A Pearl in Captivity

Ruan Mingzhu thought her marriage to Shen Yanzhou was a transaction they both understood. She needed the Duke's household's power to save her father and brother, while Shen Yanzhou needed a wife to run his household.

They were simply getting what they needed from each other. Treating one another with respect was enough.

But she didn't know that beneath Shen Yanzhou's gentle exterior lay a possessive obsession with her.

He loved her, and he resented her.

He resented that Ruan Mingzhu could maintain a facade of harmony with Song Pingxuan out of regard for family ties, despite his repeatedly trampling on her feelings and nearly costing her life.

He resented her even more for knowing how Song Pingyu felt about her, yet still carefully planning his future for him.

Only with Shen Yanzhou was she gentle but distant, as courteous as a shopkeeper to a customer.

Jealousy churned inside him as he restrained himself day and night, until he caught her meeting Song Pingxuan in private. All his self-control abruptly snapped.

Etiquette and propriety meant nothing beside the jealousy that was burning him to the bone.

He wanted her, even if he had to take her by force.

.

Ruan Mingzhu had thought she married a refined gentleman, as pure and bright as moonlight.

Who could have known he was a jealous husband who couldn't tell right from wrong?