BOYS' BEDROOM
After going back to their bedroom, Li Bo Yen sat down on the edge of his bed with a harsh wince, gingerly touching his bandaged ribs.
His eyes were still red, but a cold clarity had returned to them. Li Ren slumped beside him, leaning against the headboard as he pulled his knees to his chest.
"She's disgusting…" Li Ren whispered hoarsely after a long silence, his voice trembling with hatred, "The way she acts so pitiful in front of Dad… crying and sobbing… as if she actually cares about us. She has always been using us to achieve her goals..."
"She acted like that because she knew Dad was on the way!"
"She wanted him to see us treating her like that so that we could be punished!"
"She provoked us knowingly!"
"How can she be like this? How can she provoke and set us up like this?"
Bo Yen let out a bitter laugh, though it sounded more like a sob, "Care? She doesn't even know what we like to eat. She just wants his money… and his status, she always has been, even when she came back, it wasn't for us, it was for that."
Li Ren wiped his tears roughly, his bruised knuckles scraping across his cheek, "Ge… do you think Dad really believes her? Do you think… he will abandon us for her…?"
Bo Yen clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms as rage burned in his chest, "No, I don't think he would... Dad may be strict and cold but… he's not stupid. He sees through her. He has to."
They sat in silence for a long moment, and the only sound was the faint rustle of tree branches brushing against their window.
"Ge…" Li Ren whispered again, his voice small and fragile, "I hate her… I hate her so much… I wish… I wish she would just disappear forever…"
Bo Yen reached out with trembling fingers, placing a protective hand on his brother's head as he stared blankly at the pale morning light streaming across the bedroom floor.
"Me too… Ren… me too."
—
MASTER BEDROOM
The bedroom was silent except for the faint ticking of the ornate gold clock on the dresser.
Shen Li sat at her vanity table, staring at her reflection in the polished mirror. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, but her mind remained sharp, calculating each possibility with cold precision.
'He thinks he can discard me just like that…?' Her nails dug into her palms until crescent moons of blood welled up beneath them. 'No… I won't let him.'
Slowly, and mechanically, she stood and walked to the ensuite bathroom. Her trembling fingers reached into the mirrored cabinet, pulling out a small razor she had kept hidden behind the cotton pads.
She stared at it for a long moment, her chest rising and falling rapidly as tears filled her eyes again. It has to look real… but not too deep… just enough to scare him… to make him regret ever speaking to me like that.
With a choked sob, she pressed the blade against her inner forearm, just below the elbow, and sliced lightly. Thin rivulets of blood welled up instantly, trickling down her pale skin onto the marble floor. Her vision blurred as pain blossomed sharply, but her lips curved into a faint, twisted smile.
"Li Feng… let's see how long you can ignore me now…"