We're Vale Women. We Don't Beg.

When my third sister-in-law takes the last of the poison, she holds her six-year-old daughter tight in her arms. Until the very last second, she covers the child's eyes so she will not see the dead bodies around them. And I am the last one. I should have died earlier too. But Grandmother saves the only fast-acting poison capsule for me. She wipes the dirty blood from my face and presses the pill into my palm with trembling paws. "Sera, you came in wearing a wedding dress. Then leave wearing it clean." "Don't be scared." "Grandmother will go ahead and wait for you." After she says that, she walks step by step toward the drawer where she keeps the gun. I rush forward to hold her, but Mother and my sisters-in-law pull me back with all their strength. One sharp shot. Grandmother falls. I have never seen so much blood. A few hours ago, she is still sitting in the family room, choosing the wedding tiara I will wear when I get married. She smiles and says Adrian Blackwell may have power, but if he dares to bully a Vale girl, she will walk into City Hall with her cane and file a complaint herself. An unseen force drags me out of the prison. I pass through the long street, over the tall front gates, and return to Vale House. The house is bright with lights. There is a dinner in the main hall. Father, my three brothers, and Adrian Blackwell are all there. Pearl Vale sits in the center, wearing the peach-pink couture gown Mother ordered for me. Her eyes are still a little swollen, but the plate in front of her is piled high with food everyone gives her. Victor pushes a plate of crab meat toward her. "You said you like crab, right? I already picked it out for you." Miles takes out a violin. "You said you liked one a few days ago. I had someone find it for you from the southern coast." Noah puts a fluffy puppy plushie into her arms. "Stop being upset." "After Sera signs the engagement release tomorrow, everything will be over." I stand outside the door and suddenly remember the past sixteen years. I get cold easily, so Father has heated floors put into my north suite. I love sweet cream pudding from the south, so every time Victor travels for work, he takes a detour to bring some back for me. Miles teaches me how to ride a scooter. When I fall, he carries me on his back for three streets to find a doctor. Noah loves arguing with me the most, but when I am punished, he secretly copies my pages for me. They once held me in their palms like this too. But one month ago, the true Vale daughter, Pearl, is found and brought home. She has been lost for sixteen years and has suffered so much outside. Father and Mother are so guilty they cannot sleep at night. My brothers want to give her the best things in the world. I want to make it up to her too. I give her the north suite where I have lived for sixteen years. I lay out the jewelry Mother gave me, the properties Father put in my name, and the rare gifts my brothers found for me from different places. I let her choose anything she wants. But she takes nothing. She only asks me with red eyes, "You already took my parents and brothers for sixteen years. Are you going to take my fiancé too?" At that moment, I finally know she likes Adrian too. On her way back to the city, she meets robbers. Adrian brings people to save her. He only hands her a handkerchief, and she remembers it forever. But our wedding date is already set. Adrian holds my hand in front of everyone in the Vale family and tells her, "I saved you only because you are Sera's sister." "I will only marry Sera in this life." Pearl faints on the spot. After she wakes up, she refuses to eat or drink. She even cuts her wrist. Mother stays by her bed and cries all night. Father and my brothers take turns trying to comfort her, but she only repeats one sentence. "If she is still here, I will always be the extra one." So after that, everyone starts asking me to give in. Father sighs and says, "We are only trying to calm her down." "When she feels better, everything will go back to normal." My brothers say the same thing. "You are the sensible one. Pearl is extreme. If we don't go along with her, she really will die." Even Adrian goes silent. They say this is only temporary. Once Pearl understands no one will abandon her, everything will get better. Now they are still saying the same thing. Pearl holds the puppy plushie and asks softly, "What if she won't sign?" Adrian grips his wine glass. His knuckles turn slightly white. "She will sign." "Sera cares about her family the most. She thinks the Vale family is suffering because of her. She won't risk the women's safety just to keep me." Tears quickly fill Pearl's eyes. "Are you blaming me?" "Is she always more important to you than I am?" Adrian stays silent for a long time. "I didn't say that." "But you clearly can't let her go!" Pearl stands up crying. "All of you can't let her go. Then why are you even trying to comfort me?" "When she comes out tomorrow, you'll all gather around her again. Father will feel bad that she spent one night in jail. Mother will hug her and cry. My brothers will blame me. And you will marry her again sooner or later!" Father puts down his fork at once. "No." "Pearl, we will do what we promised you." Victor also comforts her gently. "After Sera signs the engagement release, we'll send her to the lake house for a while." "When you're not scared anymore, we'll let her come back." Miles frowns. "Sera has always cared about you." "She gave you everything you liked." Pearl suddenly throws the teacup to the floor. "That's because she looks down on me!" "She thinks I'll be grateful because she throws me a few things?"

