greeting gift?”

Before I could even respond, Vino had already snatched my wallet and began handing out all the cash inside to the people nearby.

Some of the relatives who didn’t receive any looked annoyed.

Deborah’s face darkened with shame. She looked me up and down and said sharply, “Once you marry into the Fitzgerald family, you should act appropriately. What’s with all that flashy jewelry?”

Without hesitation, Vino reached over and removed my earrings, passing them out like party favors.

Then he reached for my necklace.

I stepped back, protecting it, my voice trembling. “Vino! That necklace is a keepsake from my grandmother.”

He frowned. “I’ll buy you a better one later. Your gift today wasn’t enough—you should make up for it with something else.”

Some of the relatives seemed uneasy, murmuring, “Isn’t this going a bit too far?”

Vino just shrugged. “It’s fine.”

And with that, he reached forward and snapped my necklace in two.

I lunged to stop him, but he shoved me hard and I fell to the ground.

By the time I got up, he had torn the necklace into several pieces and was handing them out.

“It’s gold,” he announced with a smile. “Misca is giving these as gifts.”

The villagers looked uncomfortable, but none of them returned the gold—they all pocketed the pieces.

I couldn’t take it anymore. “Vino! Do you take me for a fool? You’ve gone too far!”

The courtyard fell silent.

Then came the whispers.

“Vino is the golden phoenix of our village. How could he end up with such a disrespectful woman? Shouting at her husband in front of everyone…”

“An outsider’s wife causing trouble? She deserves a good beating.”

Another person turned to Deborah. “We heard yelling from your house this morning. What’s going on? Is the new daughter-in-law so wild even you can’t control her?”

Those words struck a nerve.

Deborah stood up and slapped me hard across the face.

“What are you screaming for?” she snapped. “You’re just a junior here. Do you think you have the right to speak?”

I was so furious I lost all sense of reason. I wanted to fight back, but Vino shoved me hard, slamming me into the corner of the wall.

Tears welled in my eyes as I nodded bitterly.

“Alright. Alright. Vino, I finally see who you really are.”

I turned to leave, but he yanked me back roughly.

His face twisted with rage, his jaw clenched tightly.

“Misca, I was trying to settle things peacefully today,” he growled. “But if you insist on making trouble, don’t blame me for being ruthless.”

“Let go of me,” I snapped coldly.

But instead of letting go, he tightened his grip.

“Sit back down,” he ordered, dragging me toward the house.

I fumbled for my phone and quickly dialed my father, but before I could even say a word, Vino grabbed the phone from my hand.

Without hesitation, he hurled it to the ground and stomped on it, shattering it into pieces.

I stared in disbelief, stunned by the man in front of me.

This wasn’t the Vino I knew—the one who used to be gentle, attentive, always calm.

No. The man standing in front of me now was a wild beast consumed by rage.

“If you don’t let me go,” I said through clenched teeth, “I’ll sue you for illegal detention.”

Before Vino could reply, his mother appeared. She raised her hand and struck me across the face again.

“Detention? You’re part of the Fitzgerald Family now,” she snapped. “You’re our daughter-in-law.”

“If we say you stay, then you stay. Who gave you the right to come and go as you please?”

Vino didn’t lift a finger to defend me. Instead, he held me even tighter, his grip like iron.

“I’m only engaged to Vino,” I spat, glaring at his mother.

She pointed toward the courtyard table.

“After eating at the pig slaughter feast, you're married. You think our family treats weddings like a joke?”

My head was spinning.

Did Vino deceive me into coming back just to force a marriage?

“This is your idea of a wedding?” I shouted at them all.

“This whole thing was done without my consent!”

“And besides, Vino is supposed to marry into my family. Even if we were to get married, I wouldn’t belong to the Fitzgerald Family!”

“You have no right to keep me here!”

Vino exploded.

“What nonsense are you spewing about marrying into your family?!”

Before I could react, he slapped me hard.

The blow was so fierce I was knocked off my feet.

But he didn’t stop there—he kicked me again and again, his rage out of control.

The villagers stood by watching, not a single one stepping in. Instead, they whispered among themselves.

“Has she lost her mind? Asking Vino to marry into her family? Vino’s the pride of our village.”

“She’s unruly. A beating is exactly what she needs. She’ll be obedient after this.”

