Ensnared - Chapter 4

Early the next morning, dressed entirely in white, I knelt outside the study.

It was midwinter. The morning wind cut to the bone.

I shivered in the cold but kept my back straight, doing my best to retain the bearing of a well-bred lady.

Qingliu stood beside me, trying to dissuade me through impressively loud tears.

“It’s my fault! I’m the one who angered your husband. If anyone should kneel, it should be me!

“My lady, you’re not well. You’ll make yourself ill if you keep this up!”

And on she went.

Shen Zhou was a diligent student and always rose early. He wasn’t deaf either. Of course he could hear what was happening outside.

He was simply pretending he couldn’t.

I’d thought I would have to kneel there until I fainted. Fortunately, before an hour had passed, the tightly shut door opened a crack.

“What are you playing at now?”

Shen Zhou appeared in front of me, looking down with displeasure written all over his face.

I raised my head and looked directly at him.

The moment our eyes met, he turned his head slightly, instinctively avoiding my gaze.

That small retreat took some of the edge off his anger.

“After you said you wanted a divorce, I spent the night thinking and came to understand a few things. I’ve done much wrong since our marriage. I disrespected your mother, then insisted we move to the commandery seat. I’ve come to beg your forgiveness.”

I bowed low enough for my forehead to strike the ground, then rose with Qingliu’s help.

Shen Zhou clearly wasn’t buying it.

As if he had seen right through my performance, he said mockingly, “Take your little act elsewhere.”

With that, he made to turn away.

Before he could, I hurried forward and caught his sleeve.

I’d been kneeling for some time, and the original owner really was frail. My unsteady legs gave way, sending me straight into his arms.

Shen Zhou stiffened at the contact.

Disgust practically radiated from him.

Perhaps it was only because my face was so pale and a sleepless night had left me looking so haggard that he didn’t fling me away.

“Whatever you’re trying to do, I’m ending this marriage.” He glanced down at me. “You’re a daughter of a distinguished family. Aren’t you ashamed to cling to a man like a prostitute?”

“I only lost my footing.”

I staggered upright and tried to straighten my back. But my throat felt as though something was crawling inside it, and I couldn’t stop coughing.

“Playing on my sympathy won’t work.”

Despite saying that, Shen Zhou poured me a cup of hot water.

The study had a heated wall and was much warmer than outside. With a cup of hot water in my stomach, my coughing finally began to subside.

Qingliu returned to my courtyard to fetch a fox-fur cloak, leaving Shen Zhou and me alone.

The moment I felt a little better, he was ready to send me away.

Before he could speak, I broke the silence.