My ex-husband is seeking a second chance

Chapter 58

After dinner, Tina and Lindsay went to the study to report in

The study followed the style of Ken, with an old–fashioned and antique feel One whole wall was lined with books, and another wall featured a painting. The painting showed a tranquil garden with lush vegetation and blooming flowers.

Artworks, antiques, statues. Tina and Lindsay had seen many of these items in their respective fathers‘ collections. However, their fathers never allowed them to touch or taught them how to appreciate these items, leaving both of them with little knowledge of these things

Pearl sat there. She was reading a book titled “Brave New World” while listening to Tina recite the family rules with apparent disinterest.

There were a hundred family rules, and Tina hadn’t studied them much yesterday. Today, in order to appease Pearl, she reluctantly tried to cram them in, but her memory was shaky, and she stumbled through the list with some difficulty.

“Finished.” Pearl asked, raising her head slightly when Tina stopped.

Tina nodded with a timid and apologetic look on her face. She said, “I’m sorry, Pearl. I wasn’t able to memorize all of them. But rest assured, I remember all these family rules and will obey them.”

at’s for the

“That’s for the best. Now, count how many you’ve missed”

Seeing Pearl reach for the whip. Tina was taken aback. The whip was a firm stick, like the horsewhip but thicker. She had thought Pearl was testing her attitude, but she hadn’t expected Pearl to be serious about it.

“Pearl.” Tina instinctively moved her hands behind her back, sweating nervously. “You’re not really going to hit me, are you?

Pearl raised her gaze indifferently. “What else would I do? Do you think I’m joking with you?”

Tina’s face tightened, and she became increasingly flustered.

Lindsay stood behind her and observed the scene. She couldn’t help but feel a sense of unease. Pearl had changed a lot compared to before. She used to be a warm and sunny older cousin, but now she exuded a cold and distant aura that made her difficult to approach.

“There are a total of one hundred family rules. You’ve memorized seventy of them, missed thirty, and made mistakes in fourteen. According to the rules I set for you, you should receive forty–four hits.”

Pearl acted like an impartial judge, emotionlessly pronouncing the sentence. “Hold out your hand”

No matter how much Tina resisted, she couldn’t escape Pearl’s will. She endured a solid forty–four strokes of the whip and watched her palm turn red. Her palm was swollen like she was stung by a wasp.

She was in pain and felt wronged. She cried uncontrollably, and tears streamed down her face. Her swollen hand and arm trembled

The pain was excruciating, and it felt like a dagger through her heart.

“Go back and apply the medicine.

Pearl returned the whip to Tins without showing any mercy. “Come back tomorrow night to recite the family rules. The family rules remain the same. If you’re not afraid of pain, feel free to be lazy and brush me off

Then she shifted her gaze to Lindsay’s face. “Lindsay, you should follow the same rules while staying here. Come with Tina tomorrow night to recite the family rules.”

“Yes” Linday instinctively replied. She then hesitated before raising her hand. “Pearl, L., already memorized them.”

Both Pearl and Tina looked at Lindsay in surprise. Tīna,

a, with her smudged makeup, wore a shocked

expression

“What You’ve already memorized them?

Tina tried her best to signal Lindsay not to speak too soon. The current Pearl was no longer the doting elder cousin of their childhood. She was like a ruthless and terrifying executioner.

-However, Lindsay seemed oblivious to Tina’s signals. With her wide

eyes.

she innocently looked at Pearl

“When Tina was memorizing the family rules today, I memorized them

together with her

Pearl nodded and sent Tina away. She called Lindsay over

1. You can recite the family rules now

Pearl took the book she had been reading halfway through and continued to read.

Lindsay calmed her nervousness. She recited the family rules smoothly, just like when the used to memorizes

school texts. She recited all one

Chapter 18

hundred family rules without a single mistake.

Compared to Tina’s earlier stumbling, it was like the difference between a top student and a poorly–performed student.

“Not bad.”

Pearl praised, looking amused as she watched Lindsay, “I remember you were always a good student. You even received a full scholarship when you got into Sirenum University. Your major is jewelry design, right?”

