Chapter 46

"Please, execute me instead, but can you let him go?" Wang Xiaomai asked, tears streaming down her face. She had spent a long time reflecting, only to reach a conclusion: the lion's share of the blame lay with her. Fang Ming was still a child, and everything that had happened was because she hadn't been a good enough mother. Because she lacked the ability to provide for him, she had viewed him as a burden. Whenever she was in a foul mood, she would hit him, curse at him, and take her frustrations out on him. She had often thought that if not for Fang Ming, she could have remarried instead of relying on the scraps thrown at her by men just to survive. She could have lived with dignity, without being called a "rotten widow" or a "tramp." Every word had felt like a knife to her heart. She was disgusted by every man she met, to the point of wanting to retch. She hadn't wanted to live, yet for Fang Ming's sake, she had swallowed her pride and endured that wretched existence. She believed everything she did was for him—she had given so much, sacrificed so much—so what was a little hurt compared to that? When she discovered his fingers were missing, she hadn't asked how it happened or shown much concern; she simply told him to stop messing around so he wouldn't lose the whole hand. She never asked if he’d been bullied, because she knew that even if he had, she lacked the strength to avenge him.