The air inside the huge abode have been more than chilly than usual. Conversations have been more scarce than ever before. More than a week have passed ever since the talk with the Uchinaga's which is also the same amount of time that Ningning hasn't joined her family for dinner.

Her parents tolerated her behavior thinking that their daughter was just still getting used to the idea of her being engaged so her absence on dinner for a few days wasn't so much of their concern. But as days went by no Yizhou showed up on the dinner table. For them a few days were reasonable enough but her continuous absence were a sign of being disrespectful.

Heavy footsteps echoed around the house as Yizhou made her way down their grand stairs. She purposedly dragged her feet to make much noise to announce her presence to the people residing inside.

With her car keys in hand, Yizhou threads the tiled floor on the way to the door but before she could even reach her destination, a loud voice called out her name. As much as she didn't want to stop and give the caller attention, trained response still won in the end making her halt her feet and look back at her mother.

"Aren't you going to join me and your father for dinner?" Her mother inquires after putting her utensils down carefully beside her plate.

Yizhou sneers at her parents for the first time in her life. Manners aside, she's had enough. Seeing her parents eat comfortably like they didn't just gave her away like a toy made her appetite vanish in an instant.

She wasn't a toy, she's an asset. Yizhou corrected herself. 

An asset that can and will be negotiated to whoever brings the most profit to their family name.

Instead of answering her mother's question, Yizhou opted to go on her way.

"Stop right there young lady!"

Like a reflex, her body instantly obeyed her father's instructions and she hated herself for it. The controlled responses that was embedded in her ever since run deep in her core that even if she tried to ignore it, her body wins most of the time.

Her body remembers what her mind have long tried to bury. The punishments that have been enforced on her, the words that they fed her every time she does something that doesn't fit their bloody image, and the feeling of loneliness whenever she have to spend days in their massive house only with the company of their maids never left her.

She used to tremble and shake but that was then. Yizhou have tried every single day to get stronger and wiser so no amount of words from her parents or from anyone would ever break her. And she did achieve that but somehow her stubborn body could never forget what it's been through whenever certain responses are triggered.

Her father pushes back his chair and stands up from her seat before facing her. "We will simply not tolerate this kind of behavior. You are respectfully being invited by your mother to join us for dinner and you have the will to turn your back at us without saying anything?"

"Respect." Yizhou says like she's testing the word in .

"Yes. Something which you still haven't fully learned as I see from your behavior." Her father retorts as he takes a step closer to where Yizhou is standing with her mother following behind.

Yizhou breathes out loudly trying her best to calm herself down. "What do you know about respect, father?" She asks when finally she's come face to face with her father.

"Yizhou." Her mother says in a warning tone when she noticed her husband stood still in shock after hearing what their daughter just said.

A sense of pride rushed in Yizhou's system after seeing her father's reaction. It was a first for her. Seeing her father go speechless for the very first time ignited something in her.

With a confident shrug of her shoulders, Yizhou chuckles a little before saying, "See, you can't even answer my q—" But before she even finishes her sentence, a hand landed on her face making her step back a little from the impact.

"Don't you dare talk back to me like that, Yizhou." Her father said sternly while breathing heavily.

The slap stung more than she expected. Maybe because she haven't experienced it in years.

Tears were b around her eyes but she commanded them not to fall. Because for her, crying is a sign that all of her hard work have gone to waste and she definitely would