2:

I looked at Mavis Cobb and felt nothing but disgust.

In my last life, the reason I let myself be half-pushed, half-persuaded into kneeling to serve that tea was that Mavis was so good at putting on an act.

I knew she'd cried herself sick every day since the eldest Cox brother died, grieving for him and for herself. And I thought, women should stand by each other. I trusted Henry Cox, and I believed Mavis was a good sister-in-law.

That was why I agreed. Why I agreed.

But I never expected it.

She could act better than any movie star. In front of Henry and Stella Finch, she was the good sister-in-law who was kind to me, who thought of me at every turn.

She rushed to take on all the dirty, heavy work, and it broke Henry's and Stella's hearts to watch her.

But the moment Henry and Stella weren't around, she'd come down with a headache or a fever and lounge at home like she owned the place, ordering everyone about.

At first I only thought she was afraid I'd bully her, so she was striking first.

In less than half a year her belly was swollen, and she jabbed a finger in my face and called me the concubine, using the child to threaten the whole family, forcing me to swear I'd never have children of my own, or else she'd take the baby and die...

And now she had the nerve to come begging me, dragging everyone along to accuse me, cornering me until there was no way down.

And Henry ate this up more than anyone.

The instant he saw Mavis on her knees, he stepped forward and pulled her up.

He tucked her behind him, his face full of heartache for her, and looked at me like I was his enemy.

"Beth Harding, you've already exchanged vows with me. You're my wife now. When I tell you to do something, you do it."

"I said you and Mavis would be equals, no higher or lower. But we haven't even been husband and wife yet, and here you are bullying Mavis. It's outrageous."

"I can let go of you slapping me just now, but not this. Today you're going to kneel and kowtow, and you won't stop until Mavis forgives you."

I almost laughed from the anger.

But I didn't argue. I just looked at him, dead serious.

"Go on, then. Tell me. Where exactly did I bully her?"

3:

Henry opened his mouth to speak.

But I didn't give him the chance.

"She wants me to be a concubine, and I said no. Is that bullying her?"

"Or is it that she knelt to me, begging to be my concubine, and I said no. Is that bullying her?"

Henry's mouth worked, and he came up with nothing.

Stella spat.

"Quit talking nonsense. What does a dual-household heir arrangement have to do with any concubine?"

"We've told you, from now on you and Mavis hold the same place in this house. You won't even spare Mavis a bite of food?"

I let out a cold laugh.

"A moment ago Mavis dropped to her knees in front of me for no reason, and I hadn't said a single word, but Henry was already forcing me to kowtow and apologize. That's treating us the same?"

Stella opened her mouth to go on.

I knew there was no reasoning with her, so I reached up, pulled the red flower off my own head, and pinned it into Mavis's hair.

"Mavis Cobb, you're not the lesser one. You and Henry are properly married, with the certificate and everything."

"You don't need to beg me for a way out. If anything, I'm the one who should be begging you for a way out, begging you not to make me some modern-day concubine. My parents may have died young, but if they knew I'd become a concubine, they wouldn't rest easy even in heaven."

"So I'm begging you. For the sake of the respect and kindness I showed you all this time, let me go."

The relatives and friends around us broke into a buzz.

But I was an orphan, and my parents had come from somewhere far away, so not one of my relatives was there.

The crowd never minds a bigger show, and one after another they took Henry's side and pressed in on me.

"A dual-household heir is something the ancestors handed down. Saying no isn't your choice."

"You're only lucky it's these times. In the old days, a jealous woman like you would've been drowned in a pigsty basket."

"Having Mavis to help you honor your mother-in-law and keep the house running, isn't that a good thing? How do you not know a blessing when you see one?"

I didn't argue with that either.

I just found the few who'd worked themselves up the loudest.

"Since you're so willing, then marry your own daughter in as the concubine."

"I'll hand this blessing to your daughter instead."

"How about it?"

Four:

Not one of them agreed, of course.

Every last one of them jabbed a finger at me and called me crazy, and their daughters flushed red with anger right along with them.

I laughed to myself.

In my last life they'd worked so hard to talk me into it, acting like the dual-household arrangement was some great blessing. And now that it was their own turn, suddenly they didn't want it?

"Don't do to others what you wouldn't want done to you. You can't bear to make your own daughters concubines, so what gives you the right to force me into it?"

"Henry and I did go through the wedding rites, yes, but only because he tricked me, and we never registered the marriage, so it doesn't count. He and Mavis are the real married couple. It has nothing to do with me!"

I turned to leave.

Henry grabbed me at once.

He didn't dare lose his temper.

His voice came out pleading.

"Beth, I'm begging you here."

"After all these years together, are we really going to split up over something this small?"

"I don't want the dual-household arrangement either, but you've seen the state Mavis and my mother are in. I can't be loyal and be a good son at the same time. Just help me out, all right?"

I rolled my eyes and shook his hand off.

"You don't want it?"

"One man taking two wives, and you're the one who's torn? Who tied you up and dragged you off to register the marriage, hm?"

"You keep going on about the dual-household thing, about helping your older brother take care of Mavis. Funny, I never heard of anyone taking care of a woman all the way into her bed."

The crowd doubled over laughing, and Henry's face got uglier by the second.

But then I switched course.

"Still, I could agree to it. It's not impossible!"

Henry's eyes lit up.

"Good. Whatever you say, I'll agree to it."

I nodded.

"You know, of course, that my parents had a pair of twin sons before they had me."

