Chapter 1924

The entire marketplace stood still. People lined up in neat rows, looking like lambs awaiting slaughter. Their heads were lowered, and their arrogance from the previous day was nowhere to be seen. Why? It was simply because they were broke. Every single one of them had a contract with the market, shackled by crushing rent fees. They had no choice but to stand there, just as my father had ordered. No—he hadn't even bothered to give the order himself. It had come from a mere market administrator, someone so lowly they weren't even worth my father's attention. I stepped forward and pointed out each person who had humiliated my mother that day. The same people who had strutted around with such arrogance just two days ago now stood timidly before my father, desperate to curry favor. "We didn't know she was your wife… We were blinded by the rumors…" Yet, despite their submission, my father didn't even spare them a glance. The market administrators knew exactly what that meant.