She screamed and struggled. Blood stained the entire room. She was forced to write over and over until she finally collapsed into unconsciousness.

In her dreams, June returned to the boundless plains.

Behind her, Xavier was chasing her flock, camera in hand, shouting with pure sincerity, "Girl, you are beautiful!"

She had fled from that abrupt encounter, but the man always found ways to see her. He never hid his love at first sight, sending flowers and writing poems and painting for her.

When they were caught in a violent sandstorm and trapped in a cave without food or water for three days, Xavier had given her the last bit of food and water just so she could survive.

As he lay dying, he whispered his wish: "I love you. I don't regret meeting you, but I'm just not ready to leave you yet."

It was her heart that moved, and perhaps heaven was moved too. They survived. She had left the plains with him in fear and joy.

Later, Xavier had given her all his love. He bought land for her to raise sheep, allowed her to wear her traditional clothes at home, and respected her diet.

He proposed ninety-nine times and declared his love nine hundred and ninety-nine times, using his sincerity to break down her defenses.

The dream shifted. Endless darkness swallowed her, and Rosalind’s voice rang in her ears repeatedly.

"Is this what a mistress looks like, you fool! Hit her!"

She couldn't breathe, feeling like she was drowning. she woke up screaming, her face covered in cold water.

The basin hit the floor with a dull thud. Rosalind stood by the bed, her face unbothered.

"Mr. Thorne, the mistress loves to play the victim. A splash of water woke her right up."

The cold water stung her salt-filled wounds like a knife scraping bone. June’s teeth chattered from the pain.

"Xavier, she did it on purpose..."

The man’s exhausted eyes darkened, and his hand stopped near her cheek.

"You still don't know you're wrong. She and I stayed by your side all night, yet you still speculate about her with such malice."

His protective stance reminded her of years ago.

"Her family isn't like ours, but you don't know June's worth. That's why you're judging her so maliciously."

The way he protected Rosalind now mirrored the way he used to protect her against the Thorne family, but everything had changed.

"My mother’s birthday is coming up. Reflect on how to be the mistress of this house. Only then will I allow us to register our marriage."

Xavier walked away without looking back, not even changing her soaked clothes.

For that marriage certificate, she had been trapped in this cage for five years.

Bitter tears slid from the corners of her eyes. The damp southern wind through the window was nothing like her homeland. The vast flocks of sheep, the deep blue sky, and the endless plains—that was the freedom she truly wanted.

The matriarch’s sixtieth birthday would be her only chance to escape, and her best chance to tear off their hypocritical masks!

Chapter 3

At dawn, the still-sleeping June was roughly pulled up by Xavier. The movement tore open her newly formed scabs, and blood began to seep out again.

"Is this your thousand transcriptions? Using such foul language to slander Rosalind! She was so upset she coughed up blood!"

On the blood-stained papers before her, there wasn't a single line of the family code. Instead, they were filled with curses directed at Rosalind. These were absolutely not what she had written yesterday.

"I didn't write this! They watched me transcribe it last night!"

Her defense instantly ignited Xavier’s rage. He gripped her wrist so tightly it felt as if the bone would shatter.

"Rosalind cares about her reputation. Are you suggesting she wrote these vulgar words to frame herself? Listen to such a lie—who would believe it!"

She looked at the face she had loved for five years and found it utterly unrecognizable.

In the past, he praised her kindness and treated her every word as sacred. Now, he was consumed with worry for someone else and didn't believe a word she said.

She opened her mouth, but in the end, said nothing.

Xavier withdrew his hand and issued an order that brooked no refusal.

"Rosalind is ill. Come with me and apologize!"

She met his gaze, refusing to back down. "I won't go! Her 'lessons' are nothing but abuse. I've done nothing wrong!"

In the past, she had endured Rosalind’s cruelty for Xavier’s sake. Now that she was awake, she would no longer be the fool who let people bully her!

"A child’s failure is the father’s fault. Since you are so disobedient, your father must be restless in the afterlife. Perhaps I should dig him up so the old man can have a word with you?"

Before their marriage, June often cried herself to sleep from homesickness. Xavier had personally traveled to the plains to move her father’s ashes here.

He had built a memorial garden with his own hands as a gift to her.

"Now June can have her family with her every day and never be lonely again."

She never thought Xavier would go this far for Rosalind—using her deceased father to blackmail her!

Her eyes burned, but she couldn't shed a single tear. She could only follow him to Rosalind’s room.

Rosalind had taught her that as the mistress of the house, she had to give up childishness and greed and live simply. Yet, as June entered the room, she saw exquisite decor, limited-edition dolls by the bed, and a cabinet full of jewelry.

Xavier had allowed Rosalind to have all of it.

Rosalind looked haggard. When she saw June enter, she immediately put on a tearful act and coughed twice.

"Mr. Thorne, teaching a student like this will be the death of me. I truly am not fit to stay any longer."

Hearing she wanted to leave, Xavier’s composure broke. He shoved June forward. "Kneel and apologize to the teacher! Don't make me say it again."

June bit her lip until it bled, slowly bowed her head, sank to her knees, and whispered, "I'm sorry."

The room was crowded with servants, their mocking gazes landing invisibly on her face.

"The ancients had rituals for seeking forgiveness. This reluctant apology means nothing. Mr. Thorne, if you protect your own like this, I cannot continue."

With that, she put on her shoes and made for the door. But her legs gave way, and as she was about to fall, Xavier caught her in his arms instantly.

He held her as if she were his most precious treasure.

"Then... we will do it your way."

Rosalind stood steady again and began by blaming herself. "My intentions were always for the mistress’s benefit; I never meant to hurt her."

"A crooked tree yields crooked fruit. Let the mistress kneel in the garden for three hours. This will be easy on her body while serving as a warning to the entire household."

Xavier’s expression relaxed, and he quickly agreed. "Good. You always think of everything."

But when June reached the garden, she found that every single pebble on the stone path had been sharpened.

The sharp stones pierced through her thin socks immediately. She stood up in pain, only to be pressed down heavily again, the stones cutting through her flesh to the bone.

Before she could even cry out, a foul mass was stuffed into her mouth. The stench of rotting tuna filled her lungs, causing a red rash to break out all over her body.

When she tried to scratch, the guarding servants struck her with a wooden ruler.

Within fifteen minutes, June was tortured until her eyes were bloodshot, her face a mess of tears and mucus.

"Screaming and shouting, no dignity in your kneeling! How unrefined! Teacher Vane gave you the easiest way to admit your fault, yet you're still ungrateful!"

"She was just a fresh face that caught Mr. Thorne’s eye for a ceremony. At the end of the day, she’s just a caged bird, yet she still dreams of being the mistress of the Thorne estate!"

Once, Xavier had protected and loved her, telling her to follow her heart and ignore the world. He would never have let her hear a single word of such ridicule. Now, she was covered in wounds, forced to let these insults stab into her heart one by one.

The sunlight was blinding. She was in such agony that her strength to even lift her head was vanishing.

A figure passed by—he looked like Xavier. But then she thought, he doesn't care about her anymore, so why would he come?

The world went dark, but in the next second, she heard his voice coming from the distance.

"June!"

Chapter 4

June Rivers remained unconscious for several days. When she finally woke, staring at the familiar ceiling and recalling the torture she had endured, her heart turned to ice. Her memories of running free on the plains had been nothing more than a dream.