"Miss, miss..."
In a state of drowsiness, Ning'an heard what seemed like someone calling her, pulling her consciousness back from some void. She slowly opened her eyes, only to find herself in her own room.
Everything seemed just like before, familiar enough to give her a sense of surrealism.
Why was she here? Did Ning Xuan really not let her go even after she died?
The sunlight outside was perfect, as if nothing had happened.
She turned her head to see Sun Auntie by her bedside calling her name, feeling a bit bewildered. Wasn't Sun Auntie supposed to be...?
"Sun... Sun Auntie?"
Sun Auntie breathed a sigh of relief, her wrinkled face loosening up.
"Miss, you've finally woken up. You've been unconscious for three days."
She poured a glass of water and brought it to Ning Xuan's lips, her tone carrying a hint of concern and reproach.
"Miss, you really need to be more careful. How could you accidentally fall into the pool?"
Ning An furrowed her brow. Falling into the pool... It was at the end of the college entrance exam, during the summer vacation when she argued with Ning Xuan about which university to attend. It was the beginning of the nightmare.
What was going on...? Wasn't Sun Auntie supposed to be dead? Wasn't she dead too? Was she in heaven, reunited with Sun Auntie?
She touched her chest, the scene of the bullet piercing through still vivid in her mind, yet the intense pain seemed like it had never existed, only a faint feeling lingering in her consciousness...
Before she could fully grasp the situation, she caught a glimpse of someone standing at the door, a silent and resolute young man.
With his eyes slightly lowered, his long and captivating peach blossom eyes fixed on the bewildered girl sitting on the bed, his deep black eyes brewing a storm, flickering with obscure and unfathomable light. But in a moment, they regained their composure, his tall and slender figure still commanding attention.
Ning Xuan!
At this moment, the young man had already opened up, emanating an invisible aura.
Her pupils contracted, the fear of Ning Xuan now uncontrollably surfacing, everything before her eyes defying rational explanation...
Then an impossible thought flashed through her mind.
She had been reborn!
"Master, why are you standing at the door? Come in."
Sun Auntie called out to Ning Xuan with warmth.
As the young man took a step forward, Ning An's hands trembled with fear, and she instinctively curled up, burying herself under the covers. "No! Don't come in, go away!"
Her voice was sharp and piercing, as if she had been startled by something intense. Hearing her rejecting tone, the man halted his steps.
His eyes narrowed, a hint of imperceptible inquiry in his gaze.
Sun Auntie had never seen Ning An so terrified before, as if the person standing at the door was a grim reaper. Though she didn't know what had happened, she immediately went forward and embraced the trembling Ning An, patting her back soothingly.
"Miss? What's wrong? Don't be afraid, Sun Auntie is here."
Ning An clung to Sun Auntie as if she had found a lifeline, murmuring incessantly, "Make him go away, I don't want to see him!"
Ning Xuan's expression revealed a hint of hurt as he heard her rejection, his complexion draining as if the tide had receded, instantly losing its color. He gripped his clothes tightly, his eyes swirling with a storm, yet he suppressed it.
"Since Sister doesn't want to see me... I'll leave first."
As his footsteps gradually faded away, Ning An slowly calmed down, lifting her head from Sun Auntie's embrace and looking towards the door. Seeing Ning Xuan leaving dejectedly, Sun Auntie hesitated for a moment before speaking,
"Miss, when you fell into the water, Master was the only one there. He was terrified when he pulled you out. Thank goodness he saved you."
"Maybe you could try not to reject him so much. I can tell that Master really likes you."
Ning An looked at the kind-faced old woman who was still speaking up for Ning Xuan, feeling a pang of pain in her heart. Sun Auntie... Do you know what the person you're defending is doing to you right now?
In her previous life, due to Ning Xuan's pathological possessiveness towards her, he allowed Sun Auntie and the household servants to talk to her at first. But eventually, he insisted on personally attending to her every need, forbidding even Sun Auntie from coming near her.
One day, when Ning Xuan went to the company, Sun Auntie came up to visit her secretly, pretending that she had received an order from Ning Xuan. She slipped a
letter through the crack in the door, hoping she could get it to Sangong and have him save her.
But on that evening, that sullen young man slowly took out the letter and tore it to shreds in front of her.
"Sister, you're so naive. How could you think there's a chance for this letter to reach Sangong's hands?" The man looked at her, mocking her naivety.
Ning An watched the torn letter, slumping to the ground, a trace of fear spreading in her heart.
"And Sun Auntie?"
The man in front of her casually squatted down, lifting Ning An's thin and feeble chin, his cool lips slightly curved.
"Dead. You're the one who killed her, Sister."
..."Miss?"
Sun Auntie looked at Ning An's absent-minded expression, gently shaking her body.
Ning An snapped out of her thoughts, leaning weakly against the headboard.
"Sun Auntie, I want to be alone for a while. Please leave, and don't let anyone else in."
Sun Auntie looked at Ning An's exhausted appearance, feeling somewhat puzzled, but she didn't dare to say anything more. She walked out and closed the door behind her.
Once the door was closed, Ning An carefully pondered over everything.
Reborn... She never thought such a thing, only found in novels, would actually happen to her. Did even heaven think she had suffered too much in her past life, so it gave her a chance to start over?
Everything had changed dramatically in this year.
After Dad passed away, Ning Xuan took over the Ning family, Ouyang went bankrupt, and only the Sangong family, under Ning Xuan's coercion, though precarious, still resisted.
Sangong... Thinking of Sangong, Ning An's chest tightened. In her past life, Sangong had exhausted all his efforts to save her from Ning Xuan's clutches. Unfortunately, they didn't have a good ending, and Sangong died tragically before her eyes.
She thought about it, her eyes turning red, and took a deep breath. Fortunately, Sangong hadn't encountered any trouble yet.
This time she would protect him well, she would never let Ning Xuan hurt him again.
Turning her thoughts to Ning Xuan, Ning An felt a headache coming on.
She had never really paid attention to Ning Xuan. For the first 17 years, she had always been the apple of Ning Zefeng's eye, getting whatever she wanted, naturally not paying attention to a stray illegitimate child. For her, this person who had returned after so long was just a stranger who wanted a share of the family property. She had no feelings for Ning Xuan, nor did she like him.
As long as Dad was around, she had always been the young lady of the Ning family.
But she never expected Ning Xuan to have such a pathological attachment to her. She didn't understand. She had never looked at him properly, nor had she been kind to him, but whenever Ning Xuan saw her, it was as if a dog had found its favorite toy, never leaving her side.
Why was that? Whatever his reasons were, they couldn't be an excuse to hurt her. Since heaven had given her a chance to start over, this time she would seize it.
She would return to Ning Xuan the pain he had inflicted on her a hundredfold!
Ning An looked at the perfect sunlight outside, her eyes subtly undergoing a change.