10 Anything But Them (1/2)

Duchess Li felt her heart ache in pain at Xueyue's statement.

How horrible!

A young girl her age shouldn't experience such painful thoughts. If this was what she thought about her death, then how did she view herself...?

Duke Li pitied the tiny girl sitting on the bed. The more he stared at her, the weaker and helpless she seemed.

Her shoulders were tiny, her arm was so thin, there was barely any meat on her. Her collarbone was so evident, it looked as if you could balance gold coins on top of it.

Duke Li saw Xueyue in a different light. To hear the truth from her mouth and not the mouth of gossiping servants, he started to slowly but surely like the girl.

Instead of seeing a girl that slightly resembled his deceased daughter, Duke Li saw a lonely and pitiful and unwanted child that was desperately in need of love and affection.

Duchess Li also shared the same thoughts as him. Her heart reached out for Xueyue. She wanted to shower Xueyue with the love and affection she could no longer give to her daughter...

”Do you have any grandparents or relatives that could take you in-” Duke Li's voice died down when he saw the horrified expression on Xueyue's face. Her ghostly-white skin turned incredibly paler and she was breaking out in a nervous, cold sweat.

”N-no! Anyone but them!” Xueyue nearly shrieked.

Her eyes grew as wide as the moon and her shoulders were beginning to shake with fear.

Xueyue tightly hugged her body in a very protective manner, as if she was scared at the very mention of ”grandparents” and ”relatives.”

”I-I'd rather kill myself than go back home...” Xueyue sobbed out.

She thought about the monsters that dared to call themselves aunts and uncles, grandpa and grandma.

If her father hated her, then her relatives despised the very air Xueyue breathed. If her father's beating and abuse was harsh, then her relatives' were Masters in the art of torture. The things that her grandparents had done to Xueyue were so incredibly harsh, it couldn't be described by words.

Duchess Li gasped at Xueyue's statement and immediately pulled her closer for a hug.

To experience such a loving gesture after sixteen years of never experiencing a parent's love, Xueyue broke down further until big fat tears rolled down her cheeks and her throat was choked with hiccups and sobs.

Xueyue had never met her mother's side of the family, and she was only acquainted with her father's side.

Marquess Bai always preached to the girl that her maternal grandparents and relatives hated her because she killed her mother during childbirth.