My scholar husband Edmund sold me for 300 bucks to hunter Rowan, a cruel fate every village woman feared. I waited for brutal mistreatment, but he brought wild flowers, stewed chicken and swore to give me time. My greedy in-laws sneaked in at night, beat me and stole his rare white pheasants, ruining Edmund’s exam future. Broken-handed, drunk and drowning, he begged for forgiveness at our grand wedding. Yet I held Rowan’s hand—this contracted wife finally earned a real, warm marriage of my own.