"So if you agree to let me take two more husbands, a triple-household arrangement, then I'll agree to you and Mavis. How's that?"

Five:

There was no way Henry would agree to that.

His face went black and he cursed me for having no shame, said I was picking a fight on purpose, but the more he said, the more he choked on his own words, because everything coming out of his mouth was contradicting what he'd just said.

Mavis started wailing that she wanted to die, saying over and over that she was the one in the way, that she never should have gone on living, that she should just go join the Cox family's older brother.

Stella dropped down onto the ground too and started keening, sobbing to the ancestors that this unfilial daughter-in-law of hers was going to hound her to death.

Henry didn't know which way to turn. He had no idea what to do.

I didn't argue.

I turned, went back into the house, picked up my dowry box, and started to leave.

But the moment I reached the doorway with the box in my arms.

Stella, who'd been wailing a second ago, came rushing over.

"You're not leaving. The dual-household matter is already settled. Henry and Mavis have registered, you and Henry have already done the rites, and there's no changing it now."

"So this tea, you'll serve it today whether you want to or not."

"And another thing, you and this dowry walked through the Cox family's door, which makes it Cox family property!"

I nodded slowly as it all came clear.

No wonder a man who'd never much liked me had suddenly shown up to ask for my hand. In the end it was all about the money. They wanted me to pay out and work myself to the bone as their stepping stone.

I laughed.

"So I'm not just here to be a concubine, I'm here to be your piggy bank too?"

"What, did I owe you people in a past life? I hand over my money and myself along with it?"

"How can you be this shameless?"

"And you still have the nerve to talk about ancestors. You've dragged your ancestors' names through the mud."

Stella's face went black with rage.

I gave her a hard shove that sent her sprawling face-first, pushed the door open, and made to walk out.

Henry let out a shout.

"Enough."

He stepped in front of me, slammed the door shut, and looked at me with a dark, sunken stare.

"They're right. A wife's like dough. You knead her into shape by hitting her!"

"I've been too good to you. That's why you've turned this disobedient."

"A few of you, come help me tie her up."

Six:

I wanted to fight back.

But a woman is no match for a man's strength, let alone one woman against a whole room of them.

So even though I struggled with everything I had, all it got me was a beating, and then Henry and a few other men tied me up.

I looked at the red cord, already prepared and waiting.

And it finally hit me.

This wedding had never been what I thought it was. Henry hadn't announced the dual-household scheme because he understood me. He'd done it because they'd already worked out exactly how to break me.

Mavis had wiped her tears away and settled back into the seat of honor.

A freshly brewed cup of tea was shoved back into my hands.

I wanted to throw it, but hands clamped down on me from all sides, forcing me to my knees, forcing me to serve Mavis her tea, forcing me to call her "big sister."

I refused to say a word. Mavis didn't get angry. She only smiled.

"It's fine. Whether you call me big sister or not, I won't hold it against you. I'll have plenty of chances to hear it later."

Then she made a little clicking sound with her tongue and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"Beth, wouldn't it have been easier to do this from the start?"

"Why put on this whole show and get yourself beaten for nothing?"

I spat, and blood came out with it.

"Even if I serve the tea, I'll never accept this marriage."

"I'll keep making a scene. Right to the end."

Stella smiled.

"A scene?"

"You really think serving tea is the last step?"

"You're this unwilling. Did you think we wouldn't have other ways to make you behave?"

"Let me be honest with you. The tea is just to humiliate you. The thing that actually ties you down comes after."

I froze.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Henry stepped in front of me.

"You're making a scene, refusing to accept the marriage, because deep down you still think you have a way out."

"So I'm moving up the wedding night. Once you're really my wife, there's no way out left."

Seven:

The disgust turned my stomach.

Henry and I had been husband and wife in my past life, but the thought of a wedding night with him now, under these circumstances, made me want to be sick.

It was only after they all hauled me up together and threw me onto the bed that I understood this was no joke.

"Henry, you went to school, you're educated. Have you lost your mind? This is against the law!"

"You want to be with Mavis, so why drag me into it? Fine, I'll give you the money. All of it. I don't want any of it. Isn't that enough?"

"You two can fly off together, so what use is a stranger like me in your house?"

My voice shook a little.

Mavis, for her part, was "kind" enough to explain it to me.

"You're right, we're after your money. But we're after you, too."

"Henry and I have it all planned out. He's going to start studying, and once he gets into college he'll take me away from here. But we need someone to look after his mother, and you're the perfect fit."

"After the wedding night, you'll belong to Henry. And I'll have him break your legs and ruin your face, so you'll never get the chance to run for the rest of your life."

Henry acted like he hadn't heard a word of it. He didn't bother hiding his own calculations.

"Beth, you brought this on yourself."

"If you'd just behaved, I wouldn't be treating you like this. I could have kept playing the part, kept it up right until I got into college."

"As for it being against the law."

"It's only against the law if someone calls the police. You think we'd ever let you get to a phone?"

Mavis nodded.

Then her hands reached out to help Henry with the belt I'd knotted tight at my waist.

I screamed for help, but the wedding guests were long gone, and even if they'd stayed, none of them would have helped me.

Henry even mimicked me, shouting back.

"You've got no family, no one, nothing to lean on. You deserve to be pushed around. No one's going to stand up for you. No one's going to call the police for you."

The words had barely left his mouth.

The door was kicked to pieces.

Someone rushed in.

"She's got no family, but every one of us has her back!"