The room goes quiet again. Noah sighs helplessly. "Fine. We won't talk about her." "Tonight's dinner is for you. Stop crying." Adrian takes a jade pendant from inside his coat and places it in front of Pearl. It is something his late grandfather gave him. He never takes it off. "I promise you. After the engagement is ended, I will not marry Sera for one year." "After one year, if you still cannot accept it…" He pauses. "I will let her go. I will choose someone else for her." Father seems to think the mood is too heavy, so he changes the subject. "Is everything ready at the prison?" Victor nods. "I had someone send three thousand dollars." "The cell was cleaned early. Blankets, heaters, and hot water are ready. The guard on duty tonight is an old friend. He won't let Grandmother and the others suffer." Miles says, "Mother is weak, so I also have a doctor waiting outside." "We'll go pick them up first thing tomorrow morning." Father relaxes. "That's good." "Mother has always been forgiving. When she knows the truth, she'll scold us a few times at most." "Your mother is kind too. She knows we owe Pearl. I think she'll understand." Noah smiles. "The sisters-in-law won't hold a grudge either." "Only Lily is timid. She'll probably cry. I'll buy her a few boxes of candy tomorrow, and she'll be fine." They have even decided who will pick up whom tomorrow. Father will pick up Grandmother. My brothers will each comfort their wives and daughters. Adrian will take me away himself. He has prepared a house in the south of the city. The yard is full of my favorite roses. He says after I stop being angry, he will stay there with me for a while. Everyone is sure that when the sun rises tomorrow, everything will go back to normal. My soul stays in place, and I only feel a deep cold sadness. No one knows the three thousand dollars never reached the prison. The house manager who passed the message has already been bought by Pearl. There are no blankets, no heaters, no hot water, and no doctor. She even takes the money and pays three thugs. She tells them to ruin my reputation. Half an hour ago, the cell door opens once. The ones who come in are not guards bringing food. They are three men covered in the smell of alcohol. Hyenas. Their eyes on me are sticky and disgusting. The man in front lifts a small badge in his paw. "I hear this is the bride Adrian Blackwell doesn't want anymore." "Boys, we've never had a rich little bride in a wedding dress before." Mother immediately blocks me behind her. "Don't you dare!" The man laughs. "A prisoner being sent to the red-light district tomorrow. What can't I do?" "Besides, someone paid us to come." As he speaks, he reaches for the front of my dress. I push him away with all my strength, but another man grabs my wrist and throws me hard to the ground. My wedding tiara hits the wall. Pearls scatter everywhere. The man's hand reaches for me again. My third sister-in-law suddenly jumps on him from behind and bites his hand. He cries out in pain and slaps her to the floor. My second sister-in-law grabs a metal food tray and slams it into another man's face. Mother, my niece, even old Grandmother all rush forward. There are more than ten of us women. Some hold a broken cup. Some swing a plastic chair leg. Some use only their bare claws. We fight those three men together. My eldest sister-in-law holds me tightly and takes a kick for me. Her forehead breaks open, but she still urges me, "Sera, get back!" "Don't let them touch you!" Grandmother swings her cane and smashes it hard onto the head of the man in front. "Vale women are not dead yet!" "You don't get to shame us!" They thought a group of spoiled rich women would not dare fight back. Only after one of them gets his neck cut by a broken cup and blood pours out do they curse and leave the cell. Before leaving, the man in front spits hard on the ground. "Stop acting pure." "You really think the Vale men will come save you?" "They're having dinner with their true daughter right now!" The cell door locks again. The whole room is dead silent. My eldest sister-in-law tears off her sleeve and covers the ripped collar of my dress. Mother holds me. Her paws shake so badly she can barely pull my clothes together. Grandmother sits in the blood and looks at all the injured women in the cell. For a long time, she says nothing. We still have one last bit of hope. Maybe Father and my brothers did not really commit treason. Maybe Adrian will find a way to save us. But after those men appear, the last bit of hope dies. If they dare act like that inside the prison, then the Vale family must really be finished. Grandmother closes her eyes. When she opens them again, her face is calm in a terrifying way. "If they take you to the red-light district after sunrise, are you afraid?" No one answers. My young niece does not know what the red-light district is. She only hugs my third sister-in-law's leg and whispers that she wants to go home. My third sister-in-law bends down and kisses her forehead. "Good girl." "Mommy will take you somewhere with no bad people." Mother takes off her diamond ring and gives it to Grandmother. My sisters-in-law take off their jewelry too. But no one has anything sharp enough. No one has enough poison. Grandmother looks toward the drawer, where the last gun and the rest of the poison are still waiting. She tells us the Vale family can be charged. The Vale house can be taken. But the Vale women can never be left for others to shame. "We choose our own way out," Grandmother says. "The road after death is cold, but if the family walks together, we won't be afraid." Mother nods through her tears. My sisters-in-law nod too. Only my little niece suddenly throws herself into my arms. "Auntie, I'm scared." "I don't want to die." She is only six. Yesterday she was still making a fuss, saying she would block the wedding door and make Adrian pay ten gold bars before he could take the bride. I hold her tight. My throat feels like it has been cut by a knife. I want to say, don't be scared. But I cannot say it. Because I am scared too. I do not want to die either. I am already wearing my wedding dress. Mother has sewn my initials inside the collar. Grandmother has pinned an old pearl brooch to the waist herself. Adrian promised he would come for me in the tallest white wedding car. He said after the wedding, he would take me to see the southern rain and the northern snowfields. We have even chosen names for our future children. But in the end, I do not wait long enough for the wedding car. In the end, my third sister-in-law carries my niece away. She presses my niece's face into her chest and softly sings the song from her childhood. I do not dare look anymore. The poison capsule Grandmother leaves me stays clenched in my palm. She says I am the daughter the Vale family has raised for sixteen years. Even without Vale blood, I am still Vale flesh and bone. So she does not allow anyone to touch me. But they do not know. The notice outside the cell is fake. The so-called treason is fake. The Vale men being jailed is fake. Only their deaths are real.