Chapter 8 - The Shattered Mirage
When Qui Song dragged his exhausted, muddy body back to the empty mansion, he didn't find a comforting home or a waiting woman.
Instead, he found the master bedroom turned completely upside down.
Dong Lani was frantically stuffing her few remaining dresses and silver ornaments into a leather travel bag.
"What are you doing?" Qui Song asked, his voice dead and hollow as he leaned against the doorframe.
Lani startled, dropping a silver hairpin onto the floor. She turned to look at him, her eyes cold, calculating, and devoid of any affection.
"I'm leaving," she said bluntly, pulling the straps of her bag tight.
Qui Song stared at her in disbelief. "Leaving? In the middle of the night? Where are you going?!"
"Back to my family's village," she replied, stepping around him toward the door. "The auctioneers are coming tomorrow to throw us out. I'm not going to sit here and be dragged into the gutter with you, Qui Song."
"You... you traitorous snake!" Qui Song screamed, grabbing her arm violently. "I destroyed my marriage for you! I brought you into my home! I gave you honor and status! And now you run away when things get difficult?!"
Dong Lani laughed bitterly, shoving his hand off her arm with all her strength.
"You gave me status?!" she spat, her eyes flashing with contempt. "You lied to me, Qui Song! You let me believe you were a wealthy, powerful man! You let me believe that everything in this mansion belonged to you! But you were nothing more than a parasite living off your wife's money!"
She stepped closer, looking down at his disheveled, pathetic form.
"Your wife was right about you," Lani whispered cruelly. "You are weak, vain, and utterly useless. At least when I was a tutor, I earned my own bread. With you, I almost ended up in a debtor's prison!"
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She pushed past him, her heavy footsteps echoing through the hollow house as she walked out into the rain, disappearing into the dark city without looking back once.
Qui Song collapsed onto the bare floorboards of the empty room, clutching his head as he let out a long, pathetic howl of pure despair.