Lindsay nodded eagerly, her round eyes shining brightly. She said, “Yes. You remember everything!”

“I’ve only been gone for three years. I haven’t lost my memory. How could I forget?”

Pearl said calmly. “I don’t have many virtues, but I have a good memory. I remember the days we lived together in the past, and I don’t think I’ll forget them in the future.”

She continued in a subdued tone, “I remember those who treated me well I also remember those who didn’t. I remember even just a glare or a harsh word, and they’ll pay for it”

Lindsay felt a tightening in her chest, sensing that Pearl might have somehow learned about the conversation between her and Tina. She wasn’t naive, and from Pearl’s recent cold and distant attitude, as well as her words. Lindsay could sense something.

Lindsay was n

not a fool, and neither was Pearl. Tina hadn’t contacted Lindsay in many years, and now she suddenly called, asking her to move to Rose Garden. The purpose was crystal clear.

Lindsay said, “I know, You’ve always been straightforward, seeing the world in black and white.”

Pearl shook her head. “That was how it used to be. I thought the world was either black or white. But as I’ve grown up. I’ve come to understand that there’s a shade of gray in between”

She looked directly at Lindsay and said with a chilling tone. That shade of gray is called family betrayal.”

Lindsay’s eyes widened.

Lindsay’s room was next to Tina’s.

Tina applied a thick layer of ointment to her hands, but the burning pain showed no signs of easing. It still felt like a stabbing pain, and she kept cursing and swearing at Pearl, venting her frustration and anger. The words she used were explicit and inappropriate.

“Do you see how she’s mistreating me now! It’s too much! You saw that she didn’t hold back with that thick whip. My father never hit me this hard! Just wait, I’ll get my revenge one day!”

Tina kept complaining about Pearl’s actions, but Lindsay remained lost in her thoughts, replaying the conversation with Pearl in her mind.

Family betrayal could it be true! Did her father and Uncle Ralph have something to do with the deaths of Uncle Ken and Aunt Rebecca!

“Lindsay, I’m talking to you.”

Tina snapped Lindsay out of her thoughts. “What are you thinking?”

Lindsay put on a faint smile and replied, “Nothing. I just feel that Pearl is indeed different from before.”

“I know night?”

Tina finally found someone who understood her. “She’s like a… like a demon who’s returned from the underworld now. She’s so eerie, and I have no idea what she did during those three years she was missing.

“By the way, did she give you a hard time? Did you really memorize

rize all one hundred family rules?”

Lindsay’s eyes sparkled as she replied, “No, I made a few mistakes, but Pearl said I just arrived today, so she let me off this time.”

Growing up in an environment devoid of love, putting on a facade had always been Lindsay’s defense mechanism.

Tina felt relieved when she heard this “Exactly! There are so many rules, and she gave us only two days to memorize them. Who could possibly do – She probably did it on purpose to make things difficult for ust Don’t worry. I’ve got your back. As long as you follow my lead and behave well in front of her, we can join forces when she drops her guard. We’ll take her down together!”

Landsay looked at Tina’s face, which was filled with resentment and anger. She suddenly understood what Pearl meant by “shade of gray”

No matter how strong an external enemy was, as long as a family stuck together, there was nothing to fear. What was truly terrifying was internal conflict and self–destruction within the family

In the study, Prat sipped her water and sat in her chair, watching a video of her two cousins plotting against her, When she heard Linsbay’s wonds,

Chapter 58

her calm eyes revealed a different emotion.

She closed the video, and her fingers danced across the keyboard, revealing information about Lindsay one page at a time.

Pearl looked at Lindsay’s experiences over the years and couldn’t help but feel a sense of complexity. Her Uncle Errol and his new wife were truly

heartless

It was quiet in the dead of night.

In Rose Garden, everyone had settled in for the night except for the night guards and the servants Pearl, however, hadn’t gone to sleep. She leaned against the headboard and was engrossed in a book of antiques. It was like she was waiting for someone

As the clock’s hands reached and night, there was a soft knock on her room door.

N

Someone had arrived.