"Xiaolei… don't run." A hoarse voice coming from a good looking man with delicate and soft facial features crept through Luo Xiaolei's body like she just heard the call of death, causing her feet to wobble in fear until she fell down on her own.
"Jinhan…! What's going on with you? Why are you doing this to me?! Wake up!" she cried as she crawled on her hands and knees. She was still wearing a white gown since this was their wedding night. This man was the person she just married hours ago and yet he was now like a madman looking at her with those terrifying eyes, telling her that he would definitely kill her.
They were in a secluded villa for their honeymoon and everything was completely fine just a moment ago. This man who had always been so kind and caring to her suddenly changed as if he was possessed by a demon the moment they both entered their bedroom on their first night together. He suddenly held a knife in his hand and his kind and innocent eyes were instantly filled with nothing but hate and bloodlust.
Luo Xiaolei's instinct made her run away but the entire villa suddenly felt like it turned into a dark place, a haunted setting, the perfect place for him to kill her. All the doors were shut closed as if she was suddenly imprisoned in an empty killing dungeon. He chased her, moving like he was a walking dead until Luo Xiaolei slowly lost all her strength. She, who had always been a strong woman was cornered to this extent by none other than her newly wedded husband.
Luo Xiaolei was a powerful business woman, labelled as the queen of no mercy, she became a mighty CEO when she was just 25 and at 28, she had just married this perfect doting boyfriend of hers. Her life was the life of a perfect protagonist. She was a modern day Cinderella. She was tortured when she was younger by her father's mistress and of course, just like what a typical protagonist would do, Luo Xiaolei studied hard and worked hard to rise to the top. She spent her youth learning everything until she finally took her most awaited revenge on all the people who wronged her.
She destroyed the people who caused her mother's death, like a vengeful phoenix, until she achieved the peak of her success. She was able to reclaim her crown, everything that was supposed to be hers. Her revenge was a success. She was able to throw those people out to hell, making them experience the pain she went through in their hands. Yes, everything was flowing perfectly. She was the protagonist and she thought that since everything and everyone had been returned to their rightful place, this would now be the start of her happy ever after. But what was happening now? How did her happy ever after end up like this?
"J-jinhan…! What's going on with you?! Stop being like this! Please!" Luo Xiaolei shouted, her voice loud but strained, thinking that she could wake him up but a bitter and painful smile curved on his face that Luo Xiaolei had never seen before.
"Xiaolei… I'm sorry. But I'm here to take my revenge on you." The man said, causing Luo Xiaolei's eyes to widen in fear and confusion.
"W-what are you saying? You are not making any sense at all! Jinhan, please wake up!" She screamed once again but the man gripped the knife in his hand as he moved one step closer.
"Xiaolei… I'm the son of that woman you drove to madness, five years ago." He said and Luo Xiaolei's mouth turned agape in shock. The woman she drove mad five years ago, wasn't she her father's mistress who caused her mother's death?
"What are you saying? Y-y-you're Mo Lifeng's son?" her lips trembled and Yun Jinhan once again smiled bitterly.
"Mm. Indeed, I am, Xiaolei." He admitted and Luo Xiaolei felt like the world suddenly turned upside down, as if the gods were playing a prank on her life. She denied it, unable to make herself believe what he said but something triggered in her subconscious mind and she realized that Yun Jinhan was saying the truth. She remembered the report she received back then that her father's mistress, Mo Lifeng already had a son before she met her father.
"So… all this time… you approached me, doted on me, married me… you did all this just so you could avenge your mother?" she asked in disbelief. This meant that the three whole years she spent with this man were all lies? He was such a loyal, obedient and doting man… how could everything ended up being actually fake?
"You are already pretending from the very first time we met?" she asked as her lips trembled.
"When I first met you, I still didn't know what you did."
"Jinhan, you know my story! I was the victim here. I took revenge on Mo Lifeng because she first drove my mom insane! I promised my mother on her death bed that I would avenge her. You know how your mother tortured me and my mother until she went insane!" Luo Xiaolei screamed. Painful tears in her eyes fell down her gorgeous face.
"Yes. I know that. That was why for years, I fought with myself to accept everything and forget about revenge. I tried, but every night I was tortured with endless nightmares. I'm sorry, I couldn't. You see, I also promised my mother that I would definitely avenge her. Xiaolei, if you claim to be a victim of my mother, then I am your victim. Even though I know your story, I'm sorry, but I can't forgive you. When my mother went insane and our family was destroyed by you, both my grandparents died because of the shame and the mental attacks of the people who supported you. My sister you put to jail killed herself. Everything was already beyond saving. There's no one I could blame for all this but you. I have lived to this day so that I could cast my revenge on you. I'm sorry but this is our fate."
Hearing Jinhan's words, Luo Xiaolei couldn't even speak anymore. Everything was just so nonsensical.
When she was young, her mother was the legal madam in the Luo mansion. Until one day, rumours that her father got himself a mistress caused Luo Xiaolei's mother to become furious and her relationship with her father went from bad to worse. However, all of a sudden, the rumoured young mistress suddenly died in an accident so Luo Xiaolei's mother calmed down. However five years later, another mistress appeared. The new mistress was intelligent and a scheming fox. She drove Luo Xiaolei and her mother out of the Luo mansion after a long battle. Luo Xiaolei's mother fought with everything she had but the new mistress crushed her to the core. The new mistress was just like Cinderella's step mother. She tortured them both until eventually, Luo Xiaolei's mother lost her sanity before she eventually died.
Since that day, Luo Xiaolei lived for her revenge and now that her own revenge was over, another avenger appeared.
"I'm sorry. But you should know, the moment you decided to take your revenge for your mother… the cycle of revenge had just begun and it will never stop."
"Jinhan… yes, you're right so even if you kill me now, someone will come after you and avenge me."
"I know that. We both know that, until there is no one left, until no one can forgive, this will continue forever."
As those words left Jinhan's mouth, his eyes blazed and it seemed like he too finally lost himself. Seeing this, Luo Xiaolei's instinct forced her to try and run away. However, before she registered where she was heading, it was too late to change course. She found herself on the veranda and the moment Jinhan lunged at her with a knife, her foot slipped in fear and she fell over the railing.
'H-huh? I'm falling… so this is how it ends? Why? Why did it end up like this? Where did I go wrong? Why?' Luo Xiaolei felt her body flying, as if her soul was being sucked in by a certain black hole. Her heart was breaking for a million times over.
She closed her eyes as everything started to turn dark and a memory suddenly appeared in her mind. It was the moment just before her mother took her last breath.
"Xiaolei… Don't think about avenging me and live a peaceful life. This is all my fault, so don't waste your time taking revenge because... It won't be worth it. I don't want you to live like me. I'm so sorry for leaving you so early. Please my daughter, choose to live a peaceful life, that's the only thing I am wishing for."
As those words rang inside her brain, the tears in Luo Xiaolei's eyes kept falling like drops of crystals and her lips curved up, flashing a bitter and painful smile. The moments of her life began flashing like a flash forwarded movie. Since she swore to herself to take revenge, Luo Xiaolei saw her life revolving around nothing else but revenge and power. Indeed, she spent all her years aiming for the top. She looked like a mountain climber who was only focused towards the peak that she forgot to even enjoy the climb and never even looked around to at least take a glance at the beautiful scenery from time to time. She saw how bland her life was. She gained success, revenge and power yet at the end of the day, she was utterly alone, like a queen sitting at the peak of the mountain with no one beside her.
"Mother, you were right. It wasn't worth it. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."