He beat me for what felt like half an hour.

By the time he finally stopped, I was black and blue, my mind barely holding on.

In a daze, I felt several people drag me up and prostrate myself—bowing to heaven and earth as if a wedding ceremony had been completed.

Then they tossed me into a small, dark room.

Click.

A heavy iron lock fell into place behind me.

I collapsed onto a pile of straw, my whole body aching so badly I could hardly breathe.

Outside, I could hear the sounds of dishes clinking and chairs being moved—the Fitzgerald family was cleaning up after their so-called “wedding banquet.”

I wanted to run, to get away from this madness, but I couldn’t even stand.

Somewhere between pain and fear, I passed out.

When I woke up, it was the middle of the night.

My head throbbed, but I forced myself up, one step at a time. I limped to the door and tried the handle, but it was locked tight. There was no way out.

Then I heard voices—faint, muffled, coming from the next room.

I pressed my ear against the wooden door, straining to listen.

It was Deborah.

“Vino,” she said quietly, “have you really become a son-in-law?”

“How could you be so foolish?” Deborah scolded angrily. “You’re the first college graduate in our entire village, with a bright future ahead of you! If you marry into their family, you’ll never be able to hold your head high again—and the children you have will belong to them.”

Vino replied calmly, “Mom, their family is very wealthy.”

His mother snapped, “Wealth doesn’t mean everything! Once you make something of yourself, you might end up with even more money than she has!”

I couldn’t help but sneer in silence.

Does she really think success is that easy to achieve?

Vino went on, “Mom, I’m not really marrying into their family. Misca is an only child. When her parents pass away, I’ll be the only man left in the family.”

“Their entire property will be under my control.”

“As for the children’s surname? That’s up to me.”

“Even if I end up taking all their money, divorcing her and marrying someone younger and prettier, no one can stop me.”

Deborah hesitated, clearly still displeased. “It sounds good… but marrying into someone else’s family… the reputation is just too disgraceful.”

Vino’s father, Eddie, chimed in, “What good is a reputation if you’re broke? Once you’re rich, people will praise you no matter what you do. I think Vino is being smart. I support him.”

“But Misca’s parents aren’t that old, are they? As long as they’re alive, you won’t have full control.”

“I hear accidents happen all the time in the city… with all those cars on the road. Maybe there’s a way to…”

The more I listened, the more horrified I became. By the end, my entire body was trembling with fear.

I never imagined Vino could be this heartless.

Panic took over. I started pacing back and forth inside the room.

Then suddenly, I spotted a small window on the side.

It was sealed, but the wooden frame had rotted through. With trembling hands, I pried at the frame. The wood cracked apart under pressure. Hope surged in my chest.

I carefully climbed through the broken window.

Just as I was about to slip out, a rusty nail sliced deep into my skin. The pain was sharp—I almost screamed, but bit my lip to hold it back.

Once I was out, I didn’t even stop to check the wound. I tiptoed toward the front gate.

But just as my hand reached for the door…

Vino’s cold voice pierced the silence from behind me.

“Misca, where do you think you’re going?”

I didn’t stop to answer—I ran.

But he was faster. He caught up to me, grabbed my hair and dragged me back like a rag doll.

Deborah stormed over and began slapping me again and again.

“I’ll teach you to run away! I’ll teach you!”

Then Eddie came out, carrying a thick chain. He locked it to the bed frame and bound me to it.

He looked at Vino and said coldly, “If you ask me, you should get her pregnant first. Once she’s carrying your child, her heart will settle.”

“And even if she wants to divorce later, we’ll still have her child—and that means a share of her inheritance.”

Deborah nodded eagerly. “Right, right. Then trick her parents into letting her stay in our village for the full ten months.”

“Once the child’s born, we’ll have nothing to worry about.”

Vino nodded thoughtfully. Once his parents left, he shut the door behind them and turned toward me, his eyes filled with something dark and twisted.

He started tearing at my clothes.

I screamed and cursed at him with everything I had.

Enraged, he punched me hard in the face—once, twice, over and over. I could barely breathe, the pain crushing.

And then—bang!

The door burst open with a deafening crash.

A man stormed in, grabbed Vino by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

In the darkness, I heard a voice—deep, furious, familiar.

“You dare lay a hand on my daughter? I’ll kill you!”

It was my father.