For five years, Lin Xia poured everything into her marriage. She paid every bill, covered every expense, and kept their home running while Chen Hao, her husband, contributed nothing but silence. She even bought the apartment with her own money before they tied the knot — but her mother-in-law, Madam Chen, has always treated it as the Chen family's private property, as if Lin Xia were nothing but a guest in her own home.
The old woman worships her sons and despises her granddaughters. She refused to let little Zhaozhao touch the cherries her own mother had bought, snatching the fruit away and scolding the child as if she were an outsider. Worse, she openly suggested sending Zhaozhao away — packing off her own granddaughter — and pressured Lin Xia to give birth to a son, as if a daughter were worthless.
And Chen Hao? Weak, spineless Chen Hao did nothing. He did not defend his wife. He did not protect his daughter. Instead, he begged Lin Xia to be patient, to endure, to swallow the humiliation for the sake of "family harmony."
That was the moment Lin Xia finally woke up.
