Something had broken that bond, fractured it beyond repair. And whatever it was had left her with a hatred for men that went bone-deep, that colored every interaction, every relationship.
"Tsk!" Shuyin waved her hand dismissively, taking up her tea with forced casualness. "You can all go back to the celestial realm and stop disturbing my life here. I will be back there when I want to."
"Kailani...."
Lu Yuze chose that moment to descend the stairs, his hair still damp from the shower, dressed in the black outfit Shuyin had suggested. He'd heard the tail end of the conversation, caught the venom in his wife's voice, the defensive posture of her brother, the weary sadness on her mother's face.
There was clearly a deep wound here, something old and infected that had never properly healed.
"Shuyin," he said quietly, moving to sit beside her on the couch. "They're your family members. You can't be that rude to them."
