Xu Zihao kept stealing looks at the strange girl. He didn't know what had come over him; seeing her cold eyes and the numb expression on her face compelled him to stand up and follow her. He knew she was Liu Yichen's fiance, the so-called ugly girl with purple eyes. The girl who had 'stolen' everything from Qian Qian. He admitted to himself that he had never noticed her before– she truly was forgettable, especially next to the girl he had been pining for since childhood. But when he treated her hand, he saw the scars on her wrist; still raised and ugly, running down the length of her inner wrist. And the reaction she gave after almost slapping him– he had never seen fear like that in anyone, let alone a young girl.
If he didn't know better, that Liu Yichen avoids his fiance at all costs, he would have guessed he was abusive. He thought about Lei Nuwa's family– she had grown up as the second daughter to the Yang family. He had met her parents and half-sister before, and their timid, soft nature made it unlikely that she was abused at home either.
He wondered if the rumors about her being mentally deficient were true.
***
Lei Nuwa, unaware of Zihao's unflattering thought process, was starting to panic. Due to the chaos of being reborn again, and the strangeness of Xu Zihao's assistance, she had not noticed the angry, ugly, and raised scars that ran along her arms. She had never had scars like this in her previous lives, and if anyone were to see, she would no doubt be thrown into a mental hospital.
'Lei Nuwa, you idiot. You should have just taken pills.' Her most recent life, her fourth, she had ended it early. Cutting both of her wrists, she had died in her bathtub– alone, but at peace; something she was not afforded in her past deaths. And her previous deaths had never left marks in the next life. Self inflicted death seemed to be the only explanation. Nuwa, as she wracked her brain on ways to conceal it, was suddenly hit with a horrifying thought: what would have happened if she had jumped off of a building like her second death?!! She shivered at the thought of the scars that would leave.
"Lei Nuwa! Are you deaf?" She jumped at the sound of her name. She had been so deep in thought, she was unaware of how much time had passed. The moment of reckoning had arrived. She stared in her fiance's eyes, the same man who had just called her name.
"I must have been distracted. Was there something you needed?"
Liu Yichen frowned at her response. As little as he had interacted with her, he knew she had always been willing and enthusiastic to follow his words. The cold girl in front of him now was nothing like the lovesick puppy he despised so much.
He coughed into his hand. "Ahem. Yes actually, there is. Qian Qian has something to say to you."
Lei Nuwa knew what she was going to say; it had been the same in all of her previous lives.
"Lei Nuwa, I know you don't know me well. But we both love Brother Yichen so much, and thank you so much for being there for him when I cannot. But…oh Yichen, I can't say it! It's not for me to say!" She turned into the arms of Yichen and covered her eyes. Her embarrassed, cutesy act touched the hearts of everyone else at the table, as they looked upon Shi Qian with affection.
"Go ahead, Qian Qian. No one will dare say anything against you in front of me" Yichen gave Nuwa a harsh glare as he comforted Qian.
"O-Okay Brother Yichen. I will do it for you. Lei Nuwa, aren't you ashamed?" Gasps could be heard throughout the room. A twisted smile was displayed on Shi Qian's face, but was hidden underneath a mask of innocence. It took two lives for Lei Nuwa to see through it. "Brother Yichen does so much, and he is so handsome and hardworking, he deserves the best by his side! And you- you don't care! How could you? You allow yourself to act so unseemly, you don't try to be beautiful, Lei Nuwa, my Brother Yichen deserves better!"
Even Grandmother Liu was touched at Shi Qian's monologue. She had always wondered why her husband was adamant on their marriage, even when Lei Nuwa was ugly and unremarkable. She constantly fell short of her more favored candidate, Shi Qian. The Liu Miss felt ashamed for her grandson, and refused to come to Nuwa's aid even if it would reflect badly on the Liu family. Even Nuwa's family refused to acknowledge their daughter, too embarrassed to be associated with her. Others at the table seemed to agree with Shi Qian, as they began to criticize Lei Nuwa internally. It was a carefully planned humiliation; Liu Yichen smirked inwardly at the table's reaction, but became unsettled when he could not read Lei Nuwa's face.
Xu Zihao looked at Nuwa with an indecipherable expression on his face. He, unlike Liu Yichen, knew of Qian Qian's deceitful nature– it was what had attracted him to her in the first place. But Lei Nuwa's reaction intrigued him like nothing he had ever experienced before.
Lei Nuwa set her eyes forward. In her first life, she had flown into a violent rage at Shi Qian, dishonoring and sullying her image while simultaneously raising Shi Qian's image. In her second life, she had begged for forgiveness on her knees– she was then mocked by those around her and humiliated even further. Her next two lives, she had simply left without looking back. That was her original plan for this life, until she had seen the scars on her wrist.
The ugly reminder of the past fueled a contempt stronger than anything else she had felt before.
"Shi Qian, what makes you think you have a right to counsel me on my marriage with Liu Yichen? This is not a three-way relationship; you do not have a place in our dynamic, no matter how hard you fight to get in. Your care for Yichen is touching– but don't push it in front of my face ever again, or I will have no choice but to take it as a slight on my name." Lei Nuwa was past the point of caring about what those around her thought of her. She had been through more hardships than everyone in the room combined; her heart was surrounded by a layer of ice and encapsulated in a concrete cast.
Shi Qian and Liu Yichen were both stunned at her words. In fact, the entire table was. It was completely silent throughout the room. In a second, Shi Qian had broken down sobbing in the arms of Liu Yichen. At the sight of her reaction, those at the table began shooting dirty looks and murmuring vindictive and malicious words about Lei Nuwa.
'Why was she so rude to Shi Qian? She is so jealous and shallow.'
'No wonder Liu Yichen likes Shi Qian more than that girl– she is so ugly and obnoxious.'
'Poor Qian Qian, berated for nothing. What was Elder Liu thinking, pairing such a prosperous son with such scum.'
Xu Zihao watched this show with an intrigued look on his face. He expected to see even a twinge of emotion at the situation, but Lei Nuwa was as cold and subdued as ever. She did not bother to look at the people gossiping around her, nor at Liu Yichen's display of affection for the crying Shi Qian.
"Lei Nuwa, you bitch! Apologize to Qian Qian right now!" Liu Yichen roared, impossibly angry at the girl's indifferent presence. When she turned her eyes to look at him, he froze.
"I can not apologize for expressing my true sentiments; perhaps if you had a better hold on your friends, things like this wouldn't happen." Her emphasis on the word 'friends' was a purposeful jab at Shi Qian, which resulted in the girl crying even more.
"I am so sorry Brother Yichen! I have ruined everything, I am so ashamed, boohoohoo…"
"No Qian Qian! You did nothing wrong. It was Lei Nuwa's fault, right grandmother?" Liu Yichen said harshly, turning to his grandmother with pleading eyes. Grandmother Liu saw the pathetic image of Shi Qian and her grandson, and quickly rose from her seat in anger.
"Lei Nuwa, my husband's dying wish was to have you married to Liu Yichen, but he would be mortified at the sight of you now! How could the Yang family raise such a daughter? You dare treat Yichen and the Liu family as if they were below you? You are nothing." She finished by slapping Lei Nuwa across the face. The crowd was even more shocked at this sight, as the grandmother was usually calm and docile.
Lei Nuwa gritted her teeth.