: Blood Letter

My husband, who had been working away, returned home for the New Year. To my surprise, he made an announcement the moment he walked through the door.

"For the sake of our family's harmony, you must abide by The 24 Edicts for the Virtuous Wife."

As he spoke, he slapped a Blood Pact onto the wall.

I took one look: "You must obey my every word. You must wait on his mother. You must handle all household chores. You must give birth to a son. You must stay at home. You must learn The Creed of Female Servitude..."

1.

"His mother is a Buddhist, so from now on, you'll have to prepare her meals separately. They can't have even a hint of meat or fish. You'll also need to buy new kitchenware; you can't cook for her using a pot that's touched meat."

"From now on, you need to report to me before you leave the house. You can only go out after I've given my approval. While you're out, you must be ready to answer my video calls at a moment's notice—and you have no more than five seconds to pick up."

"You are to have no men in your phone's contact list or on your ChatLink friends list. When you're outside, you are not to speak more than three sentences to any man."

....

My husband had been home for ten minutes, and he spent every single one of them rattling off his new rules.

The Elder Mrs. Vance, my mother-in-law, had come home with him.

I listened, the corner of my mouth twitching uncontrollably. 'With rules like these, even The Scoria Syndicate would have to get on their knees and call you grandmaster.'

"Dawn Thorne, did you understand everything I just said?"

I stared into his eyes.

"Owen Vance, who taught you all this? Am I your wife, or your prisoner?"

Owen Vance glanced up.

"It's precisely because you're my wife that I'm setting these rules for you."

"His mother said so. I'm a man of some standing at my company now. I need to keep the woman of my house in line."

With that, he walked to the dining table, plopped himself down, picked up his chopsticks, and began picking at the food.

"This is so salty it's practically inedible."

"These greens are tough. It's like chewing on grass."

"The fish is rank."

"I work my fingers to the bone out there, and this is the garbage you serve me when I get home?"

He clearly didn't care in the slightest how much thought and effort I had poured into making this entire meal.

Seeing him act like this, my heart finally began to turn to ice.

Our months of separation had not led to a sweet, passionate reunion, but to even tighter shackles and open contempt.

Meanwhile, The Elder Mrs. Vance just sat there, looking as serene as a statue, clearly quite pleased with her son's performance.

Seeing my silence, The Elder Mrs. Vance chimed in.

"Daughter-in-law, we're doing this for your own good! Which one of us women didn't go through the same thing?"

"One must suffer bitterness to become a worthy person."

"A woman's place is to serve her man, to support her husband and raise children at home."

My whole body trembled as I listened. 'So they really intend to make me their slave!'

'My concessions and tolerance hadn't earned me affection and appreciation; I gave them an inch, and they tried to take a mile!'

"Dawn Thorne, his mother is talking to you! Can't you hear? Are you deaf or mute?"

"If you pull this kind of attitude again, I won't be so easy on you anymore!"

Owen Vance slammed his chopsticks on the table with a loud CLACK, shattering my last illusions about him along with them.

I said nothing. I turned, went into the bedroom, packed some clothes and necessities into a suitcase, and headed for the door.

Owen Vance saw what I was doing and blocked my way.

"Dawn Thorne, what do you think you're doing? His mother is here! Where are you going?"

I looked up at this familiar yet strange face, and I smiled.

"You can wait on your Dowager yourself! As for you and I, we're done."

With that, I snatched the Blood Pact he had stuck to the wall, tore it to shreds, threw the pieces in his face, and strode out the door.

Owen Vance's shocked and furious roar erupted behind me.

"Dawn Thorne, how dare you! His mother wrote that with her own blood!"

"If you dare walk out that door, don't even think about coming back."

"His mother was right, you're just an undisciplined, wild woman! Let me tell you, don't come crying and begging for me to take you back later."

The air outside was cold, the wind cutting my face like a blade, but as I walked down the street, I felt a sense of relief I had never known before.

