Rain poured mercilessly over the streets of Beijing, drowning every flicker of light into a blur ofshadows and broken dreams. Liang Yuxi lay curled on the cold pavement outside the hospital gates,her blood mixing with rainwater. Her breath came out in ragged gasps, pain blooming in her chestlike the last cruel flower of betrayal.
She had no strength left to fight, no will left to scream. The betrayal had come from those who onceclaimed to be her family-her so-called parents, who raised her in shadows, and her adopted sister,Liang Mengqi, who had turned her life into a living nightmare
"You were never meant to outshine her," Mengqi had whispered in her ear hours earlier, her voicesilkier than poison. "Stay forgotten, just like you were always meant to be."
They had taken her to a banquet under the guise of celebrating her academic achievement, dressedher in a revealing, mismatched gown, spiked her drink, and left her in a private room-where a tabloidreporter had been waiting. Her photos, her shame, her humiliation would be the next day'sheadlines. But fate had been harsher than even Mengqi intended. In her desperate attempt toescape, Yuxi had stumbled, fallen down a flight of stairs, and crawled outside before everythingwent black
Her body ached, her limbs numb. She had never asked to be saved. But dying like this-alone,humiliated, discarded like trash-wasn't the end she deserved.
As her vision dimmed, she clutched a pendant she always wore, a small jade ring she had foundamong her baby things. Something in her heart whispered that it mattered.
If heaven gives me a second chance... I won't be their puppet anymore. I'll make them pay.She closed her eyes, not in peace, but in defiance.