Jillian Hayden walked across the hall.

Her head was straight and her gaze to the front, but her green eyes were dull, and her movements slow, even a bit shaky, as though she was dragging herself to walk. The corners of her eyes were still wet with tears she had shed before, her expression remaining blank as though she was a soulless person.

She absentmindedly followed the City Lord into his lair again, where he could do anything to her to his heart’s content.

But before anything could happen, the City Lord’s fourth wife barged in and accused him of forgetting her while getting with a new woman. She approached her to slap her but was stopped, and then she raged.

The two argued for a while before the fourth wife ran out crying, leaving the City Lord with a strange expression.

However, none of it registered in her mind.

Her expression was still blank as a sheet of white paper.

Her vision then registered him turning to look at her with a gaze filled with pity.

Like a piercing lightning arc, his sympathetic gaze finally got to her, making her tremble.

"Laugh... go ahead and laugh... this must be all amusing to you..." She scoffed with a wry laugh.

City Lord Davis blinked before spreading his arms, "I mean... it is indeed amusing... but as a father myself, I abhor this behavior of selling out one’s own daughter to seek gains or protection. However, what did you expect?"

"..." Jillian Hayden’s gaze quivered.

He flicked his sleeves and kept his arms back, "While you were locked up in the dungeon by the City Lord, your family experienced bullying on unprecedented levels and were taught that they were nothing in this city. They thought you were dead, but you reappeared, only making it difficult for them, even if they were happy. And who would’ve guessed? The Saint himself appeared, wanting to take the Young Mistress as a servant, but you, full of pride, didn’t want to be a mere maid. If you could earn his favor, imagine all the glory and support the Hayden Family would’ve received? They could rise from the ashes again."

"Oh no!" He abruptly flinched as he raised his hands, "You suddenly got sold again- to the hateful City Lord that you had barely escaped from. Would the Hayden Family care when they’re trying to gain a foothold through the Saint? What’s one tainted Young Mistress compared to the rise of the family? Even if it was an untainted one, she would still be sent off as a servant in this family where duty supersedes familial relationships."

He shook his head, sighing lightly, "Then, you had the chance to ingratiate yourself with the City Lord, which not everyone can even have the opportunity to do, and save your family from bullying, but you wanted to throw it away for your pride yet again, further making things difficult for them. At this point, if you had returned, your family would’ve gathered around you to chop you into pieces themselves, and your parents- oh, you saw what happened. There’s no need for me to go through that again and elaborate on what kind of gaze they would’ve looked at you with, right?"

"..."

Jillian Hayden’s eyes widened slightly.

The image of her parents standing in the family hall surfaced within her mind once again. The hesitation in their eyes, the disappointment hidden behind their expressions, and the coldness they would look at her with should she fail to gain the favor of the Saint or the City Lord shone over her with merciless clarity.

Her body quivered like a flail. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

At first, it was only a slight shake of her shoulders, but it rapidly spread through her entire body. The more she imagined, the harder it became to breathe.

She shook her head, her expression full of pain as some memories inevitably resurfaced within her.

There was a little girl with light purple hair and vivid green eyes laughing as she ran through the Hayden Estate. Her mother was chasing after her with a helpless smile, with a bowl of spirit rice in her hand, while her father stood nearby, laughing at the sight.

The warmth couldn’t feel any more real. She remembered sitting between them during family banquets. She remembered her father’s hand resting on her head as he proudly introduced her to guests as his daughter.

She remembered her mother’s gentle voice.

The woman who patiently taught her cultivation. The woman who stayed awake through the night whenever she suffered injuries during training.

Tears began gathering in her eyes.

Years had passed since those days. Sometimes she was busy cultivating and could not return home for years, and sometimes her parents were the ones secluded. Entire stretches of time passed without them meeting, yet every reunion felt natural as though they had never been apart.

Why? Because they were family.

At least that was what she believed.

No matter how much time passed or no matter how far away everyone became, she had always thought the bond between them would remain unchanged.

However, the illusion painfully shattered in front of her, replaced with the scene in the family hall where her father and mother allowed others to decide her fate and even had tried to convince her to ingratiate herself with old bastards.

They sold her not once but twice without fighting for her.

At this moment, something inside her broke as she felt the sound of a crack, and her ears that had been ringing all this time finally felt the space clear, full of clarity, but it also brought the rush of emotions she hopelessly tried to suppress.

A dull sound echoed through the chamber as her knees struck the ground, collapsing before City Lord Davis. Her hands pressed against the floor while tears burst from her eyes.

"Why...?"

The word slipped from her lips.

The pain in her chest became unbearable as every memory that once brought comfort now felt like a knife twisting deeper into her heart.

"Why...?" Her shoulders shook violently.

The tears poured down her cheeks uncontrollably. Her vision blurred until everything before her became indistinct, only causing her emotions to erupt again.

"Why!?"

The scream echoed through the room.

It carried decades of longing and months of confusion, grief, and betrayal. It sounded less like the cry of a cultivator and more like that of a wounded child.

"Why!? Why did everything become like this!? Why did they sell me out like that!? Why!?""

She struck her forehead on the floor, causing blood to spurt.

The sobs that followed were no longer restrained, but months of accumulated emotions poured out like a flood after a broken dam.

Davis quietly watched her.

He did not interrupt or mock her anymore. He simply stood there and allowed her to cry.

Only after she cast a look at him while sobbing and seeking answers did he utter.

"Cry..."

His voice was gentle, "Cry. Don’t be shattered. Let those sorrows go."

Jillian Hayden continued sobbing as her tears soaked the floor beneath her. Her fingers clenched tightly as though trying to hold together the fragments of her broken heart.

Davis folded his hands behind his back, and his gaze remained fixed on her kneeling figure.

"Heaven, fate and I may have dealt you a rough hand, but you don’t have to collapse under it. I still need you to help me, so don’t fall into a dark place where you are useless to me. Then even I would be forced to send you away with some supplies just so you could have a chance at remaining safe."

Jillian Hayden didn’t answer as she couldn’t even digest his words properly. She only cried harder.

The years she had spent in her family and interacting with them felt like a lie. The family she had loved simply abandoned her and only looked forward to the gains she would bring as the City Lord’s mistress. This painful realization caused her heart to still feel like it was punctured by needles a thousand times.

It wasn’t until a long time had passed that she had stopped crying, but by that time, she had fainted.