'I'll just write off this awful marriage as a bad dream.'

'From this moment on, I'm finally going to be myself again.'

2.

Owen Vance and I started out as colleagues. I was his senior, and I mentored him when he first joined the company.

He was so green back then, always trailing after me and calling me "mentor."

He wasn't the brightest, but he was a hard worker who wasn't afraid of a challenge, so I taught him everything I knew.

Later, after he pursued me relentlessly, I became his girlfriend.

After two years of dating, we walked down the aisle.

His family wasn't well-off, so I didn't ask for a Bride Price. My family even paid for the wedding, and our marital home was a dowry gift from Mr. and Mrs. Thorne.

The only reason I married him, despite everyone's objections, was because I saw his willingness to learn and work hard, and because he was so gentle and considerate with me.

But after we got married, everything slowly began to change.

He demanded that I stop wearing dresses. Then, he forbade me from wearing makeup and insisted I be home before 8 PM every night.

Blinded by love, I actually thought he was just concerned about me.

So when he told me I couldn't work in sales anymore, even though I was the company's Sales Champion, I obediently quit and took a job as an Administrative Clerk.

I believed love was about mutual support and meeting each other halfway, but he gradually began to take my love for him for granted.

He stopped paying attention to me, growing more and more impatient. He was constantly finding fault with me, coming home late, and sometimes not coming home at all.

Eventually, it escalated to him yelling and screaming at me whenever he was displeased and ordering me around.

Of course, The Elder Mrs. Vance deserves a great deal of the "credit" for all this.

I once saw their chat history. She had filled Owen Vance's head with ideas like how men should have Three Wives and Four Concubines, and how a man must never spoil his woman.

Owen Vance was a quick study in corruption, but I was still deluding myself, hoping my kindness could bring back the man he once was.

Until tonight...

: A Fresh Start

3.

Late at night, I didn't go back to my parents' house. Instead, I got a hotel room for myself.

On one hand, I didn't want my parents to worry about me. On the other, after I'd calmed down, I already had a plan.

Since my goal was to completely break free from Owen Vance and build a new life for myself, my top priority was to get my finances in order.

After all, it's hard to get anything done without money.

I took out my phone, opened my contacts, and found my old boss, Ms. Sterling. Then I sent her a message.

"Ms. Sterling, I know this is out of the blue, but I was wondering if you have any job openings. I'd like to return to my old position."

I felt a little apprehensive after sending the message.

After all, I had insisted on leaving Ms. Sterling's team back then. I did it for the sake of a more harmonious marriage with Owen Vance, right after he suggested I quit my sales job.

Plus, I hadn't handled any business in years, so it was anyone's guess whether I'd be accepted back.

Unexpectedly, Ms. Sterling didn't text me back. She called me directly.

The first thing she asked was if I was in some kind of trouble.

Hearing the concern in Ms. Sterling's voice, I could tell that time hadn't created any distance between us.

I explained the whole situation to Ms. Sterling honestly.

When she heard I was splitting with Owen Vance and planning to divorce him, Ms. Sterling slapped her thigh and cheered on the other end of the line.

"You've finally come to your senses!"

After explaining everything, I asked Ms. Sterling again if she had a position I could take, telling her I was willing to start from scratch.

Ms. Sterling firmly rejected the idea.

"Dawn, you used to be our company's Sales Champion! How could I possibly let you start from scratch?"

"I'm starting my own business right now. If you can come work for me, I'll give you a new team. You can be the supervisor!"

I was stunned.

"Ms. Sterling, I haven't done this in years. I'm afraid I won't be able to adapt or do a good job."

Ms. Sterling burst out laughing.

"If it were anyone else, I might really have to test them out. But you? I have one hundred percent faith in you. Just go for it!"

When she found out I was still staying in a hotel, Ms. Sterling offered to let me stay in her vacant house.

I couldn't bring myself to refuse, so I accepted.

The very next day, I moved into the house Ms. Sterling provided and started my new job at her company.