Chapter 2 - ​Chapter 2: The Debt of Tears

​Ning sat in the Wei family garden, her face buried in her hands. Her tears wouldn't stop; they soaked through her sleeves, cold and bitter. "They saved my mother," she sobbed to the wind. "How can I be so selfish?" Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Xuan's face—dark, possessive, and beautiful. She loved him so much it felt like her skin was being peeled back. But the guilt was a mountain she couldn't climb. Her parents were pleading with her, telling her that the Wei family were their saints. "If you don't marry him, we are ungrateful monsters," her father had said. Ning felt like she was being torn in half. One half belonged to the man who was her soul, the other to the family who gave her a second chance at life. She looked at the ring Wei Chen had placed on the table earlier. It looked like a shackle. She hated it. She hated the garden. She hated the sun. "Xuan, please understand," she whispered, knowing he never would. He was a man of extremes, and her "betrayal" would turn him into a demon. She cried until her throat was raw, her body shaking with the weight of a misunderstanding that felt like a death sentence.