Y City
Inside the courtyard, the flowers were in full bloom, and the breeze carried the sweet floral fragrance. But Han Lina felt no joy from the beautiful sight, only heartbreak, as a devastating scene unfolded before her eyes.
Warm light illuminated the couple under the tree, entangled in a passionate embrace. Qi Anxin, Han Lina's supposed best friend and stepsister, wrapped her delicate arms around the man's neck. With a coquettish voice dripping with false innocence, she whispered "Bro Ah Ze, please be gentle. We're still outside." Yet even as she feigned rejection, Qi Anxin pulled him closer, granting him further access to her body.
"I can't hold back anymore, Anxin. Give yourself to me," Ah Ze growled, his ravenous eyes devouring the woman in his arms. He was Han Lina's fiancé - the man she had pledged her future to.
Tears stung Han Lina's eyes as the cruel reality sliced through her heart. Her lover and her sister - the two people closest to her - had betrayed her in the most sickening way imaginable. She felt the sting of not one, but two blades piercing her soul.
As the treacherous pair turned towards her, Han Lina fled, her vision blurred by panic and sorrow, she walked with no direction in mind and jut moved anywhere her foot took her without paying attention to her surroundings, just when she felt like she could no longer move her feet, she looked at her surroundings for the first time trying to figure out where she could rest her aching foot. She ended up at the bar, desperately trying to drown her pain in liquor. But her drunken state left her vulnerable.
She bumped into a menacing stranger, instantly regretting her clumsiness as his iron grip closed around her wrist. "Bro Ming, this beauty wants you to entertain her," one of his lackeys leered. Panic gripped Han Lina as they closed in.
"Let go!" she cried, struggling against their vice-like holds. But her pleas fell on deaf ears. With a sinking feeling, she realized no good could come from being taken by these men.
Reaching for a bottle, she smashed it against the leader's head, using his stunned shock as a chance to flee. But her footsteps faltered as she collided with yet another group of menacing figures.
"Benevolent sir, please be magnanimous and let me go," Han Lina begged, too afraid to look up. "I'm just a little fish, a bug not worth your attention. I'll disappear forever if you show mercy."
A chillingly familiar voice responded. "Han Lina."
Her blood ran cold at the sound of her name. These were no random thugs. "Who are you?" she breathed.
"No need for you to know that. Brothers, take her away."
Even as rough hands seized her, Han Lina felt numb from the night's betrayals. Her lover's deceit, her sister's cold-hearted treachery - both cut deeper than any physical wound.