At first, Mrs. Wang laughed. "Look at this foolish thing. Stop behaving so dramatically."
But when Zhu didn't stop crying, Mrs. Wang's amusement vanished. Her voice rose, sharp with anger. "Hush your crying, stupid girl! You act as if we're doing something harmful to you. Ridiculous! How dare you embarrass us like this, after all we've done for you?"
Zhu didn't care that Mrs. Wang was furious. She continued to plead through her tears. "Please, please, I'll work harder for you… I'll… I'll—"
"Will you hush that low-life mouth of yours!" Mrs. Wang snapped. She could no longer contain her rage and gestured to Mrs. Mu, who stepped forward and delivered a hard slap to Zhu's face.
The blow was so strong that Zhu's lip split, and blood trickled down her chin.
"Let that be a lesson," Mrs. Wang hissed. "Next time you want to speak, remember your place, you rat-like thing. Now sign the documents and stop disgracing our household! We've been generous enough to let the Chairman take you as a wife, not some common mistress. If not for the prestige of our name, do you think you'd ever reach such heights in this lifetime?"
Zhu's eyes burned with unshed tears. If those heights are so great, she thought bitterly, why didn't they offer their own daughter to him?
Under normal circumstances, the slap would have been enough to silence her. But this time, fear for her life burned stronger than pain. She felt that marrying this man meant certain death.
Falling to her knees, Zhu kowtowed hard against the floor. The thick carpet kept her from bleeding, but the blows still hurt. She didn't care. Her voice trembled as she begged, "Please… please, I'll do anything. Please don't send me with this man."
She cried until her eyes were swollen and red, but the Wangs remained unmoved. If anything, Mrs. Wang's fury only grew.
"Look at this shameless thing," she spat. "Begging like some street wretch. For years we took you in, raised you, fed and clothed you, tried to teach you how to be civilized—yet this is how you behave before honoured guests?"
Mrs. Wang's face twisted with disgust, her anger so intense that flecks of spit escaped her mouth as she shouted.
"Honestly, you must get this shamelessness from your unknown parentage. A true member of the Wang family would never behave like this! I'm forever grateful we never gave you the auspicious name of our household, you shameless gutter rat."
She shook her head and motioned to Mrs. Mu.
Mrs. Mu grabbed Zhu by the arms, hauled her up, and struck her twice across the face. "No one disrespects the Wang name!"
The maids rushed forward on command, holding Zhu upright. She was so light from years of overwork and undernourishment that restraining her was effortless. Two more stinging slaps followed, leaving her ears ringing. Her world spun, and she could no longer form words. Her head lolled to one side, then the other, from the force of the blows.
Zhu slumped back in her seat, utterly defeated. What could she do? As a foster child, she had no power, no protection. The Wangs could do whatever they pleased. The rich always took advantage of the poor and powerless—such was the way of the world.
She didn't have any power; they never let her go to school long enough to learn how to get past the null level her system was currently in. She couldn't even read or write well. There was no escape.
No—her soul rebelled at the thought. If I'm going to die anyway, she thought fiercely, I'll die here, not in that monster's hands.
Zhu clenched her fists. Let them try to force her—she would never sign.
Mr. Wang turned to Chairman Lee with a strained smile. "I am so sorry for that embarrassing scene, Mr. Lee. Sometimes Lin Zhu just needs a firm hand."
The grey-haired man waved dismissively. "No harm done, Wang An. She is quite lovely…"
The two men continued talking as though nothing had happened.
"The deal will be completed once the marriage certificate is signed," Chairman Lee said. "My lawyer is here to witness, and the stocks will be transferred immediately."
Mr. Wang's eyes gleamed with greed. "Excellent." A proud smile spread across his face.
He looked at Zhu, who sat broken and trembling, her eyes red with despair. But his heart remained unmoved. The future of the Wang family was secure now. What was one insignificant girl compared to the family's glory? As for losing her labour, they could always get another orphan to replace her.
Then an idea struck him.
"What are you waiting for, Lin Zhu? Sign the papers," he said smoothly. When she didn't move, his voice grew softer but crueler. "You selfish thing, acting as if we're selling you off as a mistress. You're to be an official wife of a powerful man. Even with our backing, you could never achieve such honour on your own."
He leaned forward, his tone deceptively kind. "And think of your dear orphanage. With your success, they'll gain recognition and funding. You know they're struggling to stay open. The choice is yours."
Zhu's heart clenched. The threat was clear: if she refused, they would destroy the orphanage—the only home the children had ever known.
Hatred filled her heart. Even if I die, she vowed, I will make them pay.
Her hand trembled as she picked up the pen. She knew deep down this was no marriage certificate—it was her death sentence.
Mrs. Wang beamed. "Look at those tears! You should be proud, child. As a member of our family, you're helping to raise the Wang name to greater heights. Marrying into the Lee family is a great honour."
Zhu's heart bled. She had never been loved by this family, but she had once believed they at least valued her work. Now she knew better. They were nothing but greedy blackhearts who had sold her like cattle to an old, perverse man.
She looked at her new husband's wrinkled face and shuddered. It was no secret that Chairman Lee had eight wives and countless mistresses. Only three of his wives were still alive; the rest had "disappeared." His twisted desires were whispered about behind closed doors, but no one dared speak openly. The women he chose were always powerless, without family or status—easy prey.
And now she was next.
Fear crawled up Zhu's spine, but she clenched her fist, hiding it within her sleeve. No, she told herself. I won't give them the satisfaction of seeing me break. I will survive this. Somehow.
Fifteen minutes later, it was time to leave. Zhu bowed her head and asked softly, "Husband, may I collect something from my room?"
"Wife, you need nothing," he replied in his oily voice. "I will provide everything for you in your new home."
Zhu swallowed her disgust. "My husband is so kind, but this item… it's all I have from when I was a baby. It would bring me great joy if my good husband allowed me to fetch it."
The words burned her throat, but she forced them out.
Seeing that she was now compliant, Chairman Lee nodded. "Very well. Be quick."
Two maids and Mrs. Mu followed her upstairs.
Zhu retrieved a small, worn blanket—her only possession from the orphanage. It was said she had been wrapped in it when she was left there as a baby. The colour had long faded, but the symbol embroidered at its centre—a diamond blooming from a rose—remained vivid.
She had once dreamed that when she turned eighteen, she would search for that symbol and discover who she truly was. That dream was dead now. Soon, she would be too.
Nothing else in the room belonged to her. The furniture, the clothes—everything was borrowed or handed down. Even the dress she wore now, fine and expensive, was not hers. It was her wedding dress… and her funeral shroud.
As she stepped through the grand front doors of the Wang residence, Zhu did not look back at the place she had called home for ten years.