The Bitter Garden

He once had everything, but lost the simplest kind of happiness.

Zhuo Wen's life looked like a perfect report card: a successful career, a virtuous wife, and an exceptional daughter.

But only he knew how barren his heart was. He grew up under his mother's control, always justified with “it's for your own good.” As an adult, his wife built him another seamless prison with her relentless demands for perfection. Under the crushing pressure, his daughter grew quiet and lost her smile.

On his fiftieth birthday, he suddenly realized he had never truly lived. He left everything behind and chose to run away.

Was this escape his final liberation, or the start of another helpless chapter?

“I was a happy seed, but sadly, I was planted in bitter soil.”